New Service Is Part Wireline - Part Wireless

Some of the Asian research my firm has been doing for clients has revealed an interesting telecom trend happeing in the developing economies. In developing nations, land lines are not easily provisioned due to relatively weak infrastructure - The wires we take for granted running above and under all our streets just don't exist. In this climate, the telcos are starting to deploy wireless solutions for the last mile , or local loop (WLL). WLL solutions offered by firms like Reliance, TaTa, and Bharti in India and LittleSmart in China are usually permitted by the government so long as they do not provide mobility or roaming beyong the one tower nearest the customer's address. Thus, a new level of communication service is emerging, "limited-mobility wireless". With lower costs than true wireless and a rapid provision time, this class of service is winning customers and posing a threat to cellular wireless carriers. In India, the wireless carriers have tried every form of legal and political challenge to stop the progress of WLL, in China cellular operators are being forced to lower their prices to compete with LittleSmart. To learn more about Littlesmart, check out the Yahoo story. To learn more about WLL in India beware this long ZD piece.

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