3 cheers to 3G

We are very excited with the imminent adoption of 3G networks and technologies in India. For a country which is enamoured by television and films, high quality transmission of TV channels, downloading music tracks and streaming video is likely to be killer applications with availability of better bandwidth and reliable data transfer at high speed. 3G technologies have capability to support heavier downloads of multimedia files.

Mobile being such a personal product, entertainment on mobile will see phenomenal growth. Each user will make choices based on his tastes and content developers and providers can fulfill their demands on multimedia platform. Whether it is music on demand, streaming videos, video blogging, video chatting or films shot especially for small mobile screens, we wouldn’t be limited to voice or text.

Last mile connectivity being a major issue, number of Indians with internet access has been very limited. For a large number of present count of 170 million mobile subscribers, internet connectivity via 3G networks would be first brush with it dues to its faster internet browsing capability. Email functions by handheld is expected to become an essential service for mobile Indians in 3G scenario.

Rural India, which is the target for expansion of subscriber base, can be served well with applications that fulfill the lack of certain basic amenities. They include access to knowledge centres like institutes of learning or even libraries, medical facilities and others. Interactive learning can be facilitated with video conferencing or visually interactive medical aid over mobile phones or for that matter even talk to a medical representative sitting in some other location. Farming advice can be sought by sending visual images of their fields/crops to experts in government organisations.

Gaming which is on rise in India, will take off to greater heights as feature rich mobiles will offer console like gaming experience. New emerging technologies will support greater interaction among groups of users. Multiple user gaming, currently not much fun due to poor state of GPRS connection, will see phenomenal growth.

Mobile banking, payment through mobiles will be another growth dimension. Of course for telcos,  especially in current scenario of over subscribed to the point of choking networks, the most significant feature of 3G technologies is the capability to support greater number of voice and data customers. But 3G services, if priced correctly – and this is going to be the success determinant – will see mobiles evolving into an organiser, entertainment device, payment device and of course communication device for masses. Revenue from such value added services through 3G is the ray of light for telcos who will continue to see drop in the bottom line of voice revenue.

One97 Partners with HP for Enhanced Voice and 3G Applications for telco networks

HP OpenCall Powers Technology Development at One97
One97 Communications, India’s leading telecom solutions provider in partnership with Hewlett-Packard, has announced the setting up of a first of its kind 3G telecom and technology laboratory to research and develop technologies and applications for the 2.5G and 3G market. The research lab is powered by HP’s OpenCall Media Platform (OCMP), the most comprehensive and mature voice service platform in the industry. HP OCMP enables rapid development and secure deployment of next-gen voice and video messaging, portals and enhanced interactive services.

With this partnership, HP recognizes One97 Communications’ commitment to the development of high quality and innovative mobile applications. This relationship enables One97 to offer ready-to-install applications for 2G and 3G networks for the Indian as well as the Global markets. The R & D at the new laboratory will focus on creating applications for deployment and integration of HP platform with existing telecom networks including development of VAS applications.

According to Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Managing Director, One97 communications, “One97’s vision and focus entails becoming a global VAS enabler through business and technology innovations. Partnership with HP provides us with the latest developments in network platforms and access to their worldwide support services to help build unrivalled capability as a global telecom VAS service provider.”

Says T Srinivasan, Executive Director, HP Software: “We chose to partner with One97 Communications as they have a proven record of leadership in developing and executing innovative applications that cater to market requirements. HP is the global leader in the supply of 3G technological platforms and this relationship helps showcase this prowess.”
HP OCMP supports development of the VoiceXML applications, as well as IP multimedia subsystem based services with its media resource function capabilities including next-generation voice mail, mass alarming and alerting, 3G video capabilities, personalized ring-back tone, video messaging and others. Scalable and backed by HP’s worldwide delivery, support and services organization, the HP OCMP integrates easily with existing network architectures, allowing service providers to rapidly capitalize on near-term business opportunities such as large-scale interactive voice response (IVR) applications, unified messaging, virtual call centers and entertainment services.

Voice or video – which platform would light the next fire in mobile domain?

World cup being not so far away, cricket rules the mind of most Indians – the coverage especially. None of the cricket fans care to miss even a moment of the game. It is not so impossible to understand why they wish 3G/WiMax was a reality now which would give them access to down live video streaming of matches on their mobile. (Business Line article) 

If the roll out of 3G/WiMax occurs in 2007 and all goes well, by 2008 we can look forward to applications which indulges our need to communicate and express our opinion . They could be: 

• Video chatting on mobile
• Video blogging from mobile 
• Video enabled interactive TV
• Disaster management
• Medical help

But, then like all good intentions, this too is dependent on actual implementation. Service cost, coverage area, ease of use, handset cost – all this will determine the popularity of these applications. I for one, am looking forward to using these services for relief management and making good education easily available to people sitting in remote corners of the country.    

 

 

3G in India

Mobile operators in many countries are successfully providing the choice between 3G and 2G services. Businesses, even those in the economies which are still testing the 3G technology, are looking forward to mobile device capability like videoconferencing, internet access at broadband speeds and real-time content sharing and are excited about the 3G data cards for laptops. In Indian context localized content and applications, affordability and quality of service will be major issues in 3G market. VAS developers are ready to roll out innovative applications as soon as 3G trials are successful and mobile operators are allocated bandwidth for commercial services.

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