In Wireless in its 2G avatar is, a narrowband network limited to 153.6 kbit/s. It is 3G that kicks in the delivery of wireless broadband. And BWA promises to make it relatively cheaper and likely, much faster.
Its all in the network
The efficiency and productivity of todays dynamic enterprises depends critically on the quality and extent of the network and its availability. The wireless network needs to be robust and available at various levelsbetween the data centre and the head office and also between the head office and branch offices. The always-on connectivity with the suppliers and partners is as important as is access for mobile and remote employees.
While the fibre and copper networks are there in place to take care of connectivity in metros and urban areas to an extent, it is insufficient when it comes to providing access to an increasingly mobile workforce. Also, in the government segment, especially when it comes to government-to-citizen services, while connectivity till the district HQ level is largely taken care of, there is insufficient connectivity at sub-district and village levels. For e-Governance to be effective, there is an immediate need to bridge this divide and reach out to centres in semi-urban and rural India.
3G versus BWA
The current 3G offerings in India claim peak downlink rates of the order of 21 Mbps, while actual rates would be much lower. On the other hand, BWA options like Long Term Evolution (LTE) would promise rates of 100 Mbps and above.While 3G can be used for both voice and data, only 5MHz of spectrum is available per operator in India. Moreover, no operator has got a pan-India 3G license, except for the BSNL-MTNL combine. The good thing, however, is that there is a plethora of 3G-ready devices and the service rollouts are also expected to be completed over the next few quarters. BWA, on the other hand, has got the advantages of cost as well as spectrum on its side. Moreover, apart from BSNL-MTNL, which gets BWA spectrum by default, there will be another pan-India operator, the Reliance-owned Infotel Broadband.
The big advantage with BWA, is the width of the spectrum, which at 20MHz, is a jaw-dropping four times the 5MHz 3G spectrum. A flip side is that BWA-ready devices are not widely available. Moreover, BWA is positioned primarily as a data network, though there are no discrete regulatory restrictions of using it for voice as well in future. So even if the network is used both for data and voice, slow availability of smartphones and tablet devices will limit early adoptions to larger form-factor devices like desktops and notebooks. Initially, USB modems are likely to be used for connecting to BWA networks.
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