Massive WiMax Network for India

An anonymous reader writes "Engadget reports that the largest Indian telecom company is planning to build a mobile WiMax network covering three states on the subcontinent capable of serving 250 million people. State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited is leaning on Soma Networks to build the broadband-speed network in response to government requirement that 20 million broadband lines be in service by 2010." Meanwhile I can't even get cable. Maybe it's time to move to India.

Re:Which three states?

[oook_in]

Looks like it's Maharashtra, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. This article [thehindubusinessline.com] also mentions that the roll out is supposed to happen by 2010. The weird thing is that the city of Mumbai in Maharashtra is serviced by another telecom company MTNL and not BSNL. I wonder if it will be covered by this WiMax network.

Re:Wimax or infrastructure

[the_masked_mallard]

When in Rome ... etc etc http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anal_cleansing#Water [wikipedia.org] FYI, I am Indian.

Re:Like mobile phones

[__walk_the_talk]

Your comment seems to imply that cabling is better than wireless.While this is certainly true for optic fibres,wireless will beat conventional copper twisted pair cabling hands down in many cases.The cost/capacity ratio is simply too skewed in favour of wireless,in India.And this has nothing to do with India being "under-developed".This is simple engineering. Anyway,India has a significant investment in Optic Fiber channels.There are companies both in public and private sectors,that specialize in making optic links,as well as the associated electronics. Our telephone network sucked big time around the beginning of the 1980's,with poor connectivity and very very bad voice quality.That was the time when optic fibre came into the market in a big way.The expanding indian landline sector embraced it ,and as a result we have surplus capacity on all our optic links today. The bigger issue in India,so far as cabling goes,is the digging up of roads and getting government permissions.It is such a big hassle ,that most private operators have laid down many times(typically 10-15) the capacity they need. The base stations are connected by fibre optic rings.Wireless is only for the "last mile" link.That being the case,concerns expressed about spectrum exhaustion seem to be misplaced.You have to remember that there are no tall structures in Indian villages.A strategically located base station has a much larger footprint in such conditions.Propogation is essentially free space(until it hits the tree canopies), with the associated low attentuation and superior quality for much lower investment.