New Indian operator completes TD-LTE trials

The startup Indian operator Reliance Industries has switched allegiances from WiMAX to LTE. Having successfully completed trials of TD-LTE services, Reliance is now preparing for a commercial launch.

The operator acquired a Broadband Wireless Access licence in June, and was widely expected to deploy WiMAX services. In order to acquire the only nationwide BWA licence, Reliance bought a 95% stake in Infotel Broadband, the startup that won the licence.

With network equipment supplied by Ericsson and ST-Ericsson dongles, the TD-LTE trials were claimed to have reached peak downlink rates of 80 Mb/s, with uplink rates of 20 Mb/s.

An official release from Reliance stated: “This LTE trial not only demonstrated the superiority of LTE-TDD technology but it also strengthened our confidence in the timely availability of LTE eco-system in India with Ericsson’s global deployment expertise. We look forward to leveraging on the pilot to set up a commercial network that will build on a globally standardised eco-system and technology that offers immense potential for a wide spectrum of end-user offerings.”

This statement apparently confirms that the operator has lessened its support for WiMAX in favour of LTE, although it has by no means made a public declaration confirming that it no longer supports WiMAX.

TD-LTE increasingly appears to have gained favour in India, with Qualcomm purchasing a BWA licence in order to promote the new technology – indeed, the firm has stated that it will sell its TD-LTE operations with the condition that the purchasing operator may not use the spectrum to deploy WiMAX – only TD-LTE.

Sign-up to our weekly newsletter

Keep up-to-date with all the latest news, articles, event and product updates posted on Developing Telecoms.
Subscribe to our FREE weekly email newsletters for the latest telecom info in developing and emerging markets globally.
Sending occasional e-mail from 3rd parties about industry white papers, online and live events relevant to subscribers helps us fund this website and free weekly newsletter. We never sell your personal data. Click here to view our privacy policy.