UTStarcom Juggernaut continues in India : By -Vijay Yadav Managing Director, South Asia Operations, UTStarcom

UTStarcom is the natural choice when it comes to IPTV deployment. The California-based company is considered to be the leader in the broadband infrastructure space and in a short span of time has established itself as a pioneer in the IPTV space in India.

 

The California-based company, UTStarcom, is the leading IPTV vendor in India. UTStarcom Inc. is a global provider of telecommunications solutions to the largest and fastest growing telecom service providers, including 17 of the top 20 operators globally. The company’s product portfolio includes wireless and wireline access network, broadband, IP-switching, transmission and 3G solutions. Headquartered in Alameda, California, the company currently has approximately 6,000 employees worldwide in offices around the world and research and design operations in the United States, Canada, China, Korea and India. UTStarcom established itself at the forefront of the global telecommunications industry as a technology innovator that was first to market with several IP-based, industry-altering technologies iPAS, IP DSLAM, GEPON, IP CDMA and IPTV. UTStarcom is headquartered in California, has ISO 9001 certified R&D facilities in New Jersey, Chicago, California and Vancouver (North America), regional R&D centers in Asia, including two in India, ISO 9002 certified manufacturing facilities in North America and Asia and sales offices throughout the world.

 

UTStarcom’s South Asia office is headquartered in Gurgaon in India with a regional office at Mumbai. In India, UTStarcom’s customers include all the leading telecommunications service providers, including MTNL, BSNL, Reliance Infocomm, Tata Teleservices, VSNL, Bharti Infotel, HFCL, Shyam and Sifty.

 

“UTStarcom is considered to be the leader in the broadband infrastructure space and in a short span of time had positioned itself as a pioneer in the IPTV space in India,” says Vijay Yadav, Managing Director, South Asia Operations, UTStarcom. The company also operates in Bangladesh and its customers include Onetel and City Cell. According to Vijay, “UTStarcom is very optimistic about India’s telecom market and the role UTStarcom can play in building the infrastructure and providing affordable services. Both government and private operators in India are building next-generation broadband and wireless networks. There are various opportunities ranging from broadband access, broadband transport, IPTV, wireless/3G, NGN and handsets, to name a few key technology areas. Our key differentiator is our focus on providing affordable IP-based services. As such, there are several opportunities in a growing market like India for a diversified telecom company like UTStarcom.”

 

The telecommunications industry tends to focus on the value-added data services that 3G networks bring to developed and urban markets, particularly the increase in the operator’s revenue and profitability that follows. The industry, however, tends to ignore a significant issue – basic voice and data connectivity in rural areas. The real issue has been the high per-capita infrastructure and the operating cost of a traditional network and this is what UTStarcom would like to address with its innovative solutions.

 

“For our network solutions, we do work with Partners depending on the best fit. For our CDMA handsets which work through the Operators like Reliance in India and City Cell in Bangladesh,” says Vijay.

 

UTStarcom has partnered with Aksh optic fibre for a three-year contract to deploy its RollingStream(TM) end-to-end IPTV solution with Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. (MTNL) in India. The contract represents the first commercial IPTV deployment in India and Aksh Optifibre Ltd. is the first company to launch IPTV in India.

 

“UTStarcom deals for supplying its NetRing(TM) 2500 STM-16 optical transport solution to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) in India. UTStarcom’s NetRing multiservice transport solution joins our AN-2000 IP DSLAM and Total Control 1000 Multiservice Access solutions that are under implementation in the BSNL network. The NetRing solution will enable BSNL to cost-effectively augment their nationwide backbone to efficiently support their rapidly growing broadband and wireless subscriber base in India,” says Vijay.

 

UTStarcom signs IP DSLAM Deal with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) for National Internet Backbone Rollout in India – an expansion contract for the deployment of its AN-2000(TM) B820 and AN-2000 B100 IP-based Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer (IP DSLAM) platforms and related equipment for Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.’s (BSNL) National Internet Backbone project.

 

On the technology front, Yadav maintains, UTStarcom, which began working on IPTV seven years ago, has expanded its Professional Services offerings with a new solution-oriented business model. “We offer both Core Services, which are product related, and new Value-Added Services (VAS), which focus on solutions in business consulting, business management and business operations.”

 

With its strong background in IP telephony and wireless networks, UTStarcom offers customers business solutions that address their key concerns, including total cost of network ownership, operational efficiency, and faster time to market. These services are aimed at operators who offer advanced telecom applications such as VoIP, IPTV, enhanced voice messaging, and fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) as well as at smaller operators. In today’s multi-services convergence environment, which is driven by market demand and enabled by new technologies, end-users, networks and services interact dynamically. To succeed, operators need to differentiate their subscriber offerings, make their operations more efficient and cost-effective, enhance productivity, grow their businesses, and increase revenues.

 

UTStarcom’s customers increasingly look to the company to provide more of the value-added services they need to achieve their goals, which can enable them to refocus on their core competencies. UTStarcom has qualified technical talent available globally and the specialized expertise ideal for the successful implementation, maintenance and services required by increasingly complex new technologies.

