The Hindu Business Line : Limited demand seen for WiMAX in India

Mumbai, March 26 India will continue to be a niche market for worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) connections till 2009 due to limitations in spectrum allocation and low PC penetration in rural areas, according to analyst research firm Gartner Inc.

By January 2008, India had only 3.4 million broadband subscribers, far short of the target of 9 million by 2007 set by the broadband policy, according to Mr Naresh Singh, Principal Research analyst, Gartner Inc .

“Given the low levels of PC penetration in India, there will be a limited demand for WiMAX. Moreover, accessing the Internet via WiMAX is about 3 times costlier than accessing through broadband, which is another factor disfavouring WiMAX penetration”, Mr Singh told Business Line.

As mobile frequencies will not be available in the short-term, Gartner does not expect mobile WiMAX roll-outs to be available at larger scales before 2009, at the earliest. Therefore, most WiMAX connections in the short and mid-term will be for nomadic or fixed wireless applications.

Gartner believes that due to the limitations of the spectrum allocation, the only deployment for a sustained business case is to bring WiMAX broadband to rural centres in villages or schools, hospitals and so on.

From the access point, individual access will then be available via a Wi-Fi mesh. In urban areas, WiMAX can be utilised to offer mobile and semi-mobile broadband to consumers and enterprise customers.

“Gartner advises carriers to focus on the enterprise market and high-end residential subscribers.

Overall, the long term potential of the Indian WiMAX market heavily relies on spectrum allocation, WiMAX ecosystem maturation, and the timeliness of WiMAX and 3G licenses,” said Mr Singh.

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