While voice-based services have been the mainstay of the Indian telecom sector so far, LTE-TDD, mobile broadband and innovative offerings such as customer experience management are expected to be game-changers going forward. Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) is poised to leverage the business opportunities offered by these technologies. In an interview with tele.net, Sandeep Girotra, head, India region, NSN talks about the technologies expected to make an impact in the sector and the company's initiatives in this context. Excerpts…

In your opinion, how will the country’s telecom landscape change over the next few years?

The telecom industry in India has witnessed commendable growth over the past few years. 3G has increased the expectations of end-users to go beyond simple network performance parameters to a more personalised customer experience on the network, especially with regard to data usage. From the telecom infrastructure providers' perspective, managed services and mobile broadband continue to be the focus areas. There is a reiterated focus on mobile broadband, professional services, and transport and customer experience management. With mobile broadband proliferation and the expected introduction of LTE-TDD, India is poised to take global centre stage in leading the latest in telecom technology. If the Indian telecom ecosystem relied on voice services so far, we can expect LTE-TDD, mobile broadband and innovative offerings such as customer experience management and transformational outsourcing to become game-changers soon.

An annual acquisition and retention study commissioned by NSN on the habits and priorities of mobile users has shown that those using mobile broadband services frequently are the most likely to switch their operator. This highlights the need to focus on high-value customers and improve the quality of mobile broadband to acquire, satisfy and retain mobile customers.

In this context, NSN recently launched the Customer Experience Management (CEM) on Demand platform. CEM on Demand provides a new portal as a single entry point to dashboard views of mobile operators' key performance indicators (KPIs) and recommends actions they can take to improve their customers' experience. For customers, the benefit from CEM on Demand is an immediate, relevant, personalised service experience. For example, with the "high value customer insight content pack", operators can obtain real-time insights based on KPIs such as tariff plan, service use, hotspots and locations, type of device and device performance, and roaming and service quality.

What technology trends do you expect to witness in the sector?

LTE-TDD will be an important technology trend going forward. While this medium had low visibility just two or three years ago, analysts currently expect 40 per cent of LTE users to be served by the technology by 2015. The rest will be using the frequency-division duplexing variant (FDD-LTE).

LTE-TDD became a global technology in 2010. Important milestones included the first LTE-TDD call in India on the broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum at 2.3 GHz and the success of LTE-TDD tests by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

There exists a huge amount of unpaired spectrum available, and new TDD bands will open as frequencies are freed up. The right band is now licensed for LTE-TDD in around 40 countries and the ecosystem is clearly accelerating. Leading manufacturers are developing LTE-TDD terminals while chipset and platform vendors are announcing the availability of multi-mode LTE (FDD and TDD) offerings to ensure operator service rollouts with a common technology platform.

What initiatives has NSN taken with regard to deploying LTE-TDD in India?

The company is fully prepared and committed to support LTE-TDD-centric activities and is in talks with many operators globally. We are at the forefront of LTE-TDD development and commercialisation, and are actively working with telecom operators and device manufacturers in this regard. NSN is engaged with all major BWA spectrum winners in India to conduct LTE-TDD trials and is collaborating with ecosystem partners to accelerate the industry's progress towards comprehensive deployment of LTE-TDD in the country.

Last year, we expanded our Chennai (Oragadam) manufacturing facility from 35,000 to 55,000 square metres, and increased the number of product lines to 33. This makes us India's largest international telecom infrastructure manufacturer. The expansion significantly increased the existing manufacturing capacity, allowing us to export approximately 37 per cent of the facility's production across the Asia Pacific. It enabled the company to manufacture and distribute new multi-radio and LTE-TDD products, among other equipment such as GSM and LTE-TDD-ready 3G base stations and its FlexiPacket radio. This facility was also the first in India to commence 3G manufacturing in April 2010.

NSN commercially launched LTE-TDD devices such as USB dongles and customer premises equipment last year. With these devices, operators will be able to launch LTE-TDD technology much faster, with better user experience and speed up the monetisation of their LTE-TDD mobile broadband investments. Keeping in mind unique markets like India and China, these plug-and-play devices make it easier to access broadband from anywhere. These devices have been successfully tested in field trials in India and are also a part of our commercial LTE-TDD rollout for Saudi Telecom Company (STC), Saudi Arabia.

NSN has also introduced a Liquid Radio-based "6 pipes" remote radio head that uses the company's unique pipe approach to offer unprecedented flexibility in delivering LTE-TDD. It is the first remote radio head that can support a 6-sector LTE-TDD site to deliver 80 per cent more capacity and 40 per cent more coverage as compared to traditional 3-sector sites. This enables higher data speeds and reduces the total cost of ownership by 40 per cent. Our devices will allow consumers to enjoy broadband access over 100 Mbps downlink and over 50 Mbps uplink to support data-intensive services on LTE-TDD networks. The devices address broadband access requirements that range from basic connectivity in under-served regions to high-speed mobile broadband in dense metro areas.

The devices use techniques such as multiple input multiple output (MIMO), transmit diversity and receiver sensitivity exceeding 3GPP standards to improve performance and reduce costs. These features allow operators to offer increased throughput and better indoor coverage using fewer cell sites. In addition, consumers benefit from minimal orientation loss with the devices, using the device optimally in any position or orientation.

In October 2010, NSN became the first company to successfully demonstrate LTE-TDD using broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum in India. Video calls were conducted over commercial hardware at the NSN's Bengaluru R&D facility and marked an important milestone moving 2.3 GHz LTE-TDD closer to commercial availability. The demonstration showcased a peak throughput speed of 110 Mbps.

Where does NSN currently stand vis a vis the competition?

LTE-TDD is evolving as a global standard as demand is being created from many countries beyond India and China. NSN is leading the commercialisation of LTE with deals with close to 50 operators including about 40 radio and over 20 EPC deals. This is the highest number of commercial references worldwide. There are now 36 operators around the world that have launched commercial LTE networks. NSN supplies LTE to 17 of these 36 operators.

NSN leads the industry in LTE-TDD with 16 major field trials in China, Taiwan, Russia and other parts of the world, including a large-scale trial with the world's biggest operator, China Mobile. We supply to three commercial LTE-TDD network operators including STC and Sky Brazil. The Sky Brazil launch marks the first commercial 4G network in Latin America, which has been deployed using NSN's end-to-end LTE-TDD products and services.

Which markets are likely to drive the uptake of LTE-TDD?

India is now running faster than other countries in the LTE-TDD outlook, and is poised to play an important role in driving this technology. LTE-TDD over the BWA spectrum is important for the country, as it will allow operators to offer voice and data to the masses. Emerging markets have been leading the charge in raising awareness of the potential of LTE-TDD, especially in China, where China Mobile sees it as a natural evolution from its existing TDD-based networks. The communications service provider is currently undertaking large-scale trials in many cities, with NSN running three of them. In India, where fixed broadband penetration is below 1 per cent, operators aim to complement 3G with LTE-TDD. New operators such as Reliance Infrastructure Limited may also provide LTE-TDD in India.

Commercial network launches are expected soon in countries across all continents. There is further operator interest in using LTE-TDD as an additional carrier to augment capacity in existing networks, including LTE-FDD, and also as an alternative for rural fixed line broadband.

What will LTE-TDD mean for end-consumers?