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"In India WiMAX services will find acceptance only among select parts of the wireless market"
Gartner, in its recently published report has observed that India will remain a niche market for WiMAX until 2009. In a conversation with Bettina Tratz-Ryan, Research VP, Carrier Network Infrastructure, Harshal Kallyanpur got an insight into the issue.
What is the existence of WiMAX in India?
WiMAX does exist in India but it has very limited deployment. Only a few enterprises and high end residential users are using the technology. The consumer segment is still away from deploying the technology.
What is the reason for this limited deployment and what are the challenges faced?
A primary reason is regulation issues. WiMAX is still under certification. The certification is delayed by 9 months. The technology operates on a high bandwidth and very limited bandwidth is available for deployment. Due to this mass deployment is not possible. Globally, the available bandwidth for the technology is 10-12 Mhz whereas currently available bandwidth is between 4-6 MHz. Even if WiMAX is deployed it can be done in urban areas where the infrastructure supports this kind of technology.
What about rural areas? The government too has been trying to deploy WiMAX extensively in rural areas.
Although the government has made provisions to deploy WiMAX in rural areas due to the low number of PCs the demand for the technology is also low. Also the allocated spectrum is not scalable to cover an extensive area with WiMAX.
Is cost an issue when deploying WiMAX in India. If so, then how?
The main cost involved is the base station and access point installation. Cost of scalability is the next issue. The number of subscribers using WiMAX services will determine the cost of deployment. We estimate the ARPU to be in the range of $20 to $25 for Indian carriers.
“Most IT/ITES companies in the country pay almost 50 percent of their energy bill due to their air-conditioning load”
According to the Indian Green Building Council, environmentally friendly buildings have increased from 6,000 sq. m in 2003 to 304,800 sq. m by the end of 2008. Cutting down on energy consumption is one of the topmost issues that companies are dealing with. One of the large players in the Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) space, Trane’s Pankaj Gupta, Country Manager (Building Automation Systems Division) - India, Bangladesh and Nepal Region, spoke to Jamsheed Gandhi on the issues at hand and the benefits of incorporating good energy design principles.
What has been your company’s view on the Green IT initiative?
We are looking at going beyond the conventional parameters that define Green IT. To us location air-conditioning, whether it be an office, a factory or a datacenter, is one of the biggest energy consumers. With most companies running on a 24 by 7 basis, it means the lights and the air-conditioning has to be always on. This is the area we try and address with our solutions. We combine energy savings with indoor air quality, and in order to decrease energy consumed, we need to decrease the refrigeration load. In my view most IT/ITES companies pay almost 50 percent of their energy bill because of their air-conditioning load. This is a huge operating cost for any company.
Do you see Indian companies getting proactive in incorporating good energy design principles?
Yes. It is no more a trend but is now part of any business decision taken by the management. With the country facing a shortfall of almost 13 percent in peak demand power required, companies have no option but to get proactive and incorporate good energy saving designs into their locations. While it takes about two to three years for them to recover their investment in such a solution, they see the benefits in reducing their power bill in the long term.
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