commentary You can't blame wireless carrier Unwired for feeling a little
left out in the last few weeks.
Several of the broadband seller's giant competitors have spent that time detailing their plans to provide mobile broadband over networks based on the 3G GSM standard, with some investigating next-generation HSDPA services on the back of the GSM networks.
In contrast, Unwired is the principal local champion of the WiMAX standard, the mobile version of which is expected to be ratified later this year.
However in the light of the billions of dollars Optus, Vodafone, Hutchison and especially Telstra have been and will be putting into 3G infrastructure, WiMAX's position in Australia is looking a little unsteady.
In particular, Telstra's media blitz this week, which highlighted the fact the telco will consolidate its three mobile networks to a single national 3G GSM network -- appeared to have Unwired rattled.
Telstra claimed the network could eventually deliver up to 14Mbps wireless broadband speeds to customers, using the HSDPA standard which Vodafone is already basing some international services on.
But shortly after Telstra's news hit the street, Unwired fired off a statement attacking Telstra's technology base.
"HSDPA/3G is an underpowered technology which will not meet the needs of people looking for a broadband equivalent wireless service," said the statement in the name of chief technical officer Eric Hamilton.
"While in theory a [3G connection] can support 14.4Mbps of traffic, tests have shown that the real throughput is little better than 3Mbps," he added.
This, Hamilton alleged, was well under the speeds offered by WiMAX as well as Unwired's current proprietary solution from vendor Navini.
There is some truth to Hamilton's statements -- WiMAX does indeed have the potential to offer both higher speeds and more reliable connections than services based on 3G GSM/HSDPA.
However you can't ignore the sheer billions of dollars of investment that the major carriers are putting into alternatives to WiMAX. In that context, Intel's recent AUD$37 million investment in Unwired seems kind of underwhelming.
And although neither Telstra nor Vodafone, which is trialling HSDPA, are actually selling HSDPA-based services yet, neither is Unwired yet selling speeds higher than 1.5Mbps itself -- and it's not selling anything at all outside Sydney.
When the larger telcos do launch HSDPA services, they'll be launching on the back of their rapidly expanding 3G networks -- which in Telstra's and its partner Hutchison's case already reach to all the major capital cities.
But Unwired's problems don't stop there -- its survival as a profitable business is still far from assured.
The company has so far signed up only half of the customers it needs to break even on its Sydney business, let alone elsewhere. Around 30,000 Sydney customers are still needed.
Sadly, it's a well-known fact that the better technology doesn't always win. And in this case the opportunity for the larger carriers to combine their mobile phone and wireless broadband services into one network is extremely attractive.
What do you think? Will wireless broadband based on 3G/HSDPA become a significant force in Australia? Or will WiMAX win the day? Have your say below.
Unwired.
11/12/2005 03:55 PM
Unwired: More like "unconnected" I'm on unwired now and it sucks. I am in Crows Nest, supposedly in the heart of connection area, however connection drops out every 10 minutes and even when connected download speeds and latency prevent anything but the most basic web browsing. If you can get ADSL fixed-line broadband don't even for a second consider unwired. Just glad I don't also hold unwired stock.
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fenn007
06/02/2006 02:33 PM
Unwired = No Service, no go
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Robert
27/10/2006 05:16 PM
I must agree with the other response that unwired's future look shakey if their service doesn't improve. I have a service with unwired that is 512kps but I am very rarely at that speed if ever and don't talk to me about drop outs, very frustrating. Possibly the worst decision I have ever made was to sign up with unwired.
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Michael Edwards
03/01/2007 09:18 PM
Based on the performance of my Unwired connection, I would say; Get out now before it's too late..... My unwired connections performance is ordinary to say the least. Had it not been my only option for broadband, I would have got out a long time ago. I pay $54.95 p/m. for a connection which is a little faster than dial-up at best. Bring on fast 3G!!!!
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Anonymous
07/05/2007 03:09 PM
As an unwired customer who is currently trying to exit unwired I wont be trying wireless again. I like the virtues of wireless but believe you need excellent customer support to manage the obvious issues. The opposite seems to be the case at unwired, often 45mins before your call is answered. Therefore their business can not be sustained. I assume they will fold or be bought out and their customer base will be phased into some other competitors product range.
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Jozza
07/01/2008 02:56 PM
Unwired are in a bit of a pickle with this one - I've been a customer since the start and have been (up til now) quite satisfied with their services. However, as of late there have been a lot of dropouts and my first-generation modem keeps overheating and needs to be reset all the time. It's probably the area. I made a simple call to tech support just to ask where the nearest station was so I could orient the modem, and perhaps if I could get an upgraded antenna, but they were very reluctant to help. I'd be very interested to know where the 37 millions dollars went. It has been two years since, and instead of things getting better, they just gotten worse.
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