Down the broadband highway, WiMAX makes snail's progress

Major telecom operators like Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices may have begun their Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access or WiMAX rollouts, but the results are yet to show in full measure.

Consider this. Tata Teleservices which deployed its first WiMAX network in Bangalore in March, and is expecting to gather a subcsriber base of about 2 lakh by the end of the year, has enrolled just about 7,000 customers in the city.

"This technology is a replacement for the current wireline internet present in the country. For a distance of about 1.5 km, it is highly effective. It is not only available at high speeds but the costs are also comparable to the wireline or broadband services in the country," explains Prateek Pashine, vice-president, planning broadband and retail business, Tata Communications.

Reliance WiMAX is also operational at a few places in India