Wireless Reach

At Qualcomm, we are focused on the development of technologies and products that change the way people communicate, and therefore the way we live and work. As Qualcomm employees worldwide strive to bring their inventions from the drawing board to market, so too are we bringing the technologies we develop into the hands of doctors, teachers, farmers and many more who will benefit significantly from wireless connectivity and services.

One way Qualcomm pursues this objective is through our Wireless Reach™ initiative - a global program based on the premise that access to advanced wireless voice and data services improves people’s lives. Wireless Reach projects are implemented at regional and national levels, deploying wireless technologies for the socio-economic development of underserved and rural communities. By working with our public and private sector partners, the projects create new ways for people to communicate, learn, sustain the environment, access health care and reach global markets. Currently, Wireless Reach has 37 projects in 22 countries, four of which are in India.

Wireless Reach has collaborated with the Azim Premji Foundation, a non-profit organization working towards reaching the goal of achieving universal education, to enable web-based education over broadband connectivity to 40 schools across four states. In another project, working with Tata Teleservices and the Nasscom Foundation, a non-profit organization whose mission is to leverage ICTs to transform lives, Wireless Reach has provided Internet connectivity to 65 Village Resource Centers across nine states that serve the needs of local communities in the areas of education, health care and entrepreneurship. In Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, we have partnered with Project Concern International, a non-profit organization committed to providing health and poverty solutions, to develop a pilot that helps poor woman entrepreneurs access business and market information through mobile applications.

Our very first Wireless Reach project in India is now commercially available to the public. Wireless Reach funded the development of an application that is positively impacting the lives of fishermen in the tsunami-affected Tamil Nadu region through the use of 3G CDMA technology. The Fisher Friend application runs on low cost CDMA handsets and provides vital safety and livelihood information to fishermen at sea including updates on weather, wave height, potential fishing zones and market prices in the local language of Tamil through an easy to use menu-driven interface. Now the Fisher Friend application can be downloaded from the Tata Zone for Rs 30/month (approximately US $0.60). The application is a product of a joint initiative between MS Swaminathan Research Foundation, a non-profit organization; Tata Teleservices, the wireless service operator; Astute Systems, the application developer and Wireless Reach.

Fisher Friend helps these fishermen catch more fish, and saves them both time and money. Devanathan, a local fisherman in Puducherry, praised Fisher Friend claiming there are days when his catch has gone from averaging Rs 200-300 a day (approximately US $3 to $6) to Rs 500-800 a day (approximately US $10 to $16). Fisher Friend is a prime realization of our goal at Qualcomm to improve people’s lives by delivering quality communication.

Post by Bill Bold

No solid business case for WiMAX for rural India

New entrants in the 3G or WiMAX space will either have to set up new towers or hire them — either way, they cannot compete with the incumbent players. It gets worse for someone doing WiMAX since this does not integrate with any 3G or 2G technologies — it does not do either voice or broadband well in a mobility context. And since it is being deployed at a higher frequency than what the existing 2G networks use, it will require additional base stations (compared to 3G) for full coverage in an area. At best, WiMAX may end up serving fixed urban broadband niches, where it will soon be challenged by LTE, which has worldwide momentum and integrates seamlessly with 3G and 2G, and therefore will not need so many base stations. Ironically, the whole WiMAX pitch has been centered around rural India and affordable broadband where it cannot match what 3G can offer.

If we consider the opex, rentals are around Rs 30,000 per month per tower site today and you can add around another Rs 25,000 for diesel and other pass-through costs. Let’s assume a WiMAX player in a city like Pune deploys the same 550 towers that an incumbent operator does. Let us also assume that each base station yields 100 broadband customers. Both these assumptions are extremely generous towards a WiMAX firm. With these assumptions, the site cost per subscriber works out to Rs 550. Add the other operational costs of running a business and you would find that even if the WiMAX firm gets Rs 750 per subscriber as revenue, the business case is negative just on the opex. For incumbent players (with 3G/LTE), the opex is already paid for by voice subscribers, so the broadband revenue is the upside.

By Kanwalinder Singh

Connected Computing

We believe that computing may be very important to emerging markets, but connectivity is the key to helping these regions build their productivity. It’s not just the digital divide – now it’s the connectivity divide. The broad, worldwide footprint of 3G wireless networks makes wireless an obvious answer to Internet access in much of the world.
With the Kayak PC alternative, we have developed a blueprint for assembling a low-cost computing device with wireless access. The objective is to leverage the widespread availability of 3G wireless broadband to bring affordable Internet connectivity to emerging markets, where wired Internet access has often been difficult to access or is unaffordable to many people.

