Qualcomm has got it right

If there is one company that has gained big time from the developments in the Indian telecom space it has to be San Diego based chip maker Qualcomm. The number of CDMA based pan Indian operators in the country will soon go up from two to four with the entry of Sistema and BSNL. The entry of these two players has more or less nullified any adverse impact from Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices' decision to get into GSM based services. Qualcomm, which holds a monopoly on CDMA related patents, is hoping that 41 million handsets will be sold in the country this year. Though thats a little less than the 51 million done last year, the numbers are not bad given that everyone had written off CDMA in India a few months back (see 'CDMA's second innings'). But the real push for Qualcomm will come when India starts rolling out 3G services. The chip maker holds significant patents on 3G devices for both EVDO (to be deployed by CDMA operators) and WCDMA technologies (to be deployed by GSM operators). With 4 CDMA operators and at least 5 GSM players set to roll out 3G services in the country, thats a huge opportunity for Qualcomm. Already the company is drooling over the prospects and is hoping that India climbs up the ladder in terms of contribution to its global revenues. I met Kanwalinder Singh, the man who is driving Qualcomm's business in the country and he is bullish. In a bid to make third-generation mobile and broadband services affordable, Qualcomm is taking a slew of initiatives, including an Internet access device priced at around Rs 8,000. The company also plans to launch a USB port priced at around Rs 3,500 to access high-speed wireless broadband on laptops or PCs. While 3G services are yet to enter the country, Qualcomm is already gearing up to provide the end-devices at affordable rates.
“We are ready for 3G. We have the devices, and using our single chip solution we have been able to arrive at a price point that is suited to the Indian market. Once the policy is announced and operators start rolling out 3G services, we will make sure that consumers are able to take benefit of this technology,” Kanwalinder Singh said.
The USB port based on HSDPA technology is expected to be launched in the fourth quarter of 2008. “Our success with CDMA-2000 based USB ports has proved that there is a demand for wireless data access devices. We will replicate that success in the 3G segment by pricing the USB port at less than Rs 3,500,” Singh said. CDMA-based wireless data cards have been a huge hit in the country with as many as 5 million subscribers. Qualcomm also plans to introduce smart phones priced less than Rs 10,000 and based on multi-operating systems such as Windows, Linux and Android.
On the low-cost Internet access device, Mr Singh said the aim is to enable consumers to access broadband without having to invest in a laptop or PC. The product is in the design stage. Qualcomm is also in talks with Indian mobile operators to launch carrier branded 3G handsets. “Operators such as Vodafone and Hutchison have their own handset brands for 3G services in Europe. In India too we think that Indian GSM operators will launch 3G services bundled with their own branded handsets. We are in talks with them to work out the deal with an OEM (original equipment manufacturer),” Mr Singh said. Qualcomm is in talks with Indian handset brands such as Spice to launch 3G-enabled handsets. There's only a small hitch in the entire plan. Indian policy makers have been talking about 3G services for more than two years. Still there is no finality on when the high speed mobile service will actually be permitted, espcially since there is a question mark on the availability of spectrum. Qualcomm would be hoping that 2008 will be the year of high speed growth in India.