Mobile Internet: the wireless convergence

But while Telstra and the recently formed Group of Nine tiptoe through a tangle of broadband regulations and negotiations with the ACCC, other telecommunications service providers are treading into a brave new world of wireless communications.

Since the launch of Hutchison's third-generation mobile network in April 2003, mobile telecommunications service providers have expanded their offerings from traditional voice calling to include video calls, multimedia downloads and Internet access.

According to 2007 survey results from the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association's (AIMIA) Australia Mobile Phone Lifestyle Index, 30 percent of survey respondents reported using 3G technology, reflecting an 11 percent growth in 3G penetration from previous years' results.

While voice calls and SMS were found to be the most frequently used services, survey participants also reported having used their phones for MMS, content downloads, and video calling. Seven percent of survey respondents used their mobile phones for sending and receiving e-mail.

Speaking at a wireless discussion organised by the Australian Telecommunications Users Group (ATUG) last week, AIMIA's Head of Mobile Claudia Sagripanti said that while 11 percent of Australians are reportedly accessing the Internet via their mobile phones, public uptake of the technology remains deterred by cost.

"Data charges are a big issue for consumers because they [consumers] don't know exactly how much they are being charged," she said.

But cost is not likely to be an issue for long, as service providers race to deliver networks that are faster, cheaper, and more accessible than ever before.

When Telstra launched its $1 billion NextG network in October 2006, the network claimed to reach 98.8 per cent of the Australian population, delivering voice and broadband services at speeds of up to 3.6 Mbps. The network has since been upgraded to deliver speeds of up to 14.4 Mbps, and is expected to reach speeds of up to 40 Mbps by next year.

Hutchison too upgraded its 3G mobile network in February last year to incorporate High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) technology, increasing the network's maximum download speed to 3.6 Mbps.

Mobile telecommunications are expected to heat up as Optus and Vodafone prepare to launch their own 3G networks by the end of the year.

Optus is working with Huawei and Nokia Siemens Networks to build a national network that operates in the 900 megahertz (MHz) and 2100MHz frequency spectrum.

Meanwhile, Vodafone has earmarked Christmas 2008 for the launch of its $500 million 3G mobile broadband network that is set to cover
95 percent of the Australian population.

At first glance, mobile Internet speeds pale in comparison to ADSL2+ wired broadband offerings that operate at speeds of around 20 Mbps.

When compared with average Australian broadband speeds of 1 Mbps as reported by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD) last year, however, HSDPA may present a reasonable alternative to wired services.

But with network rivalry comes cost reductions for businesses and consumers.

"Wireless services are now competing with the incumbent copper wire line service," said Grant Stepa, Australia and New Zealand Managing Director of Airspan Networks, while expounding the merits of WiMAX technologies at last week's ATUG wireless discussion.

"Hence price points mirror – and in many cases are lower than – those of traditional telephone services."

"This is a threat to the incumbent's fixed and mobile pricing regime, and the end users are at an advantage," he said.World Wide WiMax

WiMax is a wireless telecommunications technology that is based on the IEEE 802.16 standard. Governed by the WiMax Forum, which was formed in June 2001 to promote the development of a WiMax standard, the technology has applications in high-speed data and telecommunications, as well as presenting a wireless alternative for last mile broadband access.

Already, the technology has received great attention in developing nations and countries such as China, Russia and Tanzania.

Last October, networking giant Cisco announced two initiatives aimed at bringing high-speed broadband access to consumers and businesses in emerging countries.

Called "Country Transformation" and "Digital Inclusion", the projects are expected to make use of the company's wireless portfolio of Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi mesh and mobile WiMax products to drive the provision of wireless broadband in developing areas.

Canadian broadband and wireless product and services vendor Redline Communications has launched a Tanzanian WiMax network in a partnership with African service provider, Hotspot Business Solutions. The network debuted in November 2007 to service the Tanzania's commercial centre in Dar es Salaam, and is expected to be expanded to cover six major cities nationwide.

In Taiwan, officials announced in October last year that the island will spend $664 million in a WiMax development program in efforts to garner the lion's share of WiMax manufacturing.

Also in motion are plans for an island-wide Mobile WiMax network, called the M(mobile)-Taiwan program.

As voice and data telecommunications services converge, Airspan's Stepa expects WiMax to be a convenient, portable alternative to the local loop copper network in Australia.

"What we're seeing in Australia is a proliferation in the deployment of fixed and nomadic wireless broadband services," he said.

"Once a wireless service is in place, it is an easy next step to deliver a converged suite of services that include traditional Internet and VoIP."

The penetration of WiMax in Australia is championed by Internet Service Providers such as Internode and Unwired.

In January this year, Internode launched what it claimed to be the first region-wide wireless broadband service in Australia to use WiMax. The service delivers speeds of up to 6 Mbps in specific areas near Adelaide, and is targeted towards people unable to get ADSL because they live too far from a telephone exchange.

Unwired's Sydney-based wireless network was launched in 2004. In August 2005, the company received a $37 million investment from Intel for the promotion of mobile WiMax in Australia. Unwired currently is working with Intel, Samsung, Motorola, Navini and Alcatel to bring Mobile WiMax technology to Australia.HSPA's battle

Meanwhile, Hutchison and Telstra, along with mobile manufacturers Ericsson and LG, have snubbed WiMax in favour of HSPA and other 3G technologies.

According to Klaas Raaijmakers, who is the Head of Broadband of Hutchison's 3 Mobile, the telecommunications company now is servicing a larger, more diverse market than ever before.

"We're moving away from the traditional tech-savvy users; we're seeing more female customers, for example," Raaijmakers said, citing greater affordability, convenience and portability between home, work, places of study, and overseas as customer-reported benefits.

Meanwhile, Airspan's Stepa said that 3G and WiMax may not necessarily be competing directly for market share.

"We're not fighting 3G", he said, noting that vendors and network carriers tend to "choose their horses" when it comes down to delivering a service in any particular area.

Motorola and Samsung are two examples of vendors that manufacture mobile phones for both WiMax and 3G networks.

Rob Inshaw, Nortel Network's Australia and New Zealand General Manager of Carrier Solutions, agrees.

"3G and WiMax service different markets," he said, forecasting that WiMax is likely to appeal to more tech-savvy users who value mobile access to the Internet more than traditional telephony services.

Inshaw cited increased and improved communication applications, a hyperconnected environment in which people are using multiple devices to connect to other people and other machines, as well as the availability of what he called "true broadband" as driving forces behind the development of more advanced wireless technologies.

Currently available HSDPA networks support speeds of up to 14.4 Mbps. Future incarnations of the technology, dubbed HSPA Evolved, are expected to deliver speeds of 42 Mbps, and will involve antenna array technologies.

Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks are next on the 3G roadmap. LTE networks are expected to achieve downlink speeds of up to 200 Mbps and uplink speeds of up to 100 Mbps.

"What is true broadband? I think it's being able to do what you want, when you want," Inshaw said, estimating that Web services should ideally take a maximum of four seconds to load before the average user tends to lose interest.

Forecasting spectrum capacity problems to hinder the speeds deliverable by 3G technologies, Inshaw said that future developments in the 3G space may bring the services available to 3G networks closer to those offered by WiMax.

"3G will continue to evolve over the next four years, and will eventually offer similar services to WiMax," he said.

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