| Ramachandran
reiterated that the Industry has been able
to achieve much due to the initiatives of
the government, by providing a very competitive
scenario, emphasis on affordability, and a
conducive regulatory / policy environment
for the Industry to grow at a stupendous pace.
Ramchandran
also shared with the audience quotes of
India’s minister of communications
and IT A Raja during his inaugural address
given during a similar seminar held at New
Delhi 25 April. The minister had lauded
the growth of the GSM industry and noted
the many milestones that the industry had
crossed during the last one year. April
2008 saw India become the second largest
wireless market in the world. Raja emphasized
on the need for the industry to now focus
on improved rural penetration saying that
“Mobile broadband will be the most
desirable and preferred way to increase
broadband penetration”. Raja announced
that the Government would very shortly come
out with its detailed guidelines in respect
of 3G as also mobile broadband access.
The
seminar included a presentation on mobile
broadband applications by Ericsson, which
showcased its Gramjyoti project demonstrating
on how 3G mobile broadband could change
and enhance the lives of people and communities.
The presentation included clips on mobile
education, e-governance, tele medicine and
how the eco-system can be harnessed to deliver
these applications on a sustainable basis.
Ericsson’s head of core networks and
system solutions and general manager –
3G program for market unit India and Sri
Lanka Bo Ribbing said that Gramjyoti could
be scaled up to cover 200,000 villages where
GSM towers already existed and that there
was a very viable model for using mobile
communications to bridge the digital divide.
The event also included a Workshop conducted
by Microsoft on “Connecting Customers
& Communities”. Microsoft India’s
Gupta gave the delegates an overview of
Mobile Broadband applications with Microsoft
and also gave a demonstration of services.
Some facts about 3G mobile broadband that
were revealed at the seminar:
3G
Mobile Broadband services are taking off
exponentially in the rest of the world
As
of April 2008, there are over 168 networks
in 73 countries that have opted for mobile
broadband (HSPA). As of March 2008, there
are more than 32 million mobile broadband
(HSPA) connections worldwide, a ten-fold
increase in the last one-year alone. This
is forecast to grow to 700 million by 2012
There
are a number of 3G mobile broadband devices
available in the market today. It is estimated
that more than 470 devices had been commercialized
by 102 vendors by April 2008. These devices
include handsets, notebooks, USB modems,
PC cards and wireless routers.
In
the last four years, the prices of WCDMA
handsets have dropped by almost 80 per cent,
signaling the ever-improving affordability
of the service.
It
is estimated that the sale of 3G mobile
broadband devices will increase from around
170 million in 2007 to nearly 800 million
in 2013.
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