On both occasions, Tata Teleservices, part of the salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group, followed in Reliance's wake: first into CDMA-based mobile and then into GSM. Apart from these two, Shyam Sistema, a joint venture of Shyam Telelinks, which earlier sold its Rajasthan GSM operations to Bharti Airtel, has obtained nation-wide CDMA spectrum and applied for GSM spectrum.
The battle is over
The GSM players are claiming victory, saying they always knew that all the talk about CDMA being the superior technology -- often debated during the legal battles -- was not valid. One large GSM player, which was given extensive presentations by vendors on the ostensible superiority of CDMA, says it always knew there was no magic in the technology.
"Globally 80 per cent of new subscribers are choosing GSM. The debate about CDMA versus GSM has ended. The market has decided," says T V Ramachandran, director-general, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), the grouping of GSM operators.
Despite India's two biggest corporate houses betting on CDMA, 70 per cent of the market in the country is with GSM, which enjoys distinct advantages. It is the more widespread technology in the world, enabling seamless roaming.
Image: Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata. | Photograph: Deshakalyan Chowdhury/AFP/Getty Images
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