John Linton Among the many other issues we need to find solutions for is how to make wireless work better for us in 2011 than it has in 2009 and 2010. The major reason for us switching from Vodafone to Optus (after over six years) was Optus more overt commitment to LTE and 4G just as much it was because of Optus' continued build out of the wireless network itself. Anyone who has read my views on wireless would know that I have always seen the future of data communications for residential users as being a wireless world once the technology reaches a point along its published development path - anyone with any interest in the future of residential communications doesn't see it any differently.
So among the 'that was the year that was' articles that appear at this time of year I read this one with more interest than such articles usually engender:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704774604576035611315663944.html?mod=WSJ_Tech_INTL_LSMODULE
I thought it was a useful summary on where wireless had gone and may be going in very general terms with the numbers giving emphasis to the general trends. Doubtless you have read the various statements made by Telstra and Optus about their progress in 'testing LTE' in their various different ways and their estimates of when and where they will provide end user services. If you haven't then you haven't missed much but the implications are that both companies will be providing LTE services in line with the time frames more clearly stated by the EU and US mobile service providers - second half of 2011 with very substantial coverage by the end of 2012.
The mid year figures from the ABS will be available in February some time (I noticed we had received a reminder that the survey form is now available and needs to be submitted by early January) and they should show an even stronger trend towards wireless broadband over taking wire line broadband in general use. This will obviously be well before the speeds have been affected by LTE or the wireless coverage has been 'intensified' by the build out of LTE capable facilities on the current networks.Something to take into consideration will also be the fact that the 'intensification' of the LTE build out will fall in the period between the current cessation of ADSL2 investment and any delivery of Labor's 'NBN2'.
Personally I doubt that 'NBN2' and wireless broadband are going to 'clash'. The users of the two services are entirely different which is something that I think is fundamentally wrong with the "70%" take up assumptions made by Stupid Stephen and Ms Faustus. ADSL was always an 'interim' technology that was, effectively, an extension of the life of the PSTN by delivering faster speeds than dial up data connectivity but completely failed to address the obvious point clearly seen in how mobile telephony had already begun replacing the old PSTN constrained telephone call services. ADSL would never have existed as a 'dominant' technology if mobile data services had been in place five years earlier than they currently are because they really don't address the needs of a pretty large percentage of data users....they just provided useful 'sun set' revenue at huge profit margins for the owners of PSTN infrastructures.
As the ever growing, and ever more quickly growing, number of Australian residences without a PSTN phone line demonstrate - wireless telephony and wireless data services are more than sufficient (at today's evel of inadequacy) for a growing number of 'dwellers' who, in the past, would not have considered not having wire line telephone, and data, services. Depending on what statistics you read (and believe) the number of residences without any form of wire line connection will reach 30% some time in 2012. For those numerate enough to deduct 30% from 100% (presumably not the Australian Labor party) the 70% of residences in Australia that would be available to use the 'NBN2' currently claimed by Ms Faustus and co is actually 100% of the current available residences if you ignore the fact that the 'NBN' is stated to only connect 9X% of the total residences in Australia. So......it seems that the 'NBN2' is not aiming for 70% (an improbable number in the first place) but something like 112% of the currently available residences....or some nonsensical percentage that since its all based on pie in the sky in the first place is now totally meaningless.
Back to reality. Just what growth wireless broadband will play in Exetel's 2011 is something we need to maximise and we currently don't have any sensible plans in place to do that.....which we really should. We definitely need an Android MoIP app.
Copyright © Exetel Pty Ltd 2010
ABN 350 979 865 46