In today’s high technology era, CXOs have their work cut out. Not only are organisations expanding rapidly, setting up multiple branches and diversifying into new business divisions, but technology is also improving fast with new products and solutions being introduced almost on a daily basis. Getting an edge over the competitors is essential for any organisation.
If this is to be achieved, companies must adopt the right combination of information and communication technologies.The various technologies and solutions must match the data needs of the enterprise and not pose any security challenge.They must also aid in attaining business objectives like operational and acquisition cost reductions and integrate with the current network and solutions to maximise the return on existing investments.
There have been many new developments in the enterprise communications space, with CXOs increasingly opting for wireless networks and enterprise mobility solutions.
Wireless networking
Enterprise networks are currently undergoing an evolution. Traditional wired networks are increasingly being replaced by wireless ones. The cumbersome architecture of wired networks ?? with separate data and voice wires for each user (and switches all over the place) and thick access points providing limited coverage ?? has led companies to adopt wireless enterprise networks which are considered far more reliable and secure.
The transition to a wireless network involves replacing the thick access points with neighbouring access points, the wired switch with the meshed network and the wireless switch, and finally the wide area network link with access points.
Wireless networks have many advantages. They provide point to multi-point blanket coverage across regions, in contrast with wired networks which seldom offer last mile connectivity. The construction of wireless networks also requires less lead time (as there is no carrier wait and construction required) and is cheaper.
For enterprises, there is a strong business case for switching to wireless networks. According to Vikas Giridhar, head, business development, enterprise wireless and RFID, Motorola, “The cost per user of wireless networks is one-fifth to onetenth that of wired networks.” The total cost for an all-new wired network is $2.32 million compared to $347,932 for a wireless local access network (WLAN) deployment. This includes hardware, installation and support and maintenance costs. The chipset cost of a wireless-enabling device is also low at less than $5.
Wired network costs are high as it is costly to run cables to user locations and provide access switches to supply two ports per user. Wireless networks largely avoid such costs by doing away with cabling and decreasing the number of access switches required. Wireless networks are also relatively cheaper to support and maintain.
Wireless networks are suitable for many requirements: e-governance for citizen services, wireless leased line connectivity, video surveillance, educational video conferencing applications, industrial applications, voice over IP (VOIP) services, residential access and horizontal VSAT connectivity.
Importantly, wireless networks can also be used to provide connectivity in rural areas. This is currently a major challenge for organisations as well as policymakers. Rural areas are characterised by low population density and low average revenue per user. Setting up networks in such regions involves high operating expenditure and set-up costs. Moreover, few rural customers can actually afford to purchase their own customer premises equipment (CPE).
Wi-Fi and Wi-Max: Promising technologies
Wireless technologies like Wi-Fi and WiMax are increasingly gaining traction in India. These may also be the most suitable technologies for the rural areas. Though Wi-Fi networks are unsuitable for outdoor consumer deployments and are meant for areas with low business potential and for local access networks, these use an unlicensed band of spectrum, which makes them widely available and easy to access.Wi-Fi devices are also extremely cheap.
There are two types of Wi-Max: mobile and fixed. While the first is characterised by its mobility feature, the second is characterised by its portability. In India, fixed Wi-Max solutions are being shipped and used for backhaul applications, such as bringing wireless broadband to homes. Mobile Wi-Max trials are in progress.
The typical service area for Wi-Max is 3-10 km. However, there are several WiMax applications that reach up to 200 km.The technology has the capability to provide 40 megabits per channel for fixed access. The actual maximum throughput depends on a host of factors including the size of the radio channel, density, transmission power and geography.
As Pranesh Babu, senior vice-president, networks and services engineering, Sify Technologies, points out that Wi-Max has several advantages and can be used to provide data, video and voice services. Suitable for both business and residential outdoor/ indoor subscribers, Wi-Max offers over 25 Mbps throughput and a range of over 20 km. Up to 600 users can use one base station. Wi-Max CPEs are also relatively less expensive at $200-$300.
Wi-Max and Wi-Fi can constitute a complementary ecosystem, with Wi-Fi being deployed inside the premises and Wi-Max outside.
The main challenge with respect to Wi-Max deployment is the lack of spectrum. In India, spectrum for Wi-Max services is available in two bands ?? 2.5 GHz for mobile Wi-Max and 3.3 GHz for fixed Wi-Max.
There is currently only 40 MHz of spectrum available in the 2.5 GHz band. This has been allocated to multiple operators for fixed wireless access deployment.Recently, the Indian Space Research Organisation vacated 40 MHz of spectrum, which the Department of Telecommunications’ Wireless Planning and Coordination (WPC) wing will auction.However, the high reserve price and the aggressive competition expected may create an entry barrier for small service providers, thereby increasing the cost for end-users. This will ultimately result in low penetration of Wi-Max solutions in India. Moreover, it is necessary for each operator to have at least 30 MHz of spectrum for efficient Wi-Max deployment.
The spectrum challenge persists even in the 3.3-3.4 GHz band. Around 100 MHz of spectrum has been allocated in this band to seven operators across the country. However, this is insufficient for serving both enterprises and residential customers. Equipment availability for Wi-Max services in the 3.3 GHz frequency band is also an issue as it is not a globally accepted standard. Moreover, a spectrum fee is charged on CPE devices.According to Babu, the WPC should allow installation of CPE devices without a licence fee.
Enterprise mobility
Along with wireless networking, enterprise mobility solutions have also become extremely important. Enterprise mobility benefits organisations in terms of increased productivity and revenue, reduced operating costs, improved customer service and corporate image and better decision-making.
Enterprise mobility solutions are also gaining ground due to estimates that an increasing number of people will work away from the main offices in the future.The proportion of workers spending 20 per cent or more of their time away from the primary work site is expected to increase from 28 per cent in 2006 to 39 per cent in 2009 in Europe and from 19 per cent to 31 per cent in the US.
Many organisations have already benefited significantly from enterprise mobility solutions. For companies like McDonald’s, enterprise mobility solutions bring in 20 per cent more orders in an hour. For the Royal Dutch/Shell Group, these solutions provide about a 15 per cent reduction in operational expenditure and a 60 per cent rise in the per barrel profit margin. DHL has also benefited from such solutions in terms of reduced delivery time of about 30 minutes, resulting in cost reductions of millions of dollars.
The future
With notebook shipments slated to exceed desktop shipments by 2011 and 35 per cent of all mobile phones expected to be Wi-Fi enabled by the same year, wireless networks are definitely the way to go. In fact, Gartner predicts that by 2011, 70 per cent of all new worldwide voice and data clients to LAN connections will be wireless.
According to Babu, increasing the coverage of wireless networks across the country requires:
If these requirements are fulfilled, wireless networking will surely gain prominence and go on to become a panIndian technology.
(Based on presentations by Pranesh Babu, Senior Vice-President, Networks and Services Engineering, Sify Technologies; Vikas Giridhar, Head, Business Development, Enterprise Wireless and RFID, Motorola; and A. Sethuraman, Chief Marketing Officer, Alcatel-Lucent)
