Techno-Economic analysis ofTechno-Economic analysis of WiMAX and 3G on the IndianWiMAX and 3G on the Indian

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WimaxWimax

That a strong correlation exists between connectivity and economy is not a new concept. It has always been at the root of every new development in the technical sector. At this time of high cost and lack of space, to go wireless is the only option available. And Wimax is the right step towards this goal.

So what is Wimax? Well to start with, it’s a wireless digital communication system and is also known as IEEE 802.16. Wimax is an abbreviation for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access. It enables the last mile wireless broadband access. Wimax is a second-generation protocol that allows for more efficient bandwidth use, interference avoidance, and is intended to allow higher data rates over longer distances.

In the early 1990s various groups started promoting last mile fixed wireless access solution. The goal was to mix two very different set of features. One was to possess the reliability and capacity of wire lines and the other was to have flexibility and ease of deployment of the wireless. IEEE 802.16 was written by a working group established by IEEE Standards Board in 1999 to develop standards for the global deployment of broadband Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks. Since 1999 many updates have been incorporated in the standards. This is the standard that developed the Wimax. Today, Wimax has an already established global ecosystem for device manufacture and support which services over 455 commercial Wimax networks in 135 countries covering 430 million people.

Wimax can provide broadband wireless access upto 30 miles for fixed stations and 3-10 miles for mobile stations. It doesn’t suffer from interference and can operate on both licensed and non-licensed frequencies. It can be deployed to provide mobile broadband or at home broadband connectivity across whole cities. VoIP is a technology with the help of which voice can be transmitted via the internet. IPTV supports internet television services. Both these technology helps in connecting very easily and cheaply. Wimax supports them both and thus helps in reducing communication costs by a great deal. Last but not the least major feature of Wimax is its easy deployment. It can be easily configured at a very rapid pace. This helps in regenerating communication to and from underdeveloped or disaster hit areas very easily.

In India, Wimax was launched on 2nd February 2010, in Kerala by BSNL. The strong correlation between broadband proliferation and economic development is unchallenged. The lackluster performance of the Broadband market in India is primarily attributed to the economic and technical non feasibility of fixed line infrastructure. The only solution has to be wireless. Wimax, with its superior performance and low costs, is a true winner. It provides the telecom companies the option of providing high speed broadband connection at affordable prices. Wimax will help the Government to unlock the true potential of the rural areas by increasing productivity of assets and improving learning & education programs, healthcare and other social services which are critical in bringing social and economic prosperity.

Its superior performance and competitive pricing makes it a very essential tool for improving the communication channel of this country. With a wide global infrastructure already in place, its deployment in India will not face much of a problem. It will result in a wide penetration of broadband services in both rural and urban areas which surely will result in the mass development of this nation.

3 G3 G

Small is the new big thing in today’s world. Be it smaller business or be it nanotechnology. Everybody today prefers small. Thus it’s natural to opt for a device that helps in connecting to the world and also is small. It will be so much easier if a phone can do what only complex laptops and computers could do in past. 3 G brings all the features of these devices to a phone and also at a much higher speed. Mobile telephony allowed us to talk on the move and the internet turned raw data into helpful services that people found easy to use. 3 G incorporates both these technology into one.

So what is 3 G? 3 G is a family of standards of standards for mobile telecommunications fulfilling specifications by the International Telecommunication Union. It is also known as International Mobile Communication-2000(IMT-2000). It aims to harmonize 3 G system to provide global roaming. It supports simultaneous use of data and speech and provides a very high speed. The networks of 3G allows one to browse quickly through web pages, watch on-demand video programs, download and play music, videos and 3D games, watch streaming videos and music videos and have a video conference with others located on the other side of the plant. It is planned and designed for smart multimedia cellular phones.

The 3 G technology was first launched by NTT DoCoMo in Japan in 2001 and was branded FOMA. Then it was adopted by South Korea. Today 3 G penetration in both these countries stands at about 70%. It was gradually accepted in both European and American nations. By December 2007, 3 G was available in 40 countries. India entered in 3 G arena a little late. BSNL launched 3 G in Bihar in the year 2008. Right now BSNL and MTNL are the only two telecom companies in India which provides 3 G facilities. A bidding process was undertaken this year to decide on the mobile operators who can provide 3 G to Indian customers. It’s forecasted that 3 G will become a household feature in India by 2011.

The first generation (1G) began in the early 80's with commercial deployment of Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS) cellular networks which used Frequency Division Multiplexing Access (FDMA) to carry analog voice over

channels in the 800 MHz frequency band. The second generation (2G) emerged in the 90's when mobile operators deployed two competing digital voice standards. In North America, some operators adopted IS-95, which used Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) to multiplex up to 64 calls per channel in the 800 MHz band. Across the world, many operators adopted the Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) standard, which used Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) to multiplex up to 8 calls per channel in the 900 and 1800 MHz bands. 3 G was introduced to facilitate growth, increase bandwidth, and support more diverse applications. It consists of the following technologies: -

W-CDMA (Wide-band Code Division Multiple Access) CDMA-2000 (Based on the Interim Standard-95 CDMA standard) TD-SCDMA (Time-division synchronous code-division multiple-access)

3G enables users to transmit voice, data, and even moving images. In order to realize these services, 3G improves the data transmission speed up to 144Kbps in a high-speed moving environment, 384Kbps in a low-speed moving environment, and 2Mbps in a stationary environment. 3G provides services like Internet connection, transmission of large-scale data and moving contents photographed by digital cameras and videos, and software downloading. It also provides far more security than its predecessors.

With a tele-density of 53%, the scope of 3 G in India is immense. The ease of availing information is a major stepping stone of becoming an economic world power. 3 G makes accessing information affordable which will go a long way in penetrating the rural world. Staying connected always, helps in collecting information while being mobile. Though the full potential of 3 G is still waiting to be unleashed, the future only looks brighter.