The Hindu Business Line : Wireless, wireline will continue to co-exist

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Chennai Feb. 6 Does the wireless market run into the wired one? How do the two compare in terms of cost and market share? Are there applications where the physical cables have inelastic demand? Here is what Mr K. Bala Chandran, Managing Director (India & SAARC), ADC Krone, (www.adc.com) says in response to these questions from Business Line:

"Wireless and wireline complement each other. As we talk within the service provider market, from a transmission and access network standpoint, wireline technologies are the preferred choice. However, we do see service providers deploying large wireless networks based on GSM and CDMA , which do have fibre inter-connects between base stations besides micro-wave. With the advent of WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access), we believe that backhaul wireless will be possible. Having said this, from an end-user perspective, broadband is a wireless challenge and wireless is a broadband challenge.

Nomadic users

"Therefore, within enterprises, the local area networks will continue to exist on conventional copper infrastructure, the limits of which have recently been pushed to even 10 GBPS (gigabits per second) and Fibre in the backbone. Wi-Fi will have niche applications focusing only on nomadic users, as it is not bandwidth intensive.

"Since we believe that a wireline network cannot be completely replaced with wireless because they augment each other, it is the total cost of the mix of wireline and wireless in the deployment of infrastructure and its return that should be a consideration.

"From a voice service perspective, we do see wireless as a big winner and definitely overtaking wireline because of the overall time and cost of deployment. However, because of the high speeds for bandwidth that will be required for data services delivery within an enterprise network, a wireline network would provide the best delivery.

Viable options

"Both wired and wireless can claim advantages over the other; both represent viable options for home and other local area networks. Corporations frequently extend their wired networks with Wi-Fi networks. They connect wireless access points to their network backbone to provide Internet and network access in meeting rooms, lobbies, cafeterias and other common areas.

"Companies also add wireless access points in their general office space to make it easy for staff to meet informally. For example, someone from marketing can carry his or her laptop to the sales manager's office two floors up and, via the wireless network there, make a presentation on the spot using their laptop. When employees are mobile, as in a large warehouse or shipping centre, Wi-Fi networks can easily cover the entire area: staff can operate anywhere in the building, not just at predetermined desktops and workstations.

"Though wired networks take more time in installation and require space for comparatively more equipment than wireless, it is considered safe from security and reliability aspects. Ethernet cables, hubs and switches are inexpensive. Broadband routers cost more, but these are optional components of a wired LAN, and their higher cost is offset by the benefit of easier installation and built-in security features.

"Therefore, wireless and wireline will continue to co-exist and complement each other based on the end-user."