India could be one of world's first LTE nations

India could leapfrog many European operators and get LTE into the market next year, and AT&T could be looking for a return to the huge market. The long delays and limited spectrum associated with 3G will make carriers eager to push forward into 4G, say hopeful suppliers, and the regulator, TRAI, is to send its proposals for next generation services to the government by June.

Focal Points:

• Meanwhile, the first wave of LTE deployments will be in the 2.3GHz BWA spectrum, auctioned last year, which supports the TDD mode. AT&T may be looking to get a new foothold in India via this band, and is in talks to acquire Qualcomm's licenses, according to local reports cited by DNA. Qualcomm acquired licenses in several regions, including the largest cities Delhi and Mumbai, as a means to get TD-LTE into India rather than WiMAX, which until that time had been expected to dominate the BWA rollouts. Qualcomm is working with two local partners but has said it would sell off its spectrum at an early stage.
• AT&T exited the Indian mobile market in 2006, when it divested its stake in a venture with Tata and the Aditya Birla Group, and an attempt to re-enter in 2008 broke down. Foreign participation in last year's 3G auctions was far less than had been anticipated, because of regulatory restrictions, the strength of incumbent cellcos, and the high cost of spectrum. However, several major players, such as Vodafone, NTT DoCoMo and Telenor, already have mobile joint ventures and others will look to enter. Qualcomm paid just over $1bn for its licenses in four regions.
• The availability of the BWA spectrum will enable some carriers to gain some real world experience of 4G services in India, even though the band is primarily geared to fixed access.
• Reliance Infotel, the only nationwide holder of this spectrum, is currently evaluating possible TD-LTE vendors, while another major holder, state-owned BSNL, is using WiMAX.
• One of Infotel's candidates is Alcatel-Lucent, which has lost out to its rivals in many of the Indian 3G deals, but has high hopes of TD-LTE. Rajeev Singh-Molares, the French firm's vociferous president of Asia-Pacific operations, told TotalTelecom at last week's Mobile World Congress: "The people that bought [BWA licences] paid enormous amounts of money for them, so they're going to have to build something with it if they want to see a return. There will be commercial services launching in Q4, or Q1."
• JS Sarma, chairman of TRAI, said a pre-consultation paper on 4G had already been launched and this will turn into an official document in about one month's time.

Editor’s Note: We are sure that the “world” (more likely other LTE carriers) will be watching to see how LTE national rollout project fares. This snapshot coupled with the discussion brought up last week regarding WiMax vs. LTE demonstrates that in the battle for wireless marketshare, LTE rollouts are becoming very aggressive.