Wi-Fi access in India is still the realm of the wireless junkie, but with
laptop prices going south, and with the productivity benefits of mobility coming
to fore, hotspots could soon become white hot
The information age may swear by its credo of anytime anywhere access to
information, but technologies like Wi-Fi that enable information access on the
go are not omnipre-sent yet, even in advanced geogra-phies. The emerging Wi-Fi
para-digm is manifesting itself in India in the form of WLAN deployments in
enterprises and at hotspots in public areas. But public hotspots have hitherto
been a slow starter in India, the larger market currently being in the
enterprise space. The hotspots concept has, all the same, the potential to
change the way people use the Internet.
According to industry analysts, the public WLAN landscape is complex and
continually evolving. While it has taken off at record pace, the underlying
infrastructure to support the Wi-Fi networks is still rudimentary. Wi-Fi
revenues across various service offerings like hardware and service providers
are estimated to touch $1.6 bn by 2008.
The emergence of OSS players like Pronto Networks is making the life of
hotspot providers easy in terms of billing and the like. For instance concepts
like the managed service provider (MSP) model enables the hotspot provider to
outsource the entire requirements to players like Pronto.
Says Paramjit Singh Puri, head, APAC and Pronto Networks, India,
"Hotspots in India currently center round the hospitality industry. The
concept of true public hotspots in areas like parks, shopping malls, and
airports is yet to pick up in a big way. We provide the operational support
systems (OSS), the vital element in managing Wi-Fi access and networks. For
instance, we provide controllers that enable billing and usage details for Wi-Fi
access among others. Globally we are providing the services to about 1,000 live
hotspots and recently we have bagged a huge project from Dishnet Wireless for
managing about 5,000 hotspots in the country over time."
The Connectivity Matrix
Hotspots in India are in dire need of generating awareness about their
existence. Most service providers are just testing the market and going by the
feedback, there is no mechanism yet to rate the usage patterns on any given day.
How-ever, datacom vendors like D-Link and service providers like Dishnet and
Sify are going ahead with their Wi-Fi initiatives with bullish market
predictions. Says V Srinivasan, CEO, Dishnet Wireless, "We plan to set up
6,000 Wi-Fi hotspots across India, covering leading hotels, rest-aurants,
educational institutions, coffee shops in time."
In places like Bangalore, all the international coffee chains and cafes have
Wi-Fi-enabled their outfits, but the sustainability of the same is questionable
due to dismal usage patterns. Five star hotels have, for their part, mostly been
forced to adopt Wi-Fi to lure the global business traveler. Says Paramjit,
"The hotspots concept started out with hotels in the US, and with time has
spread to other locations. In India, the leading five star hotels have to offer
Wi-Fi because business travelers from the West refuse to check in if a hotel
does not have Wi-Fi access."
Hotspots are also turning out to be a great business opportunity for hardware
vendors like D-Link who provide the Wi-Fi products that power hotspots. Says
Anand Mehta, manager, new business areas development, D-Link India,
"Hotspots have caught the fancy of many people, and besides, are associated
with snob value, and convey a kind of exclusivity because the number of laptops
in India is small and the number of laptops with Wi-Fi connectivity is even
smaller. Hence not many people use them. Unless and until Wi-Fi access is
provided free of cost, it will remain the domain of Wi-Fi junkies."
MOBILITY |
|
Top 10 WiFi Countries |
|
Countries | No of hotspots |
United States |
20,776 |
United Kingdom |
8,077 |
Germany | 5,681 |
France | 2,938 |
Japan | 1,222 |
Italy | 1,110 |
Switzerland | 1,002 |
Spain | 826 |
Canada | 770 |
Australia | 769 |
Source: Jiwire.com |
|
Top 10 WiFi Cities |
|
Countries | No of hotspots |
London | 1,001 |
New York |
804 |
Paris | 738 |
Singapore | 537 |
Hong Kong |
482 |
Tokyo | 468 |
Berlin | 408 |
Chicago | 381 |
San Francisco |
374 |
Seattle | 325 |
Source: Jiwire.com |
|
India Hotspots |
|
Cities | No of hotspots |
Bangalore | 216 |
Chennai | 8 |
Mumbai | 6 |
Delhi | 6 |
Vishakapatnam | 1 |
Goa | 2 |
Hyderabad | 2 |
Jammu | 1 |
Kolkata | 1 |
Source: Jiwire.com and industry estimates |
Access charges are certainly on the higher side in the five star hotels,
which charge upwards of Rs 100 for an hour, with some hotels charging Rs 1,000
for 24-hour access. Meanwhile, at public hotspots like the one in Chennai's
Central Railway Station or at cafeterias are comparatively cheaper and are
priced between Rs 60 and upwards per hour of usage. However, there are no set
revenue models and no pricing parity, and thus rates vary from place to place.
But despite dismal usage patte-rns, India, in recent times, has turned out to
be one of the big-gest consumers of mobile pho-nes. Unlike the US, India has
adopted both GSM and CDMA with ease. In a similar fashion, at a later point in
time, notebooks will make rapid strides. Users who can do access the Internet on
the go using their mobiles even today.
The seeds of a mobile culture are thus being sown, laying the ground for what
will not just be an upward movement in the swankiness of one's life-style, but
for dramatic increases in individual productivity. In true cause-and-effect
style, the need to increase connectivity and pro-ductivity is one development
that will hasten the demand for being able to access the Net on the go. And
hotspots are going to play a critical role in this in the days to come.
Shrikanth G in
Chennai