The days of checking emails at the back of your car while reaching office without an expensive blackberry or slow connectivity of a local internet service provider is over.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) puts the total broadband customers in the country at January-end at just 2.15 million.
Aircel Business Solutions (ABS), part of Aircel, this week announced the launch of WiMAX in Hyderabad. Through WiMax, the whole area of a city can have internet access and serving the WiMax enabled computers. Interestingly, though WiMax is currently limited to corporate and backhaul usage to overcome the last mile problem in some cases, it promises to spill out into the streets sooner than expected.More importantly, the commercial launch of WiMax enabled laptops powered by Intel''s Rosedale II chipset either later this year or early 2008 is expected to lead to an explosive growth of the market.
The company plans to target IT-ITeS firms; enterprises across various verticals and also the booming SME sector for its WiMAX services. The company intends to extend its pan-city coverage in a phased manner, to include nearly 26 cities in future.
While internet service providers (ISPs) and some cellular operators are already using WiMax to connect their towers (often referred to as a backhaul), commercial rollouts for enterprise customers and those who can afford it are beginning to happen fast.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) puts the total broadband customers in the country at January-end at just 2.15 million.
India would have over 13 million WiMax subscribers by 2012, nearly 60% of them mobile customers. Such projections have led to a scramble for spectrum with operators like Bharti TeleVentures, Reliance, Sify, BSNL, VSNL and Aircel acquiring licenses for WIMAX.
Source: DNA India, Times of India
