TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIVE DECISIONS IN

TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN INDIA

APT INDUSTRY WORKSHOP

byK Sridhara, ITS (Retd,)

Director, CMAIFormer Member (Technology), DOT

Government of India

24th August, 2009

www.cmai.asia ASTAP

INTRODUCTION

TECHNOLOGICALLY INNOVATIVE DECISIONS IN REGULATIONS

HAS HELPED IN INDIA TO AWARD MORE LICENSES AND GIVE THEM SUFFICIENT SPECTRUM TO PROMOTE COMPETITION WHICH RESULTED IN ONE OF THE LOWEST TARRIFFS IN THE WORLD RESULTING IN THE HIGHEST GROWTH OF SUBSCRIBER BASE

FEW EXAMPLES

• DUAL TECHNOLOGY IN MOBILE / BASIC SERVICES– WHY WAS REQUIRED

• HISTORY OF FREQUENCY ALLOCATION AND ASSOCIATED PROBLEMS– AVAILABILITY OF SPECTRUM WAS LIMITED– PRESSURE TO MEET DEMAND IN RURAL AND REMOTE PLACES

– DECISION TAKEN• 824-844 MHz AND 869-889 MHz FOR BASIC• 890-915 MHz AND 935-960 MHz TOGETHER WITH 1800 MHz FOR MOBILE

Contd

• DUAL TECHNOLOGY IN MOBILE / BASIC SERVICES

– PROBLEMS: INTERFERENCE INITIAL COMPLAINTS IGNORED

– SOLUTIONS• EXTRA FILTERS IN CDMA SIDE• OF LATE BOTH ON THE SAME TOWERS

– RESULT• CDMA LICENSEES MIGRATED FROM BASIC TO MOBILE• BSNL,MTNL,RELIANCE, TATAS, SHYAM USES CDMA

TECHNOLOGICAL INDEPENDENT OF WIRELESS BROADBAND

• LIMITATIONS OF SPECTRUM

• PRESENT IDENTIFICATION OF SPECRUM FOR AUCTION– 3G : 1920-1980MHz AND 2110-2170 MHz– WIMAX : 2500-2690 MHz AND 2300MHz– IDENTIFICATION OF OTHER SPECTRUM

• TO ENSURE MORE COMPETITION

SUBSCRIBER BASED CRITERIA

• WHY WAS REQUIRED

– SCARCITY OF SPECTRUM

– REUIREMENTS OF COMPETITION : MORE OPERATORS

• PRINCIPLE FOLLOWED

– ANALYSIS OF TRAFFIC PATTERNS AND TRENDS IN TRAFFIC

– DETERMINE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE MOST DENSE TRAQFFIC TO TOTAL SUBSCRIBER BASE

– DETERMINE THE SPECRUM REQUIRED IN THE MOST DENSE AREA AND DETERMINE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THIS SPECTRUM TO THE SUBSCRIBER BASE IT WILL SERVE THIS WILL BE DIFFERENT FOR DIFFERENT AREASOF A LICENSED AREAS AND HENCE IS TO BE AGGREGATED

SHARING OF REVENUE CONCEPT

• A PART OF REVENUE RECEIVED BY THE OPERATORS IS SHARED WITH THE GOVERNMENT AS LICENCE FEE AND SPECTRUM CHARGES

– CONSTANT LICENSE FEE OF EARLIER REGIME TO VARIABLE LICANCE FEE: REASONS FOR SHIFT

– CONCEPT OF SPECRUM CHARGES

• BENEFITS :

– DROP IN TARIFF– LIFETIME SUBSCRIPTION

INFRASTRUCTURE SHARING

• INITIALLY NO SHARING OF INFRASTRUCTURE

– TO RPOMOTE INVESTMENT IN TELECOM INFRASTRUCTURE

• SHARING OF PASSIVE INFRASTRUCTURE

– Towers, BTS-BSC backhaul network etc– Difficulty in rural areas for implementing USO scheme

• SHARING OF ACTIVE INFRASTRUCTURE

– SHARING OF BTSs AND BSCs ALSO– CDOT is working on the concept without changing the GSM standards

FUTURE SCOPE

• SPECTRUM ALLOCATION BASED ON AREAS INSTEAD OF FOR THE LICENCE AREA AS A WHOLE

• FREQUENCY SHARING

• CONVERGENCE OF ICT IN SUBS PREMISES

• SINGLE NUMBER FOR A SUBSCRIBER

– SECURITY REQUIREMENTS :DIFFICULTY IN SUBSCRIBER VERIFICATION– COMMERCIAL REQUIREMENT : A COMPETING CONCEPT TO NUMBER

PORTABILITY

TRENDS PAST,PRESENT AND FUTURE

• GROWTH OF FIXED LINE– REQUIREMENT OF USO ESP AFTER SUCCESS OF WLL

• GROWTH OF MOBILE VOICE SERVICES E– ESP DUE TO REDUCTION OF COST OF MOBILE EQUIPMENT/HS

• CROSS OVER OF MOBILE OVER FIXED LINE VOICE SERVICES

• CROSS OVER OF DATA OVER VOICE SERVICES– INCREASE IN APPLICAIONS E-COMMERCE,E-BANKING ETC

• CROSS OVER OF MOBILE INTERNET OVER FIXED INTERNET– AVAILABILITY OF SPECTRUM

• TECHNICAL COSOLIDATION : CONVERGENCE OF ICT AND DIFFERENT TECHNOLOGY STANDARDS ON A SINGLE PLATFORM

• COMMERCIAL COSOLIDATION : – ANYONE,ANYTIME,ANYWHERE,ANY SERVICE