Mumbai Carriers Put GPRS On Back Burner
NOVEMBER 19, 2001
The Economic Times via NewsEdge Corporation : BPL has failed to keep its
October date for the rollout of its General Packet Radio Service network while rival
Oranges plans for GPRS have been indefinitely postponed.
Officially, the reasons for the delay range from technical problems to lack of
availability of enough handsets. Unofficially, sources admit that the GPRS
business is not a hot proposition in todays world.
GPRS is a wireless internet technology which promises to speed up internet
access compared to wireless application protocol, the current technology for
internet access from cellular phones which did not enjoy the expected level of
success.
BPL officials said that their network was ready to roll, but there was a technical
hitch and the problem was with the handsets. They refused to give further
details.
A senior Mitsubishi official, one of the handset providers, confirmed that there
was no problem with the BPL network. "The problem lies in the handsets. The
Indian networks are different from the European networks where these phones
have been used. The handsets need certain changes before they can be used in
India, hence the delay, he said.
But the larger issue seems to be that of the price of the handset. Mitsubishi
plans to launch four models in India targeted at various segments of the
market. "While the model at the top end is likely to be priced around Rs 60,000,
the cheapest handset may cost not less than Rs 20,000, said the official.
The steep price of the handset is likely to result in few takers, which would be a
limiting factor for the market. It also raises questions about the viability of GPRS
as a business and is possibly the reason that corporates are shy of launching
GPRS at this juncture. One operator admitted that GPRS is not a viable business
proposition at this point in time.
Apart from the handset prices, the hoopla regarding internet connectivity through
mobile phones has also died down. Unlike last year, the euphoria over the
internet has died down and ISP businesses are floundering. The retail part of the
ISP business is going through tough times and corporate users seem to be the
only hope for ISPs.
According to sources, the lower demand for internet could have an impact on the
viability of GPRS as a business model.
This is because, the unique selling proposition (USP) of the GPRS is that a
person would be connected with the net all the time. Thus, he saves the time
taken to log on and would not have to worry about losing connectivity either.
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