TRANSMISSION

Sliding Down

Slow.adoption.of.3G.and.moderate.growth. in.2G.coupled.with.political.uncertainties. resulted.in.the.downfall.

The Indian transmission industry has shown negative growth, thanks to 2G license cancellation coupled with political uncertainties. Slow adoption of 3G along with moderate growth in 2G has also led to this decline which has resulted in large operators holding back on their planned capex investments. The sector also did not see any large scale public sector tender.

The Supreme Court judgment on cancellation of 122 licenses had an adverse impact on the capex as lot of bandwidth was freed up with the shutting of shops and lot of uncertainty in the market. So, operators were more cautious when it comes to fresh capital outlays for transmission deals—be it network upgrades or for new rollouts and were deferring their decision for purchase of equipment.

Initially, operators did not spend anything on core network for 3G rollout but having burnt their fingers, operators are looking at new technologies like Carrier Ethernet, GPON, and 40G/100G network. All these would be required for 3G rollout, making 4G ready network, and capacity expansion in national long distance network.

The Players

Alcatel-Lucent has done well to help operators transform their networks to next-generation optics. The company has supplied transmission equipment for major 3G operators who are ensuring adequate data carrying capacities in their networks. The company has supplied a top Indian service provider with backbone expansions and new network/links including ASON expansions.