John Linton .....never does anything but waste money. Then again long term planning can waste even more money if you get it wrong.....Telstra's totally crazy attempt to become video delivery service just being one small example.....must have been a full moon when someone came up with that lulu.
I have been looking at what was happening in the US and the EU wireless broadband marketplaces over the past few days as we really need to find some way of improving our wireless broadband sales which have stagnated over the past year as we have had no time or resources to allocate to improving our offerings. Without knowing what the ABS statistics will show in a couple of months time it seems likely that the number of wireless broadband users will increase and ether exceed or get close to the number of ADSL broadband users. This is a remarkable 'statistic' (whichever way it turns out) as wireless broadband will have taken less than four years to reach the number that ADSL took almost 11 years to reach.....
.....but of course that isn't the real achievement. The real achievement will be that wireless broadband will CONTINUE to grow in terms of numbers while ADSL will never grow beyond the numbers reached a year or so ago - except in counting correction errors. Now, when Stupid Stephen et alia made their 'back of a bus ticket' calculations about estimated demand for a fibre broadband service three plus years ago the number and ubiquity of wireless broadband was very, very different to today and the speed and reliability of wireless broadband was a quarter of what it is today. BUT, "today" is simply a point in time along a time line that stretches more than a decade into the future....it is nowhere close to the realities of the capabilities of wireless broadband that will exist in even three years time - let alone when the 'NBN2' comes close to becoming more widely available....whenever that turns out to be.
Wireless broadband growth will not be affected by the 'NBN2' - although the 'NBN2' will be significantly affected by wireless broadband growth in terms of the number of households that will take up the 'NBN2' offering. Why? Because, ignoring all the compelling technological reasons - at the very base commercial level, both Telstra and Optus have a huge vested interest in their wireless networks and no interest at all in 'wholesaling from the 'NBN2'. So, as the past four years have shown, wireless broadband has surpassed, or will shortly surpass, the number of ADSL broadband connections and will then go on to double/treble that number - partly by net new connections and partly by the number of ADSL connections falling.
So, more than ever, Exetel needs to find a way of becoming a better and more widely known provider of wireless broadband services - or we need to get out of the wireless broadband business. We have been trying and failing to do that for the best part of four years. Finding a way of doing it over the coming months looks to be as difficult as ever. Perhaps bizarrely, using the 'NBN2' may be the way of promoting wireless broadband - now there's a 'left field concept'. Later this week we will offer all of our Armidale and Kiama ADSL customers a free 'NBN2' service - free installation and free for a twelve month 'trial' period monthly connection. We will do this, because NBNCo will provide the installation free of charge and will make no charge for the port rental and back haul from Armidale to a POI in Sydney. It is a once in a life time 'deal' for end users in Armidale, Kiama etc (of all participating ISPs of course - not just Exetel) and just shows you what can be done with unlimited amounts of taxpayer's money.
As I was considering the costs to Exetel of doing this (sales, support, IP, POI interconnect etc which are not inconsiderable) a strange idea hovered in the outskirts of my mind - but just out of reach of being brought into focus. I made a note of the 'bits' I comprehended and will try and make sense out of it today. However there is never a better time to talk to a customer than when you are offering them something 'free' (and in this case perhaps the inverted commas need not be used?).
Working life continues to hold surprises and, while I share the view, I didn't enjoy reading this 'confirmation':
http://www.smh.com.au/business/survey-underscores-grim-times-for-business-20110705-1h000.html
Copyright © Exetel Pty Ltd 2011
ABN 350 979 865 46
22 - Hopefully the 'F' version will be better than the 'V' version of this undistinguished number