Ashutosh Maheshwari, a Mumbai-based marketing professional, started using WiFi about five years ago.
Today, he takes pride in the fact that his wireless Internet connection allows him to access the worldwide web not only on any one of his multiple computers but also on his TV, his iPod music player, a Windows-based mobile phone and even his game console Xbox 360.
Like Maheshwari, millions of urban Indians are going wireless, all on WiFi. A WiFi network, or a Wireless Local Area Network, enables mobile devices, laptops or any WiFi-enabled appliance to send and receive data within the range of a wireless base station, commonly known as a hotspot.
At present, there are a few public places -- like airports, coffee shops and restaurants -- where you can access WiFi service for free, or for a fee.
All major system integrators in the country have reported that their hotspot deployments have gone up 20 per cent since last year.
Growing laptop sales, increasing awareness about broadband and an all-pervasive use of mobile phones for rich content transfers have become key harbingers of the WiFi platform.
The ease with which users can connect household devices has been the main reason for the quick uptake of WiFi.
Ankit Agarwal, a senior executive with a life-sciences company, estimates: "For me, WiFi works out to be cheaper, given that a single connection is shared by multiple devices and the only additional cost is the expense of a router or multiple routers, which is spread over a period of four to five years (the life of a router). Therefore, the effective cost per month is lower than getting multiple connections."
On an average, a 1-Mbps line costs Rs 1,200-2,000 a month, depending on the service provider.
And a router costs anywhere between Rs 2,500 and Rs 4,000.
However, Maheshwari acknowledges: "Connecting multiple devices to a single connection does affect data speeds, especially if all the computers/devices are active at the same time."
A ballooning business
The Indian WiFi market, according to Tonse Telecom estimates, is estimated to be at about Rs 2,500 crore and is set to reach Rs 3,300 crore (Rs 33 billion) by 2011-12.
Neha Gupta, a Gartner analyst, says: "The penetration of laptops in urban areas will continue to rise," as the need for mobility of devices among individuals increases.
India is expected to take a leap in broadband penetration, with a Confederation of Indian Industry and IMRB Broadband report projecting the subscriber base would grow to 214 million by 2014.
Wireless broadband services company Tikona Network claims that requests for connections that enable the use of five-six devices in a home is fast growing.
"A year ago, there were hardly any connections. Today, we have around 200,000 household connections across the states we are present in," says Prakash Bajpai, CEO, Tikona Network.
The company is currently adding around 25,000 to 30,000 customers every month in India. Bajpai has faith that Tikona will begin to see 50,000 to 100,000 customer additions a month by next year.
Other reasons that are fuelling the demand for WiFi, according to analysts, is the MNC work culture.
"The home-office culture has set in, especially in tech cities like Bangalore, Delhi NCR and Mumbai, making laptop usage and home WiFi a necessity.
Small business enterprises are contributing significantly to the mobile workforce by becoming the fastest-growing segment in laptop consumption," claims the Tonse Telecom report.
With fixed-line internet connections not being able to connect multiple devices in a home (unless a separate WiFi router is purchased) and a large proportion of users reluctant to bring multiple wires for internet, WiFi players like Tikona insist it bodes well for their business.
More companies are logging on. . .
Last year, Zylog Systems, a leading global software solutions and services provider, announced the launch of Wi5 wireless broadband services in Chennai. Zylog has also announced its intentions to roll out WiFi services in cities like Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Kolkata. Even Tata Communications Internet Services, in association with Tomizone, is set to enter the WiFi market in India.
"There is a need for higher penetration of WiFi hotspots where laptop and WiFi-enabled device users can connect to the internet.
Currently, there are less than 1,000 WiFi hotspots in India. Tata Indicom WiFi alone accounts for over 50 per cent of these.
As a result of this partnership (with Tomizone), the number of such hotspots can grow manifold in a much shorter time and also allow retail consumers to take part in this exciting new business opportunity," Prateek Pashine, COO, TCISL, said.
Tata Indicom broadband customers, adds Pashine, cannot only set up WiFi hotspots at their premises instantly but also get an opportunity to utilise their unused bandwidth by offering it to others, say, neighbours.
In return, they will get credit (Internet surfing time) on their account, thus subsidising the cost of their broadband connection.
Even as newer mobile data technologies, like 3G and WiMax, are expected to be launched in India soon, experts believe these would not affect WiFi consumption.
"The 3G service is good, but it is aimed at mobile devices. It can't replace home broadband connections. WiFi can be at least ten times cheaper than 3G or WiMax," believes Bajpai of Tikona Networks.
Some network niggles
However, there are little hiccups that come with WiFi connections. Take, for instance, Shreyans Kothari, a banker who had to scout for a favourable spot at his residence for delivering the best signal strength.
"Many Indian homes are made of concrete walls and signal penetration through these walls is not very good. I had to add a range extender to get the best result from the WiFi set-up," he explains.
Range extenders connect wirelessly to the WiFi router, replicating the signal over a larger area and cost up to Rs 5,500 each.
With inputs from Priyanka Joshi
