April 29, 2013
Danish Khan
The maker of Aakash tablet Datawind is expanding its wings beyond the tablet sphere and the Indian market with its latest 4G LTE enabled “Phablet” device, which is currently being tested in the US market with one of the leading telecom operators.
“Our latest phablet device will be priced under sub-$100 category and will appear in the second half of this fiscal year,” Suneet Singh Tuli, CEO of Datawind told Light Reading India. Tuli was one of the panelists at UBM's 4G World India expo 2013.
The latest LTE enabled phablet device will be running on the FDD-LTE technology, which is standard technology adopted in the US for providing 4G services. The specifications of Datawind’s latest device are still unknown though the device could feature a 5-inch display.
Tuli said that big screen devices will drive more video consumption, which is crucial for driving the 4G growth. On Datawind LTE phablet’s availability in the Indian market, Tuli said that the Indian market is still in nascent stages with only one telco, Bharti Airtel, operating in the space. Airtel is currently offering services through dongles and router. The company did announce the launch of Huawei-made device but it is not yet available in the market.
“At present, we have plans to roll-out the device in the US only. We are observing the Indian 4G market and whenever the right time comes, we will introduce the India-specific device,” he added.
The Indian telcos have selected TDD-LTE technology for providing 4G services in the country, except Videocon Telecommunications which will roll-out 4G services running on FDD-LTE technology by the 2013 end.
With India being one of the major markets for Datawind in the tablet domain, it is expected that the company would be among the first few companies to launch 4G LTE devices in the country to get the first mover advantage.
Datawind is known for catalysing the Indian tablet industry with a sub-$35 Aakash tablet. Given its preparation for the 4G ecosystem, the company could again play a crucial role in catalyzing this new ecosystem with its cheaper devices.
-Danish Khan, Correspondent Light Reading India
