Current prices of LTE devices are way too high (starting at $100 for USB dongles) for the average Indian consumer.
The curve of device prices to reach below $30 (the price an Indian consumer can afford) would be on par as that witnessed by Wimax, and thus may take up to 18-24 months to reach that level. Because of this, Indian operators are expected to develop an initial strategy of targeting
business users.
From an economic perspective Chinese vendors (Huawei & ZTE) are usually cheaper, but they have faced some legal trouble when entering the Indian market due to security concerns from the government and competition between the two countries.
business users.
From an economic perspective Chinese vendors (Huawei & ZTE) are usually cheaper, but they have faced some legal trouble when entering the Indian market due to security concerns from the government and competition between the two countries.
When price is a concern and the most price competitive vendors face roadblocks entering the market, TD-LTE adoption may evolve even slower than expected.
It will be interesting to watch – at least in the beginning – how chipset vendors manage to offer cheap LTE chipsets so the resulting device price is suitable for the Indian economy. Qualcomm is not the only chipset vendor, so the results of efforts made by the company to foster TD-LTE adoption in India will also be enjoyed by other players.
RIL's decision to deploy TD-LTE rather than Wimax is likely to be followed by the other major BWA spectrum holders, such as Bharti Airtel and Aircel. One of our industry sources has informed us that Augere, another Indian BWA licensee, has decided to go with LTE. Tikona, which bagged five circles in the BWA auctions, has already revealed that it will adopt LTE.
It will be in BWA license holders’ best interest to opt for vendor financing. Although major operators like RIL and Bharti Airtel can fund deployments, vendor financing arrangements provide additional confidence that the vendor will deliver networks that work well. It can also result in a substantial cost advantage over the duration of the financing. This tends to lock in the supplier, which is the obvious objective during this formative stage of TD-LTE trials and deployments.
It will be interesting to watch – at least in the beginning – how chipset vendors manage to offer cheap LTE chipsets so the resulting device price is suitable for the Indian economy. Qualcomm is not the only chipset vendor, so the results of efforts made by the company to foster TD-LTE adoption in India will also be enjoyed by other players.
RIL's decision to deploy TD-LTE rather than Wimax is likely to be followed by the other major BWA spectrum holders, such as Bharti Airtel and Aircel. One of our industry sources has informed us that Augere, another Indian BWA licensee, has decided to go with LTE. Tikona, which bagged five circles in the BWA auctions, has already revealed that it will adopt LTE.
It will be in BWA license holders’ best interest to opt for vendor financing. Although major operators like RIL and Bharti Airtel can fund deployments, vendor financing arrangements provide additional confidence that the vendor will deliver networks that work well. It can also result in a substantial cost advantage over the duration of the financing. This tends to lock in the supplier, which is the obvious objective during this formative stage of TD-LTE trials and deployments.