BSNL to invest Rs 5,000 cr on WiMax project

"We are looking at investing around Rs 5,000 crore in the Wimax project," BSNL Director (Finance) S D Saxena said.     

The company aims to roll out wireless broadband connectivity through WiMax technology commercially this year, especially in urban areas.     

Initially, it will start its operations in three states -- Maharashtra (excluding Mumbai), Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.     

It also plans to set-up 50,000 IT-enabled kiosks called common service centers (CSCs) running on Wimax technology, across the country.     

However, BSNL is waiting for required spectrum for rolling out the Wimax services. Once the 3G and WiMax policy is spelt out by the Department of Telecom (DoT), both state-run operators BSNL and MTNL will get automatic spectrum allocation, while private players have to bid for the radio frequencies.     

"But a lot depends on the government's announcement on 3G and Wimax and the allocation of spectrum," Saxena added.     

Earlier this year, the telecom major has also partnered with Soma Networks of the US for WiMax solution deployment.     

The deal between the two companies is based on a public-private-partnership where the US based company will also invest in technology for WiMax roll out and both the companies will share the revenue. The complete deployment is for a period of three years.     

Recently, a Springboard report stated that India will be the largest market for WiMax with an estimated market share of 35.7 per cent in terms of revenue in the Asia-pacific region and with 15.8 million subscribers by 2012.