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Thomas K Thomas

New Delhi, March 30 In a bid to allow more operators to enter the wireless broadband space, the Department of Telecom is considering auctioning spectrum in smaller chunks of 5 Mhz instead of the earlier suggested 10 Mhz. As DoT has about 80 Mhz spectrum for this segment, it could mean as many as 20 operators using technologies such as WiMax can enter the fray, offering consumers a wider choice of tariffs and schemes. Auctioning smaller bandwidths may also bring in additional revenues for the Government during the bidding process.

According to the policy being finalised by DoT, each bidder will be allowed to acquire a maximum of four slots, which means each operator would get about 20 Mhz. If that happens, the entire WiMax spectrum will have only four operators. However, DoT officials said they were expecting at least 10-15 operators as some of the new licence-holders are also expected to put in their bids. DoT has earmarked about 80 Mhz of spectrum in the 2.5 Ghz and 2.3 Ghz bands.

This is a move away from the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, which had suggested that spectrum should be auctioned in slots of 10 Mhz spectrum to each successful bidder. TRAI had not set a cap on the maximum amount of bandwidth an operator could bid for.

Wireless broadband services using technologies such as WiMax are expected to boost the penetration of high-speed Internet services in the country.

A recent report from research firm Gartner Inc said India will have 6.9 million mobile and fixed WiMax connections by the end of 2011. A number of technology companies including Motorola and Intel are betting big on WiMax services in India. The Government is also betting on WiMax rollouts to achieve its broadband targets. India had only 3.4 million broadband subscribers in January 2008, far short of the target 9 million by 2007 set by the Government.

According to Gartner, India will remain a niche market for this technology until 2009. “Although presented as an important driver for broadband policy in India, the Indian government has failed to effectively motivate operators to roll out countrywide mobile broadband. WiMax has been selected by the Indian government to connect rural areas to the Internet. However, low PC penetration will lead to limited demand in the near term. WiMax is still a niche technology and limited to enterprise and high-end residential users in urban India.”

A number of Indian operators have already finalised plans for WiMax-based services. State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd has, for instance, invited expression of interest from equipment manufacturers for supplying WiMax gear. The company plans to invest close to $750 million for deploying broadband wireless infrastructure across the country. However, private operators are still evaluating their strategy as issues regarding WiMax standards, especially for mobile services, are not clear yet. Most of the operators are now looking at offering fixed wireless broadband services using WiMax technology

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