Spirent Communications eyes 4G network testing space in India

Spirent Communication, a testing and measurement solutions provider, is getting ready to cater to the Indian telecos once they start migrating to the fourth generation (4G) telecom network. The UK based company which serves customers such as BSNL, Tata Teleservices, Reliance and Bharti Airtel among others, has recently quadrupled its lab space in India, to enabled itself for the 4G data and handset testing market in India, senior company executives said. The 4G roll-out in India is expected to happen in the fourth quarter of 2011.

"We expect the Indian telecos to roll out the fourth generation services towards the last quarter of next year. This requires a lot of testing in terms of data migration and security to the next generation of network which will enable high speed data usage. Our understanding and long association with the telecos here will help us to test their next generation network," said Chris Wiese, Chief Operating Officer, Spirent Communications.

Spirent which competes with companies like Tektronix, JDSU, Agilent, Fluke in equipment testing space now controls about 60 per cent of around $30 million wireline and wireless testing market in India. This includes the network data testing and handset testing. The global market for the same is estimated at about $2 billion. The company is in the process of making the telecom carriers understand the technologies like 3G and Long Term Evolution (LTE) and our expertise in this space, added Wiese.

Recently the company has expanded its Bangalore office which predominantly provide engineering and technical support to its clients in India. Spirent established its direct presence in India in 2004 and since then, the company's revenue in India has been growing double digit. The company however does not give country-wide revenue figure. India comes under the Asia Pacific region (APAC) which contributes 30 per cent to its global revenue of $432 million.

“The telecom networks in India is fast moving towards newer technologies. Because of our global expertise in managing telecos to test their network to migrate into fourth generation telecom networks, we hope to help the Indian telecos to migrate to 4G with a lot more ease," said HS Bhaskar, country manager of Spirent Communications in India.

The Department of Telecommunications has taken a stance that each telecom operator offering 4G technologies should be given at least 10 Mhz spectrum, compared with 5 Mhz for 3G services.

Other than the telecommunication space, Spirent also focusses on the defence, enterprises and power sectors in India and globally.