VSNL rolls out WiMax services in Bangalore
Economic Times — June 1, 2007

The Tata-owned Videsh Sanchar Nigam (VSNL) has rolled out WiMax services in India. To begin with, the global communications company will offer the services to enterprise customers in Bangalore.

VSNL will extend its WiMax network to about 120 cities across India for enterprise customers and in five cities for retail customers by the end of this financial year. WiMax refers to high-speed internet access over a wireless connection and it is a low-cost way to provide internet connectivity in places where laying cables is difficult.

"We are proud to be the first company to launch WiMax-based services in India. This will help VSNL offer very high quality and seamless connectivity to our enterprise customers," VSNL president (global data and mobility solutions) Vinod Kumar said in a statement in Mumbai.

"The launch of WiMax by VSNL offers a wireless solution to last mile connectivity issues faced by enterprise customers and opens up exciting possibilities for retail customers. WiMax has the potential to offer high-speed, wireless connectivity for data and Internet applications," it said.

A number of companies from sectors like retail, financial services and automobiles are using VSNL's Wimax services. VSNL has launched WiMax after conducting pilots in Bangalore and other locations VSNL is also the leader in the Wi-Fi space, with nearly 300 public hotspots in India.

Among operators, Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) is also planning to launch WiMax services very soon, having undertaken pilots at 14 locations. While Motorola as well as Nortel are offering equipment for WiMax, Alcatel-Lucent has completed the country's first live WiMax field trial using Aircel's licensed spectrum.

WiMax also allows applications in moving conditions such as video streaming, high-speed file downloads, voice over IP and web browsing.