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To: r.edwards who wrote (66696)	2/14/2000 9:08:00 AM
From: Lipko	Respond to of 152472

r.e. - the Indian news preceded hours earlier by the CITIC information represents early extensions into China and India that we have all been waiting for. I appreciate information that we can grab hold of. We need to realize that in a few years CDMA and 3G will penetrate in huge numbers into these countries which cannot afford to lay extensive land lines into remote villages. They are poor - it will take years - but I have learned here from those who have been around for the couple of years I've been lurking that the real key is PATIENCE. Its coming to us - it may be inadvisable to run from this opportunity. Thanks to all those who keep us posted on developments as they are released in the media. Best, John

To: r.edwards who wrote (66696)	2/14/2000 9:09:00 AM
From: slacker711	Respond to of 152472

INDIA is STARTING ! INDIA CDMA !> Sort of....MTNL introduced a 10,000 line CDMA network in October '99. They have since stated that they plan on expanding the network to 50,000 lines by March and to 150,000 lines over the next couple of years. It seems like this network is both mobile and Fixed (dont ask me how). delhi.mtnl.net.in Unfortunately I believe that the first part of the article that you pasted is actually referring to a parallel GSM network that they are setting up. This network will have a capacity of 100,000 by June. In many of these articles it seems like the word "mobile" is interchangeable with GSM and the word "WLL" is always referring to CDMA. At least CDMA has seen some progress...prior to August, GSM was the mandated national standard. Slacker

To: r.edwards who wrote (66696)	2/14/2000 11:26:00 AM
From: recycled_electron	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

MTNL will go cellular in Delhi, Mumbai by June... As a wireless technology, CDMA has been in India since 1994. The hope has always been that the laws of scale and economy will eventually pave the way for widespread use of CDMA in both WLL and Cellular applications in India. Consider the following comments on the past performance of wireless technologies in India: 1. GSM was the mandated wireless standard for cellular (till now) and CDMA was one of the WLL technologies (DECT was the other one, I believe). GSM networks have grown to capture the "need-to-be-mobile" market (executives, doctors, traders etc.). But future growth potential now appears to be limited, because the "wanna-be-mobile" market is looking for bargains on mobile handsets, call rates that existing GSM operators would be unable to support financially. The huge market that everyone talks about when discussing India seems to be for those future operators who shall be able to significantly beat the "GSM rates". 2. On the other hand, WLL networks never really took off because of the tiny systems that were initially deployed - representing a grossly disproportional return on initial capital investment. WLL was initially a government prerogative. The government wanted to be cautious about introducing new technology - pilot projects (like the QCOM network in New Delhi since 1996) were used with few hundreds and later few thousands of subscribers - nothing that would justify initial capital outlay of a few millions of $s. WLL was never really given a chance to grow. But people did notice the excellent voice quality, high call completion rates, rapid installation of initial service etc. Recently, unconfirmed rumors suggest that the TRAI (the telecom regulatory wing of the Govt. of India) has adopted a technology-neutral stance for future growth of cellular networks. MTNL has seized this opportunity to expand CDMA WLL networks to offer both "fixed-wireless" (wireless local loop) and some limited mobility (believe GSM operators are now crying foul since MTNL claims to be able to offer lower rates on mobile-CDMA calling-plans and initial handset costs). Another unconfirmed rumor is that LGIC (of Korea) has been contracted to supply good quantities of CDMA WLL terminals. This, along with the use of Motorola/Fujitsu infrastructure, seems to indicate that MTNL is now serious about expanding its hybrid WLL/Mobile CDMA networks into other metropolitan areas. Is MTNL trying to vie for the "wanne-be-mobile" market? Is MTNL finally beginning to believe that they need larger #s of subscribers than a few hundreds to really make money off of any wireless network? For the sake of CDMA and growth of wireless usage in India, one would hope that the answer to both questions is yes. Regards, SRoy ps. Mobile users can indeed be supported in a primarily WiLL CDMA network. The tradeoff is between capacity and mobility (handoff legs used by mobile users temporarily use more basestation resources). But these can be balanced with proper network planning, achieving a network that can be predominantly WiLL with say 5-10% mobile users out of the supported customer base.