 

UTStarcom Broadband solutions enable the deployment of IP-based, high-speed Internet, voice, data and multimedia services over wireline networks. Designed to succeed in a wide range of networking environments, these solutions continue to expand the capacity and performance of narrowband, broadband and transport solutions in order to deliver next-generation services. The UTStarcom Broadband product portfolio is comprised of a number of leading-edge broadband products such as:

 

Gigabit Ethernet Passive Optical Network (GEPON):

UTStarcom’s Gigabit Ethernet Passive Optical Network (GEPON) platform delivers high-speed voice, data and video services to residential and business subscribers. The platform, comprising an Optical Line Terminal (OLT) and an Optical Network Unit (ONU), represents a high-speed, Fiber-To-The Home/Building (FTTH/FTTB) alternative to copper. The GEPON platform is an extremely cost-effective alternative to conventional access equipment, reducing points of failure and simplifying network architecture.

 

Multimedia Network Edge (iAN8K): The iAN8K product line embodies UTStarcom’s leadership position in providing end-to-end IP solutions. Built upon the globally deployed AN-2000 platform, the IP DSLAM product line incorporates the latest DSL technologies combined with a range of form factors. Our broadband portfolio includes products such as the B110 and the B1000. The B1000 is a product designed to s upport both IPDSLAM and MSAP configurations. It offers the latest in technology with features such as VDSL2 and an integrated VoIP gateway. As a preferred partner for most service providers, the UTStarcom focusses on key attributes that will bring about the difference in the next-generation applications.

 

Capabilities to Manage New Technology: Service providers can establish an IPTV infrastructure and reduce the risk and complexity by partnering with vendors who have the necessary know-how and expertise.

 

Quality of Service: UTStarcom’s IPTV solution is equipped with the functionality necessary to provide superior quality of services capabilities.

 

Adjusting Internal and External Processes to Effectively Service End-Users: UTStarcom has the ability to assist service providers with the necessary processes that will facilitate the implementation of a successful IPTV network. UTStarcom provides Operational Readiness to ensure that all the aspects of IPTV network operations are fully functional and ready for initial deployment as well as future growth. UTStarcom applies best practices to all the phases of service providers’ operational plans and establishes the capabilities to create a favourable end-user experience via the Electronic Programming Guide (EPG). The Electronic Programming Guide is the method used to provide information about the available broadcast channels to the STB.

 

IPTV offers an exciting opportunity for wireline service providers by offering them the ability to expand their market and offer next-generation, revenue-generating services like IPTV. We have the ability to provide the end-to-end capabilities supporting system design, development and implementation of a successful, high quality, robust and scaleable IPTV network.

 

IPTV: UTStarcom has recently announced the first commercial IPTV deployment in India in partnership with Aksh Optifibre and MTNL. Similar to the China Telecom deal, this project will deploy UTStarcom’s Rolling Stream technology. The service, which will utilize MTNL’s existing broadband network as the content delivery backbone, will consist of traditional broadcast television, video, music-on-demand, videoconferencing capabilities and time-shifted TV, allowing users to access television content on any channel up to one week in the past.

 

Metro Ethernet: Metro Ethernet has also emerged as a major technology option for broadband access. While VSNL has made public its Metro Ethernet deployment, at least two more operators are carrying out trials with various versions of Metro Ethernet. The technology appears to be finding favour with the service providers ™such as VSNL, as it does not own last-mile copper. Globally, service providers have been adopting Metro Ethernet to meet an increasing demand from customers for newer services at low prices.

 

Presently, there is not any successful worldwide model that is extensive in nature. It does have limitations in terms of distance and is good for high-end subscribers, mainly in the corporate world. It is easy for backbone, but has lots of problems for last mile.

 

NextGeneration Networks: Our IP-based multi-service next- generation convergent switching platform is designed to provide VoIP services over different wireless solutions, viz. WiFi, WiMax, 3GPP2. Our Fixed Mobile Solution provides great value to service providers and introduces a converged service infrastructure by consolidating the voice services between the fixed and mobile networks, thus reducing the CAPEX and OPEX by offloading the traffic from cellular to WLAN and spending less on infrastructure buildout. It provides the service differentiators and creates the service stickiness to lower the churn rate and increase ARPU. The NGN solution is matured with more than 70M ports deployed globally.

 

The operators in India have developed confidence in the NGN Soft Switches with a number of lab trials going on around the country. Now, the operators are coming up with RFPs and tenders to increase capacity and also migrate the existing TDM Switches.

 

The current trend of the Soft Switch Deployment is to use the NGN Soft Switches for the Class 4 application and later include Class 5 services also from the same platform.

 

UTStarcom has been working with all the major operators in India to provide the cutting-edge technology. We provide an end-to-end solution starting from Access to core network along with the application layer.

 

Broadband Wireless: India has declared 2007 as the Year of Broadband and has emphasized the importance of WiMAX in its broadband policy. The definition of broadband has been raised from 256 Kbps to 2 Mbps and WiMAX is best suited to meet this requirement. India plans to add about 7–8 million broadband subscribers in 2007 and ~40 million broadband subscribers by 2010. Many of these could be provided by WiMAX.

 

UTStarcom is working on an all-IP WiMAX BWA mobile solution based on NGW standards to provide high-speed mobile data service. The technology roadmap for cellular and WiMAX is converging fast towards OFDMA, IP core and IMS. As 3G and WiMAX converge towards OFDMA, MIMO and wider channels, the performance gap is likely to narrow. Both 3G and WiMAX meet the requirements of wireless broadband and differ in their approach to wireless data: 3G is a voice technology moving towards data, while WiMAX is a data technology moving towards mobility.

 

UTStarcom is focussed on the Indian region, the third-largest wireless market and fastest growing telecom market in the world. UTStarcom is an incumbent in all the major Telcos in India in terms of broadband deployments.