Sistema, Tata start wireless broadband service

Code division multiple access (CDMA) players Sistema Shyam and Tata Teleservices today took on the global system for mobile communications(GSM) 3G challenge, announcing the launch of wireless broadband service on the CDMA evolution voice and data only (EVDO) Rev B platform. This would offer consumers a download speed of up to 14.7 Mbps.

Currently, 3G operators offer services at a speed of up to 21.1 Mbps.EVDO is the 3G equivalent on the CDMA platform.

Russia’s telecom firm Sistema, which offers CDMA-based mobile services in India under the brand name MTS, launched the faster version of its wireless broadband service MBlaze. The new version—MBlaze Ultra—is based on the CDMA EVDO Rev B platform and is priced at Rs 2499, with a monthly rental of Rs 629. It would currently have a speed of 9.8 Mbps, which can be upgraded to 14.7 Mbps. It would first be introduced in Jaipur, and later in other metros and key cities across India, said president and chief executive Vsevolod Rozanov.

The company’s earlier product, MBlaze, priced at Rs 1599, offered a maximum speed of up to 3.1 Mbps, similar to Reliance Communications’ Netconnect and Tata Teleservices’ Photon.

Tata Teleservices also launched its Tata Photon on Rev B on the CDMA platform. It said the company’s next-gen Rev B network was capable of scaling up to speeds of 14.7 Mbps across the country.

While Sistema’s MBlaze would be available from next week, Tata Photon on the Rev B solution is undergoing the final phase of testing, and would be commercially available by mid-September.

“The move is a logical next step for TTL (Tata Teleservices), whose market-leading products and solutions have seen it emerge as the undisputed leader in the broadband access and enterprise segments. Tata Photon on the Rev B platform would first be available in 27 major metros and cities across the country, with the rest of the country to be mapped soon,” the company said in a statement.

Both reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices offer services in both CDMA and GSM segments and have also started offering 3G mobile services.

Sistema plans to invest around Rs 50 crore in Rajasthan in 2011. It has invested Rs 13,500 crore in India so far. Consumers also get MBlaze Ultra for Rs 4599, through which they would get 1 GB data usage per month for six months.

SSTL, a joint venture between Sistema and India’s Shyam Group, has over 13 million wireless subscribers and, under the MBlaze brand, provides mobile broadband services to more than one million customers in over 200 cities across the country.