By Kanwalinder Singh

3G Applications and Services in Emerging Markets

Emerging markets are highly attractive and rewarding to wireless operators. and they have crafted diverse business models that enable profitable operation, including ones with low entrance tariffs, Ad subsidies and government/non-profit support. Using such models and exploiting the cost and performance gains of 3G networks, operators have deployed a broad range of data services that vitally improve ARPU and profit. Such services already include mobile Internet, mobile music, wireless broadband, social networking, mobile advertising, mobile commerce, video related services and social improvement services. Many others have been deployed and warrant separate and detailed discussions. Through these innovative 3G data services and business models, operators continue to improve the quality of life for citizens of emerging markets.

By Peggy Johnson

Economic Benefits of 3G for Different Countries Worldwide

3G technologies have ushered in a new era of enhanced and expanded access to information and communication that is unprecedented in the history of telecommunications. Countries around the world are experiencing the growing benefits associated with advanced 3G mobile broadband technologies. The deployment of 3G solutions, devices and services enables countries to more rapidly increase teledensity and expand broadband Internet penetration rates nationwide. Countries adopting 3G have experienced higher levels of GDP per capita and job creation in the telecommunications sector. Moreover 3G expands a country’s opportunities in the business sector, contributing to increased competitiveness and promoting innovative new wirelessly enabled businesses and services. Finally, 3G provides the country’s citizens with richer, more compelling communications services. Access to convenient, affordable and highly customizable mobile broadband devices and services makes life more productive, secure and meaningful and empowers people to transform the way they live, learn, work and play.

By Peggy Johnson

Technology Innovation

As a global leader in technology innovation, Qualcomm is always striving to make a positive impact throughout the world. The products and services we bring to market aim to improve quality-of-life by transforming the way people everywhere communicate, access information, learn, work and play. Equally important, is our Company’s commitment – supported by our employees’ collective efforts – toward sustainability and being good corporate citizens. From the beginning, Qualcomm has been dedicated to supporting the communities in which our employees work and live. As our communities have expanded globally and our business has grown, so has our focus on social responsibility and our ability to effect positive change in this critical area. Now more than ever we have a responsibility to continue to lead by example and make a difference through our ongoing sustainability, outreach and philanthropic efforts. Qualcomm has much to be proud of both as a company of exceptional individuals and as a global citizen. In areas ranging from diversity and environmentalism to corporate transparency and community involvement, we are committed to the long-term success of our Company, the growth of our industry and the enrichment of the global community we serve.

By Peggy Johnson

Making 3G mainstream in India

At present, India’s population of more than 1.2 billion is spread in a 30:70 ratio between urban and rural markets. The penetration in rural markets is very low compared to the urban markets in the country. 3G will bring efficient voice and rich data services to Indian consumers and drive proliferation of mobile broadband in rural areas of the country, opening hitherto untapped markets. Going forward, CDMA2000/EV-DO and WCDMA/HSPA will drive telecom and broadband connectivity in India. Indian mobile companies have been obsessed with the voice subscription game. It’s time to look at value-added services that can significantly transform society. 3G wireless broadband is an opportunity coming their way to make high-speed wireless internet access more widely available and affordable.

There is great opportunity in India for the 3G device market and we will have 3G entry level devices, as well as feature-rich phones, starting from Rs 5000 all the way up to Rs 35,000. Globally, 3G handset prices are now below US$100, putting them within the reach of the mass market in developing countries. We expect 3G smartphones will be rolled out in the second half of 2009 with an entry-level price tag of Rs 10,000. We are in talks with our operator and OEM partners to explore how this space can be penetrated so as to increase the addressable market.

Globally, 2G is transitioning to 3G and we will drive a similar trend and bring in affordable tiered solutions to stimulate mass market adoptions. While the key application of all 3G handsets will be no-compromise-access to mobile Internet, various price points will provide experiences of different kinds. 3G feature phones will bring better voice clarity and multimedia experience to users, opening new services revenue streams for wireless operators. 3G USB modems, dongles and data cards will bring ‘always on’ wireless broadband connectivity to laptops and desktops that are already experiencing accelerated growth and affordable 3G smart phones will bring in a new dimension to enterprise connectivity.

By Kanwalinder Singh