PointRed Reveals Its LTE Plans

The Bengaluru-based PointRed Telecom Ltd. hopes to grow by 40 percent in the financial year 2013, based on its plans to grab a significant share of the forthcoming Long Term Evolution Time Division Duplex (LTE-TDD) market in India.

PointRed claims to have conducted five LTE trials in India. "We are engaged with all the winners of BWA (Broadband Wireless Access) but will follow a more aggressive approach in the second half of the year. We would be launching an LTE Advanced product line in the coming four months," says Balaji Kulothungan, Chief Executive Officer, PointRed.

Part of Gemini Communications, the company has a significant marketshare in the mobile WiMax segment. In India, PointRed's solutions are deployed with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) and other operators. Besides Mobile WiMax, the company is also present in mobile backhaul, and claims that its products are deployed with most of the tier I operators in India.

PointRed plans to set up its own manufacturing unit in India. It presently has two units in Taiwan and plans to move one of them to India in the next 12-14 months.

"We plan to invest INR 1,500-2,000 million (US $29.5 to US $39.3 million) on setting up a manufacturing facility in India in the next 12-14 months. We plan to set it either in Bangalore or Chennai," says Kulothungan.

PointRed will be competing with global vendors like Ericsson AB, Nokia Siemens Networks, Alcatel-Lucent, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., besides others to make a mark in the LTE market. (See LTE Subs to Hit 17M in Four Years, NSN Gets Bharti's LTE Deal and AlcaLu Sets Out Its India Vision.)

Commenting on competition strategy, Kulothungan says, "Our strategy will be our unique architecture which helps us to be extremely cost competitive. We beat the Chinese competition not once but twice last yearso we are extremely competitive where cost is concerned."

PointRed will leverage the infrastructure of Gemini Communications to offer services to the LTE operators.

The company recorded INR 3,060 million in the last financial year (FY 2011). "This year, there would be a dip though the final figures are yet to come. India contributes maximum to our revenue, followed by Africa and Middle East," says Kulothungan.

Kulothungan believes that 4G network will replace 2G and 3G networks. "[We believe] Over a period of three-to-four years, 4G will replace 2G and 3G. Major incentive will be the total cost of ownership will come down, and they will have one network to manage and everything will be on IP," says Kulothungan.

Gagandeep Kaur, Editor, Light Reading India