Wi-Fi gathers strength in India

BANGALORE: Is all the hype and hoopla around Wi-Fi for real?
Wi-Fi or wireless fidelity that debuted in India with much fanfare a year ago had a slow start with a limited installed base of 300 hot spots across the country. While the initial numbers look small, Wi-Fi vendors are still gung-ho about its potential in India with 700 more hotspots expected to be rolled out over the next six months.
Intel, one of the most active proponents of Wi-Fi, says Wi-Fi is approaching the inflection point in India as the sales of notebook computers are expected to grow over 50 per cent this year.Amar Babu, director (sales and marketing) Intel South Asia said around 60-70 per cent of the notebooks shipped on Tuesday are wireless-ready.
He said Wi-Fi is being increasingly deployed in offices, hotels, educational institutions and public places like cafes and airports. There are several pilot projects currently underway to take Wi-Fi connectivity to the masses in rural areas as well.
He said last year saw several proof-of-concept projects being undertaken at various sites, which would eventually translate into large scale deployment as the customers now realise the benefits of mobility. He said the Wi-Fi take-off has been slow due to low penetration of notebooks in India. Notebooks comprise 3-4 per cent of the total computers market in India.
The spurt in mobile users is expected to increase the Wi-Fi landscape in the country. For augmenting the usage of Wi-Fi, it is felt that the service providers like Bharti and Sify should work out unified billing mechanism for Wi-Fi usage.
According to Neeraj Sharma, general manager (sales) at IBM, there is a rebound in notebook computers sales in India where IBM alone shipped around 23,000 units last year. He said the duty reduction and affordability factors are driving the sales of these products.
According to IDC, around 83,000 units of notebooks were sold last year as opposed to 48,000 units the year before. It says over 1.40 lakh units would be shipped this year in India.
Intel unveils new Pentium M processors: Intel on Monday said it is shipping three new Intel Pentium M processors with enhanced speed and memory capabilities. Formerly code-named Dothan, the new set of Pentium M processors 735, 745 and 755, are built on 90 nanometer manufacturing process technology.
The 90 nm process produces smaller, faster transistors and uses Intel''s strained silicon technology (which enables faster flow of electrons) to give its transistors a speed boost, resulting in higher performance.
Simultaneously, the leading computer makers like Dell and Wipro Infotech on Monday announced the availability of the new wireless-ready notebooks in India based on Intel''s Pentium M technology.