VSNL rolls out WiMax services in Bangalore

The Tata-owned Videsh Sanchar Nigam (VSNL) has rolled out WiMax services in India. To begin with, the global communications company will offer the services to enterprise customers in Bangalore. VSNL will extend its WiMax network to about 120 cities across India for enterprise customers and in five cities for retail customers by the end of this financial year. A number of companies from sectors like retail, financial services and automobiles are using VSNL’s Wimax services. VSNL has launched WiMax after conducting pilots in Bangalore and other locations VSNL is also the leader in the Wi-Fi space, with nearly 300 public hotspots in India. Among operators, Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) is also planning to launch WiMax services very soon, having undertaken pilots at 14 locations. While Motorola as well as Nortel are offering equipment for WiMax, Alcatel-Lucent has completed the country’s first live WiMax field trial using Aircel’s licensed spectrum. WiMax also allows applications in moving conditions such as video streaming, high-speed file downloads, voice over IP and web browsing.