WiMax in India
By kamla bhatt • Jun 8th, 2008Category: Business & Tech, Featured, Ideas, India, Internet & Telecom, San Francisco/Silicon Valley
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Consider this: there are about 3.2 million broadband users in India out of a population of over 1 billion. Clearly there is a huge latent demand for broadband services in India. The question is should the path for broadband be via wired line or via wireless? Is WiMax the way to go in India? WiMax is the way to go in India says Shankar Prasad, President of Tata Communications Retail and Business Unit. He points out many Indian users “really don’t understand what they are missing in broadband.” And the way to bridge the gap is via WiMax. Wireless is the way to go in India to increase broadband penetration says Shankar.Tata is deploying one of the largest WiMax networks in India.
“What wireless has done in voice and cable can be done in broadband too,” he points out. Prior to joining Tata Shankar was part of Airtel and says, “I have been part of the mobile revolution, which changed the way people India communicated. And I am lucky that I am involved in another revolution.” In a short span of less than 10 years the number of mobile users in India has grown at a break neck speed and every month a few million new subscribers are added according to the figures released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. Can a similar revolution be replicated in WiMax? What are the reasons that WiMax will succeed in India? What about 3G? Tune in to find out why Shankar thinks WiMax is the right way to go in India.
This interview was recorded at TiECon 2008 in Santa Clara, CA.
Technorati Tags: WiMax,WiMax in India,broadband,Internet,Shankar Prasad,Ideas,India,Technology
Kamla Bhatt is the host and producer of an Internet Radio show where listeners can find stories about the new and emerging India and the global Indian community. As a pioneer of 'internet radio' format in India Kamla started her first show News about India, followed by TalkNewsIndia in 2005. In 2006 she premiered her new show: The Kamla Bhatt Show: Life, People and Ideas. 
WiMax is the next game changing technology. In US, already few companies have started using it, but in India it will take some time to replace the broadband. Setting up WiMax infrastructure is also a big thing… however i won’t be surprised if i hear announcement from company like Reliance or Tata for internet over Wimax soon
WiMax or Wireless interoperability for Microwave Access might make available cheap computing and internet access to masses of India.And,by the way, whatever happened to Nicholas Negroponte’s dream of providing a laptop for $100? His model also uses hands operation for generating electricity to run the laptop_a really eco-friendly feature!
Hi
As per wikipedia Pakistan has the largest wimax and not banglore.
In order to get maximum and fast penetration like moble phones the Wimax providers will really have to charge with really low tarrifs. Otherwise penetration will be slow just like broadband connections.