Auckland Wifi

The Auckland Gallery Guide

Sprint Nextel to Build $2.5 Billion Wireless Network


Internet Access Expected to Cover More Distance Than WiFi at Speeds Similar to DSL
By Arshad Mohammed

Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 9, 2006; Page D04

Sprint Nextel Corp. said yesterday that it will build a network using the WiMax technology backed by Intel Corp. to provide widespread wireless Internet access that offers speeds similar to DSL.

However, some analysts balked at the $2.5 billion the company expects to spend on the project over the next two years, noting that Sprint Nextel's work on a fourth-generation network comes as mobile carriers in the United States and Europe have yet to make money on their third-generation investments.

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The Reston company, the country's third-largest mobile phone provider, is betting that consumers will pay a premium for a wireless network that will allow them to surf the Internet and conduct video conference calls -- either on the go or from their homes or offices. Sprint Nextel expects the new network to reach as many as 100 million people by the end of 2008.

WiMax is similar to the WiFi technology used in coffee shops and airport terminals to provide wireless Web surfing, but the new technology provides service at greater distances. The mobile service would be priced higher than home DSL connections -- typically $15 to $30 per month in this area -- but the company would not provide specific amounts.

"Access in itself is the killer application," said Atish Gude, Sprint Nextel's senior vice president of corporate strategy and development, adding that he expects a host of devices -- including MP3 and DVD players, cameras, and camcorders -- to be embedded with chips that could access the network.

Sprint Nextel, which expects to launch the service in trial markets by the end of next year, plans to spend $1 billion in 2007 and $1.5 billion to $2 billion in 2008 to upgrade the network, using many of its existing cell towers. Initially, the service would offer download speeds of 2 to 4 megabits per second, which is comparable to DSL.

The company announced its plans in a joint announcement yesterday with Intel, which will make the chips to enable wireless access, and Motorola Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co., which will build infrastructure for the network, as well as devices that use it.

Sprint Nextel's stock fell 31 cents, or 1.8 percent, to close at $16.63 yesterday, its fourth consecutive decline since announcing a 38 percent drop in profit on Thursday.

"It is very much an open question as to whether the demand is going to be there," said Christopher King, a telecom analyst with Stifel Nicolaus & Co., a financial services firm. "I am hard-pressed to see how Sprint Nextel is going to generate positive investment return on this anytime in the near future. But this is long-term investment for them. I am not necessarily sure that they are counting on seeing a positive return anytime soon."

Berge Ayvazian, chief strategy officer for the Yankee Group telecommunications consulting company, said Sprint Nextel would have some advantages as the first U.S. mobile phone company to build such a nationwide network.

"There will be significant demand," Ayvazian said. "The market should reward the risk taker who is prepared to Skype the rest of the telecom industry," he said, referring to the eBay Inc. unit whose Internet communications service threatens traditional phone companies.

The Auckland Gallery Guide - get to Aucklands best art.

Now that Apple is Intel based will the MacBook Pro benefit from this technology?

Intel Based Laptops to Connect to High Speed Mobile Networks

News : Notebooks, posted 15-FEB-2006 14:41



The GSM Association (GSMA) and Intel Corporation are working on an initiative to facilitate and drive the adoption of the GSM family of technologies in laptop computers, to enable users to connect and seamlessly roam across global mobile networks.

The GSMA and Intel will collaborate to develop guidelines for integrating 3G modems and SIM cards into laptop computers, enabling automatic connection to both 3GSM networks and Wi-Fi networks around the world - using the same SIM card technology used by mobile phones.

Some laptop makers have already announced their intentions to offer GSM capabilities, and these guidelines are key to ensure that they can quickly and easily provide these capabilities to laptop owners around the world. The GSMA and Intel will seek to engage organizations critical to market implementation, including mobile operators, PC manufacturers and network infrastructure providers.

Sean Maloney, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Intel’s Mobility Group, added: “During 2006, many of our customers will offer Intel Centrino Mobile Technology laptops that not only feature built in Wi-Fi technology, but also an internal 3GSM data card and an integrated SIM reader. This will turn the notebook into a real multi-communications terminal, and the SIM into a real authentication vehicle for GSM, GPRS, EDGE, 3GSM, HSDPA and Wi-Fi networks.”

