The telecom test and measurement (T&M) market in India has witnessed significant growth in the past few years, driven by the performance of the wireless segment. Also, operators are increasingly investing in T&M solutions to ensure quality of service (QoS) and adequate network uptime. Another growth driver for the segment is continuous innovation in network protocols, mobile devices and technical standards. However, there are several challenges. Factors such as diminishing margins and high operational costs have limited investment in the segment.
tele.net takes a look at the opportunities and challenges in the T&M market?
Opportunities
According to Frost & Sullivan, the Indian general-purpose test equipment market?s revenues stood at over Rs 4.93 billion in 2011. This market is estimated to be worth Rs 7.07 billion in 2018. The requirement for advanced T&M solutions will be driven by data demand growth. Traditionally, test equipment was being used to measure data services as per requirements. The need of the hour is to develop T&M equipment that can monitor high data streaming speeds and facilitate network coverage. To meet this demand, the T&M solution market is moving towards deploying software-based instruments. These enable engineers to combine standard and user-defined measurements with customised data.
Upcoming solutions
T&M players are offering operators several test instruments within a single box to enhance productivity, especially at installation and maintenance sites. Also, the T&M tools available today entail built-in intelligence and support network monitoring, testing and deployment.
Over the past two years, software-based instruments such as the PXI platform have gained popularity in the telecom industry. The PXI platform, which is used for measurement and automation, is expected to generate revenues of $1 billion by 2015. It has helped telecom operators address issues related to deploying radio frequency-based applications for testing radar and mobile phones, and other wireless applications.
Also, protocol analysis-based network optimisation solutions are being deployed, as operators need to keep pace with innovations in radio access networks. This usually comprises cell breathing and power management solutions that function in the universal mobile telecommunications system, coupled with multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) technology. An inherent advantage of MIMO is that by using multiple antennas at both the transmitter and receiver ends, increased data throughput and link range are available, without the need for additional bandwidth. Therefore, the technology can significantly improve network performance. Also, T&M solutions that facilitate the testing of the quality of Ethernet networks are being deployed.
T&M players are developing solutions for tracking data usage for applications such as mobile TV, IPTV and video-on-demand. Moreover, innovations in handsets, particularly smartphones, provide major opportunities for T&M players. These solutions are required to ensure that mobile devices conform to industry standards and new test platforms, which are future-proof and backward compatible. The increasing deployment of cloud-based applications and introduction of big data also provide opportunities for T&M companies.
Emerging business models
Over the past few years, renting T&M
equipment has emerged as a key business model. This helps in reducing expenditure, as T&M equipment is typically very expensive. Also, various sub-industries are expected to emerge, as testing and maintaining network uptime is a key priority for telecom operators. In this context, specialised contractors and subcontractors providing managed services to multiple operators while maintaining the latter?s confidentiality agreements would emerge as major players.
Challenges
The high cost of raw material and components is the biggest challenge for T&M players. To address this issue, companies are developing their products based on existing global models. They also import components from countries including China. Though low-cost raw material can be sourced from these countries, the import duty on these products is very high, thereby increasing the overall cost of manufacturers.
The output of the Indian T&M market is very low owing to cost constraints and the lack of manufacturing infrastructure. Therefore, there is a huge demand-supply gap for telecom equipment for improving QoS. Further, investments in research and development (R&D) are inadequate. T&M spend accounts for less than 1 per cent of Indian operators? network expenditure.
Meanwhile, for international vendors offering managed services in the country, reducing the time-to-market is the biggest challenge. Also, the lack of off-grid management solutions for rural markets is a key issue. There is an urgent need for such solutions as voice services have reached saturation levels in urban markets.
The lack of policy clarity is another deterrent to growth. For example, policy changes pertaining to roaming charges and the nationwide implementation of mobile number portability have impacted operators? plans, thereby affecting demand in the T&M solution market. In this case, operators reduce their testing and R&D budgets.
Further, with the National Telecom Policy, 2012 mandating testing and certification of telecom products for conformance, performance, interoperability, health, safety, security, electromagnetic field/ interference/compatibility, etc., T&M manufacturers and operators face the challenge of meeting and complying with the new testing and certification standards.
In conclusion, the Indian T&M space is set to witness significant growth going forward. To facilitate this growth, solution providers have to innovate and integrate physical and protocol layer-level testing for multiple standards and interfaces in a single instrument.
