BSNL plans LTE tech back-up besides WiMax

State-owned BSNL, the provider of WiMax technology has decided to have a back-up plan in case all other operators in the country opt for upcoming long-term evolution (LTE) technology platform. BSNL, which recently awarded contracts to four companies - Teracom, Take Solutions, Adishwar India and Ampoules- to roll out WiMax-based broadband services on a franchisee basis, has introduced a clause in their contracts mandating them to shift to the LTE technology standard, reports Joji Thomas Philip from The Economic Times.

These firms, which were selected through a bidding process, will share between 10-32 percent of their annual revenues with BSNL. Worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMax) and long-term evolution (LTE) are two similar but competing technology standards. Both are considered to be fourth-generation (4G) technology platforms. Five of the six private players (except Qualcomm), which won broadband spectrum in the recent auctions, are yet to commit to either of these technology standards.

Analysts and market watchers say that RIL - which acquired Infotel, the only company that holds broadband airwaves on a pan-India level - is set to opt for the LTE standard forcing others to follow suit. U.S. based chipmaker Qualcomm has announced plan to rollout services on the LTE standard in the four circles where it has won broadband frequencies. Intel also had invested over $1 billion to support Clearwire's network rollout

Another reason behind BSNL's move to include this clause is that globally, many players who have opted for WiMax have said they will migrate to LTE when commercial deployments on this technology standard takes off. For instance, Russia's leading WiMax operator Yota recently said it plans to switch to LTE as it expands its networks to more geographies.

In June about 110 mobile phone companies across 48 countries have committed to the LTE platform for rolling out broadband wireless services.

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