Indian operators may skip 3G; hold out for 4G instead
The Indian Government has acted in its usual pace — slow as molasses and delayed the process of bringing 3G in India. So much so, that operators are thinking of skipping over 3G entirely and are already waiting for 4G.
While the auctions for the 3G spectrum will still take place in January as “scheduled” the successful bidders — only four of the country’s twelve mobile operators — will get the spectrum simultaneously in August 2010. After which the remaining operators’ only option will in any case be to wait for 4G, which is expected to mature by 2011.
In this scenario it seems a waste to invest money in a technology which goes out of date within a year. The better approach, most operators feel, is to simply adopt 4G as soon as it comes bringing our country finally up to date with the rest of the world.
Of course this would mean that for once the process must be done in time for 4G’s rollout, else the country will be without 3G, and waiting for extended periods of time while the government slowly begins the process of thinking about planning to decide what to do with the 4G spectrum.
Compared to the 3Mbps we will never get over 3G in India, 4G makes false promises of 10Mbps which we are sure to never get. With 4G you will finally be able to watch HD on the go on that 24-inch TV screen you had tucked away in your pocket so long.
For all those patiently waiting for a decent mobile browsing experiences on the go, your wait might get a whole lot longer.