Huawei to expand into WiFi devices for homes

Leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider Huawei Technologies on Tuesday said it was entering the WiFi devices-for-homes market segment.

The Shenzhen, Guangdong-based company will launch a flurry of five products next week which will be available online as well as offline in over 11 cities.

"Huawei now aims to strengthen its offering to the consumers with the launch of its new range of broadband networking devices and promises smart and intelligent features for home and SOHO (small office/ home office) customers," said P. Sanjeev, director sales of Huawei device arm.

"It aims to clock a market share of 40 percent in the segment of broadband networking devices with the newly-launched series. The range would include home and SOHO broadband networking devices with strong WiFi connection offering speed from 300 megabits per second (Mbps) to 1.75 Gigabits per second (Gbps) and also provide features like better coverage, intelligent WiFi channel selection, three in one router and range extender, anti-voltage fluctuation port and powerful processor capability," he added.

The company is betting on the growing WiFi ecosystems as Indian homes start using more technology products like smart TVs and broadband equipment.

"The government is also putting emphasis on this. Essentially, a broadband consumer's contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) is four times that of a mobile consumer," Sanjeev said.

"We are reassured with the encouragement from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for increasing fixed line connections after the proposed fee exemption for five years," said Allen Wang, president of Consumer Business Group, Huawei India.

"Currently India is trailing behind other South Asian countries in broadband connections and as a leading ICT player in the market, we aim to support this with our latest offerings. We have identified a strong demand in the market which echoes the need of one fixed broadband networking connection for at least four WiFi users and we are optimistically working to bridge this gap," he added.

Huawei is already available in 13 percent digital television households through its DTH set-top boxes and eight percent fixed broadband households though its FWP, 4G customer-premises equipment (CPE) and ADSL CPE via its partners across the country.