Nilesh.org Notes on technology and everything else

Yesterday, Reliance Infocomm launched one of the largest CDMA networks in the world [Google news]. This wireless network will cover 90% of India’s population on a backbone of 60,000 kms of optic fibre. They have dreams of providing an Internet-enabled Java-powered CDMA2000 1x phone to almost every Indian citizen for around tariffs as low as 40 paise per minute or 0.8 cents per minute. The Samsung/LG/Kyocera phones will be replete with >2.5G applications ranging from internet banking to video on demand and online gaming. Now who do we call `competition’?

Today, although I know the backbone infrastructure to a good extent, I couldn’t see the actual demo of the video on demand CDMA handsets because of the maddening rush of people drooling over the phones. But even looking at the recorded demo, I was convinced enough that it was indeed a revolution. Talking of wireless WLL phones replacing the phones at home, Wireless ATMs replacing the present day wired ATMs, Java-based applications for shopping, billing, banking, etc., the mobile networks in India will be almost at par with the 3G networks across far-east Asia.

Now all we need is Quake for Java and we’ll have college kids playing deathmatches with each other in classroom at 144kbps. The next game revolution is in sight. And then the next internet revolution in India with the promise of wiring up 10 million homes with 100mbps ethernet connections, and the next banking revolution with wireless ATMs. I could go on and on. :-) Perhaps I am getting too excited.