India's Tata, US Telsima Team Up for WiMAX Deployment
March 07, 2008
Indian telecom operator Tata recently announced that it has signed a cooperative agreement with US-based equipment supplier Telsima for WiMAX deployment. The two companies plan to jointly build a WiMAX network across India, covering 110 cities for enterprise consumers and 15 cities for retail consumers by the end of 2008, the Economic Times of India reported.
As per the agreement, Tata will invest US$500 million over the next three years in establishing WiMAX network, with Telsima providing WiMAX infrastructure and equipment solutions. Currently, Tata has offered WiMAX services to over 5,000 enterprise and retail customers in Bengaluru starting in December 2007, according to India's Financial Express. Through the alliance, Tata plans to expand its WiMAX coverage to include Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, Cochin, Chandigarh, and Kolkata in both enterprise and retail segments, with the aim to attain 200,000 retail customers by March 2009, according to the Economic Times report.
Aside from the Tata-Telsima alliance, other WiMAX alliances in India include BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd) and US-based Soma, as well as Bharti Airtel and Aircel. Moreover, Reliance has also rolled out commercial WiMAX services in Bengaluru and Pune, according to EETimes.