This initiative builds on the work completed within the GSMA, which has laid the groundwork for seamless roaming scenarios between networks of mixed technology infrastructure and the usage of the SIM card to provide Wi-Fi access control and billing. This initiative will focus on developing guidelines to include the GSM family of technologies including the new high speed 3G wireless broadband technology, HSDPA, in laptop computers.

All Apple MacBook & I suppose some Sony Vaio users in New Zealand must be feeling left out of the EVDO using family. Telecom NZ only supplies one EVDO card, and it is PCMCA. Will the ExpressCards for the US & Eauropean markets work down here?

The Auckland Gallery Guide

Beware the WiMAX cul-de-sac By Juha Saarinen, Auckland


When telco incumbents with extensive fixed and mobile data networks start touting rival technologies you know something’s wrong. This is especially the case when it’s a technology that has been on trial for a long time and the incumbents have not invested in it themselves.

I am, of course, talking about WiMAX, the wireless standard that’s been hyped for the last three years as a last-mile data delivery alternative by large vendors such as Intel and Alcatel. Telecom’s chief executive, Theresa Gattung, has also listed WiMAX as a competitive threat — just like she did with Woosh during earlier regulatory talk fests.

Woosh didn’t turn out to be a competitive threat for Telecom and it looks like WiMAX could meet with the same fate unless the government steps in fast to change the regulatory landscape.

The WiMAX standard by itself is far from technically deficient. On the contrary, if the NatCom WiMAX service I’ve trialled is anything to go by, providers could build fast and reliable broadband wireless access (BWA) networks to compete with fixed infrastructure from established players.

For this to happen however, providers need to have better access to the currently underused licensed radio frequency spectrums in New Zealand.

While the WiMAX standard lays out a variety of frequency bands that can be used — as high as 99GHz - the practical ranges are at far lower frequencies. Lower frequencies have advantages like greater reach, better penetration, non- or near line of sight deployment and requiring fewer access points for coverage.

The problem is that much of this spectrum is in the hands of telcos and operators who are “squatting” so to speak, without using the frequencies for anything. There is actually plenty of room in the New Zealand ether for data networks. A discussion paper released by the Ministry of Economic Development points to little usage of the frequency bands that work well with WiMAX, such 2.1-2.3 and 3.5GHz. This is a waste of limited resources, and the paper suggests that unused spectrum rights are rescinded and reallocated.

Allocating more spectrum isn’t going to be enough, however. The configuration of the 3.5GHz and lower frequency bands isn’t appropriate for WiMAX. Many bands are currently sliced up into 7MHz pairs, one for downstream provision and one for upstream. That’s a total of 14MHz which, without going into too much deep geek detail, just isn’t enough bandwidth to keep up with customers’ ever-increasing demands — not even with fancy modulation wringing out the last bit of performance from the allocation.

To make WiMAX succed and ensure scalability, the Government would need to reconfigure bands into, say, 21MHz pairs instead. Currently, providers can aggregate spectrum in the 3.5GHz band through commercial arrangements with one another but the likelihood of bitter competitors doing that is small.

These sorts of regulatory issues were pointed out by the OECD recently as a major hindrance to the success of WiMAX. Even if the Government here creates fatter frequency bands, it would need to happen in the larger overseas markets, too, where similar “spectrum squatting” is rife. Without large-scale deployments in big overseas markets like the US, OEMs won’t get the economies of scale needed to produce affordable customer premises equipment and access points. Without cheap gear, there is no future for WiMAX in New Zealand either.

As telcos are gearing up to provide the next round of high-speed cellular 3G technologies, you have to ask where this leaves providers betting on WiMAX.

Considering that the spectrum changes aren’t likely to take effect until 2010, it looks like they are heading into a commercial cul-de-sac because of slow regulation that has failed to keep up with technology.

Logging into Telecom New Zealands hotspot service it appears they have extended free access for broadband customers till December 2007.