Updated: Indias 3G Auction To Be Held On 30th Jan

A quick update: PTI reports that the last date for accepting applications for the 3G Auction has been oushed forward till Jan 20th, apparently on account of not enough applications from foreign operators. However, there is no update yet on the Department of Telecoms official auction index, which was last updated on December 24th.

Frankly, the 3G auction is over-hyped and it’s more likely to be seen as a means of launching new services or acquiring spectrum for voice, than 3G services alone. Given the global financial crisis, it’s not likely many operators will look to raise money for investing in the 3G auction and/or rollout, unless they’re sitting on a significant amount of cash. We don’t expect things to improve much by the 20th.

We’ll update this post if there is an update. However, IF the timetable is changed, it is likely to be as follows:

* - unconfirmed

On Qualcomm’s Low Cost PC For 3G: Kayak

 At India Telecom 2008, Qualcomm showcased Kayak, a low cost, low power computing device; an alternative to the PC for rural areas. Some of the features of the device:

Power consumption: we’ve heard in the past about how HCL developed PCs that work on car batteries for rural areas because availability of power is scarce, and how some villagers travel for miles to recharge their phones. Kayak doesn’t require a UPS or battery backup - it uses less than 5 Watts of power to run. The prototype Qualcomm showcased doesn’t come with a battery built in, but the company said that the commercial unit can run for 3-5 hours without electricity, depending on the battery size.

Ruggedness: Kayak is powered by a rugged processor, the kind used in mobile handsets which survive despite rough use. There are no moving parts and uses a flash drive for storage. One can also use network storage for files.

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MTNL 3G Services Demo’ed; Commercial Launch By Mid Feb

Updated below
At the India Telecom 2008 Summit today, 3G services were launched with an inaugural video conversation between Telecom Minister A.Raja and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. However, that was just a “soft launch” - 3G infrastructure has not been fully deployed yet, and MTNL sources told MediaNama that the 3G network is present only in a 10 km radius around Central Delhi.

According to our sources, the commercial launch of 3G services is planned for the middle of February, though it could also stretch to early March, depending on the infrastructure rollout. MTNL is yet to finalize a tariff plan, and despite repeated prodding, the executives at the MTNL stall did not comment on the tariff.

We did get to try out some of the services that have been launched:

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3G In India: TRAI Proposes New 3G Auction Guidelines; Delay?

Whatever the reason the policy makers put out, we’ve been expecting that the 3G auctions will take place after the next elections. Now the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released a 61 page document on modifications to the 3G Auction (warning: 6.3 mb PDF) From the press release:

• The standalone 3G operator who does not have any allotment of 2G spectrum should also pay an annual spectrum charge of 3% of Annual AGR, which is equivalent to the lowest slab of 2G operator. It is clarified that this is besides the administrative charges.
• The availability of 3G spectrum including anticipated should be put in public domain for the knowledge of bidders. It becomes particularly relevant as DoT has already decided to allocate spectrum to BSNL and MTNL.
• All available spectrum in 2.1GHz including anticipated spectrum availability within the next one year is put to auction so as to maximize the number of 3G service providers.
• Two percent (2%) of the highest bid amount as annual administrative charge during the validity period of 3G spectrum.
• a moratorium of one year from the date of allocation of spectrum in respect of payment of administrative charge, since operators will take time to roll-out services

How Prepared Is MTNL For The 3G Launch?

How prepared is MTNL to launch 3G services? It’s certain that the company is going to launch 3G services tomorrow - the CMD RSP Sinha is now on record stating that the service will be made available to its existing “premium” customers in Delhi for two months, before being launched in Mumbai. They want customers to try out the services before paying a premium for them.

But in its rush to launch the service - indeed, officially be the first 3G carrier in India - MTNL doesn’t appear to be adequately prepared. The network in Delhi is not yet complete, and the service will be restricted to NDMC areas and Gurgaon. What’s more, I just called the MTNL mobile helpline to inquire about how I can sign up for 3G services, and I was assured that “There is no such service being launched.”

The governments annual telecom conference, India Telecom 2008, begins tomorrow, and there is little doubt that the 3G launch has more to do with the conference than the actual preparedness of the company to launch 3G services. And that is sad, but symptomatic of the government owned telco’s approach.

Says Sinha, to the Hindu, “We were the first to launch broadband service, IPTV and Voice over Internet Protocol. Now, we are all set to become the first to launch 3G services in the country.”

3G In India: MTNL To Launch 3G Services On December 11th; Limitations?

MTNL has set to launch 3G services on December 11th, according to several media reports. This is in line with something that D Shivkumar, MD of Nokia India had said at the launch of the Nokia Music Store: that Prime Miniser Manmohan Singh will make the first 3G call in India on December 11th. This also co-incides with the Department of Telecom’s year-end conference - India Telecom 2008.

MTNL is getting a significant head start over private 3G operators, since the license auction is expected to be in January. There are murmurs that the 3G auction will be delayed further. I think if it gets delayed beyond February 2009, then it’s likely to be postponed until after the May 2009 general elections in India.

Will MTNLs 3G Service Really Be Useful?
MTNLs opearations are limited to Delhi and Mumbai, and it’s unlikely that 3G infrastructure has been laid out beyond these cities. Which means that even if you sign up for MTNLs 3G services, you can only use them within city limits.

There are likely to be interoperability agreements between the two public sector carriers - MTNL and BSNL; when BSNL had initially launched its mobile services, users were able to switch to MTNL networks when in Delhi and Mumbai, where BSNL wasn’t allowed to operate. But how much of BSNLs infrastructure has been laid out so far?  Remember that BSNL already has EVDO services live in Bangalore.

Will I Sign Up For MTNLs 3G Service?
Not for video streaming or whatever else they have planned, but I will sign up for fast Internet access/Mobile broadband. I’m using a Reliance Net Connect data card which is good for emails, and occasionally for posts, but the bandwidth and network availability is rather poor. 

P.s.: time for MTNL to change its logo, yes?

What Operators Need To Learn For 3G Rollout; Video Streaming Issues - Rajat Mukarji, Idea Cellular

At the 3G India Forum yesterday, Rajat Mukarji, Head of Corporate Affairs for Idea Cellular gave the mobile operators perspective on adjusting as an organization, to a 3G environment. Some inputs from his presentation:

Video Coverage: During the Q&A, Mukarji was asked about whether coverage will be seamless when one travels from Delhi to Jaipur (i.e. from one state to another). His response: When moving from one state to another, you will be moving out from one network, into another network, and you will have a call drop. We have no control of that - that’s the way our circles are structured.

In todays 2.75G environment, you can get a mobile TV experience with appropriate buffering, but at a different price point. If the demand is such, it will be buffered all the way down to Jaipur. All we have set up is a voice network - it is seamless, and the same across the board, with the single objective of voice calls. In case of 3G, I will have to tailor the network according to the new demands, and the price points will reflect that. Ian Locke, VP for Envivo added that there is technology which allows for a seamless switch will switch seamlessly between low, medium, and high resolutions streams, depending on the bandwith avalable. If users have to choose between between stopping the stream altogether, or it being live and with switches in quality, they tend to choose the latter.

Inputs from Mukarji on what operators need to figure out: (more…)