NEW DELHI, Nov 23: CorDECT, the WLL system developed by Indian engineers at IIT, Chennai is emerging as a hit in the overseas market, thanks to its price advantage and quality.

CorDECT (digital enhanced cordless telephony) is rated one of the cheapest technology of its kind for WLL (wireless local loop) application. CorDECT has already received orders from China and South Africa though it is yet to be commercially introduced in India by the DoT.

Two government enterprises in China have signed technology transfer agreements with Indian company.

The Shyam Telecom, one of the Indian companies which this equipment on a global tender by the South African Telkom has shortlisted CorDECT and sources say that it is likely to win the billion dollar contract.

The most significant factor in favour of CorDECT is price. The DoT is spending on an average Rs 10,000 ($300) for a cable pair from the exchange to the customer's premises.

The competing wireless systems (DECT, CDMA etc.) offered by foreign companies put this figure at about $800 (Rs 28,000) upwards, say sources. The manufacturers of CorDECT say that at half this price, i.e., $300 to $400 per line they will be able to offer the system.

In fact, this price could be lower still, if the customs duty was favourable to the indigenous product. The customs duty on wireless local loop was removed in the last budget but the CorDECT manufacturers have to pay customs duty of 20 per cent on the $120( Rs 4,200) components they have to import to make CorDECT in India.

Minus this, the price advantage of CorDECT over every imported WLL technology would be even more, say these sources. However, the biggest disadvantage, it will be facing is the lukewarm response to the system from the DoT. Manufacturers say that acceptance in India is fundamental to its success over seas. For instance what answer can the Indian companies give to South Africa, China or Tunisia if they ask, is the system being used in India? they say.

Experts like TH Chowdary, director, Centre for Telecom Management and Studies, who strongly support CorDECT say that whenever India had to choose switching technology like the crossbar or digital electronic switches teams of DoT engineers visited countries where these systems were developed and deployed to make sure that they were working and proven. It was the telecom departments of those countries like France Telecom, Belgian Telecoms that backed the claims of their countries' technologies and companies.

The Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC) of the DoT is now carrying out qualifying tests for CorDECT.

The South African minister for telecoms Jay Naidoo was reportedly mighty impressed with this equipment when it was first launched at the Singapore Asia Telecom '97.

Tunisia's telecom department is also considering the induction of CorDECT in its set up, according to sources. Already four Indian companies have licenced CorDECT for commercial production. The system was developed in less than three years with an R&D cost of Rs 80 million, which according to sources is a fraction of what it took for big foreign companies which also developed WLL. It has passed field trial with Chennai Telephone and has gone on commercial operation. The system has been developed with funds made available by four Indian companies. Wireless local loop is a means of connecting customers to the telecom network by radio. The system was developed by Ashok Jhunjhunwala and his team of researchers from IIT, Chennai. The DoT had a big opportunity to launch the system when it tendered for wireless local loop equipment to connect 31,000 villages in Eastern Uttar Pradesh. However, because the project was financed by a loan from Asian Development Bank it had to draw up tender conditions which excluded the Indian WLL.

Since then, the rural tender got bogged down in spectrum controversy, with no bidder qualifying the tender norms. The DoT's reason for drawing up the peculiar tender specification was that the frequency band 1.8 to 2.0 GHz on which corDECT was developed was not free as defence services are reserving it for their use. Sources, however, say that 20 MHz of bandwidth in the 1.8 to 2.0 GHz could be released by defence.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.