Motorola was one of the early entrants in the Indian telecom market. After initial success in the infrastructure side, the company found it difficult to compete with its European competitors like Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Network. Under the leadership of Subhendu Mohanty, Country Head, Home & Network Mobility Business, Motorola India & Services Director, Networks and Enterprise, the company intends to become market leader.

Mohanty talks to TelecomTiger on his plans and strategy for India market. Excerpts of interview:

Q: It appears that Motorola has left behind in Indian market compared to Nokia Siemens and Ericsson. What is your strategy to come back in telecom infrastructure?

Motorola has been and continues to have a prominent presence in the market. Shifting business share is a matter of market dynamics which are never static. We are addressing the market with an array of end-to-end communications solutions spanning VAS, WiMAX / Broadband solutions, Infrastructure solutions, enterprise mobility solution etc. For details you could see the Motorola India corporate factsheet.

Q: In the last BSNL tender for procuring GSM equipment, Motorola was disqualified. It approached court and later withdrew the case. Now, BSNL has again floated a tender for GSM equipment and setting up of infrastructure. Will you participate in this tender?

All major carriers are our customers and BSNL is a very valued customer. We will participate in this and all other tenders. As regards the disqualification, we would not like to comment on the same. Our detailed response / position is already in the public domain.

Q: What are the challenges in Indian market?

The primary challenges that we are facing are pricing competition, assignment of turnkey jobs on equipment vendors, high attrition of resources (due to peak in demand) and availability of skilled telecom resources.

Q: Telecom service market in India is expanding very rapidly. By the end of the year there will be almost 10 players in the field. Most of the growth will take place in group B and CCTs and villages. So what will be your strategy to capture the market? 

With our revamped portfolio in GSM, WiMax and strong localization focus, Motorola is well positioned to play a major role in this growth phase. We have also developed an eco system with turnkey and ancillary players to focus lot more into group B and CCTs and villages type of deployment where not only Capex needs to be low but also Opex has to be low. We will work with a few selective players as real partners.

Q: What are your specific plans in India?

Motorola Home & Networks Mobility business is strongly focused in few technology areas besides traditional cellular business (GSM, CDMA). We have a strong product portfolio and market leadership in WiMax, IDEN, IPTV, GPON, Set Top Boxes and DSL Modem to name a few.  Also, our offerings in network optimization (and much needed efficient spectrum utilization) are one of the best in industry on which we are working closely with operators. Last but not the least; we have a joint venture with Tech Mahindra called CanvasM which is into offering hosted solutions for a variety of Contents and Applications.

Q: Who are your main clients?   

All major carriers across technologies are our customers. 

Q: What is your focus area in India? How important is Indian market for you?  

India is a key market for Motorola and we are focused on every aspect of the marketplay.