South Korean chaebol LG Electronics supplied over 3.8 million CDMA-based fixed wireless phones in India last year, making the country the largest consumer of this particular telephone instrument in the world.
Buoyant on low entry barriers and low tariffs offered by FWP service providers, India recorded a net addition of 3.5 million fixed wireless instruments in 2005 to garner the top slot.
"FWPs are in great demand in the country, as they serve as a common phone in a household or at an establishment unlike a mobile which is more personal in nature. Moreover, the cost of ownership of an FWP and its call rates are also cheaper compared with a cell phone," K K Kushwaha, vice-president, India (CDMA-terminals), LG Electronics, said.
India is closely followed by Brazil, while Mexico is in the third slot. Indonesia and Thailand are the other countries where FWPs are currently in use.
Low entry barriers and low tariffs contributed to the rise in sales of fixed-line telephones, which posted an increase of 75 per cent from the 2 million handsets supplied to the country during the previous year.
The company supplies two varieties of fixed wireless instruments - FWP and fixed wireless terminals (FWT) - that work on the CDMA-based WLL (wireless in local loop) modes. The supplies of FWPs and FWTs are in a 85:15 ratio.
While LG is the sole supplier of FWPs and FWTs to Reliance Infocomm, Tata Teleservices sources 80 per cent of its equipment needs from the Korean telecom major.
LG's FWP, LSP 350 - a data-enabled equipment - was the one in high demand. The company also has a low-end FWP model - LSP 400 - that offers voice and SMS services. However, its both FWT models - LST 255 and LST 260 - are data-enabled.
India added a net 3.5 million FWP instruments in 2005. Besides LG, Asestel, Hyundai and Huawei are the other telecom equipment providers that supply instruments to the country.