Thursday, March 5. 2009Exetel's "NBN" Get's A Little Closer.......John Linton .......and I means weeks/months - not years/decades. Since the sound bite policy of building an "NBN" was first mooted I have been saying that a fast HSPA service would be easier, far cheaper and far quicker to implement than any of the crazy options currently being considered. As this article clearly illustrates: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123612370867623587.html providing fibre to rural areas is always going to cost far more than anyone ever thinks it will. I understand that only Telstra has made a serious commitment to actually dimensioning their HSPA service well enough at this time I am assuming that Optus/Vodafone will eventually get around to fixing their 'careful' deployment attitudes as they both did on their voice mobile network - for those of us old enough to remember the early phases of Optus and Vodafone mobile networks. Over the past few months several of Exetel's country agents have been installing HSPA services on rural properties using Yagi antennae to address the distance from base station issues (up to 30 kilometers in several cases) with considerable success. The current drawbacks are the cost of the antennae and the lack of a full functionality 'magic box' that has a sim slot (rather than a USB port) and a built in ATA with two lines to take the customers current telephone hand set. Exetel has been trying to source a suitable Yagi from the PRC over the past two months to reduce the antenna price from something over $A130.00 to something under $A50.00 (including the patch leads) and also sourcing the 'magic' box for something like $A150.00 to give a one off install hardware cost of sub $200.00 plus whatever an agent wanted to add as a hardware margin plus whatever the agent wanted to add for installation. In this way the end user gets a much lower cost installation than they would be able to get from any other carrier/agent but the agent will be able to make more money because Exetel has 'procured' much lower cost hardware. This concept would allow some 700 'rural' agents (no we don't have that many at the moment - less than 10% of that number) to provide something in excess of a 1.5 mbps broadband service (at the moment) to between 20,000 and 50,000 rural users whose only options currently are dial up or satellite at less cost than a satellite service with much higher speeds. As the HSPA speeds increase over the next 12 to 18 months a rural HSPA user may well be able to get speeds of up to 8 mbps on a 14.4 HSPA service and at prices well below Telstra's current 8 mbps ADSL1 services. By also being able to use VoIP the customer's call costs can be greatly reduced and the ability of being able to send and receive SMS and FAX from the 'magic box' will be another cost saving and operational bonus. By using VoIP's 10 cent per national call the customer can afford to keep the wire line for emergencies. A 'bundled' mobile service could be included but only as an option. The mobile service would have very low cost per second calls. If we are successful in procuring the required hardware at our target prices and/or can convince an HSPA carrier to subsidise the hardware on a 24 month HSPA contract then it will be a compelling 'all in one' communications solution that far surpasses everything else that is currently available or, as far as I know, currently being 'planned' for rural users. An all in one VoIP, Broadband, SMS, FAX solution for less than $40.00 a month is goingto be very attractive for anyone within 25 - 30 kms of a mobile base station. We need to rapidly build up our country/especially rural agent base which we have plans to do over the next two months to ensure we can offer the service Australia wide. We will put together a 'service package' supported by sensible advertising that will provide significant activation margins for the rural agent (hardware at the indicated prices and perhaps a carrier subsidy on that hardware for a 24 month contract) plus a low enough cost 2, 5 and 10 gb plan to allow the agent to add a 'monthly support charge' to give a very real financial incentive without impairing the customer's value for money. If we are successful in pulling these many threads together we have a realistic chance of providing some 20,000+ rural users with broadband services long before the end of the first Telstra court case let alone the first "spade turning the first sod". The bundle would be: "Magic Box", Yagi Antenna, Sim - $A250.00 delivered to agent Agents margin on the hardware - $75.00 Agents install costs - around $150.00 2gb HSPA at $32.50 (agent's margin = $10.00) VoIP calls at 10 cents per call Faxes at 3 cents per fax SMS at 5 cents per message [maybe bundled mobile telephone plan at very low per call rates] 'Local' agent support All we need to do now is to convince another 649 rural agents of the benefits of participating in this promotion and becoming an Exetel agent. Trackbacks
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http://www.4g-systems.com/en/index.php?act=22&menu=1_2
can be sourced from china for $145USD ie... http://www.tradeboss.com/default.cgi/action/viewtradeleads/tradeleadid/201062/subject/4G_SYSTEM_ROUTER_XSBox_R4V/ Looks like vodafone NZ are using this brand... http://www.vodafone.co.nz/shop/mobileHomeDetails.jsp?selectionKey=homephone&skuId=sku510107&voucherCode= http://www.vodafone.co.nz/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m300351_Vodafone_At_Home_User_Guide.pdf Comment (1)
wish upon a falling star.
Is it out of character for exetel to invest or subsidize? exetel are synonymous in the market for selling the basics and nothing but the basics, ala daewoo. How are these 20,000 antennas going to install themselves? elves or goblins? Comments (2)
Thank you for the reference - we'll add it to the list.
$US145 plus shipping and duty and GST is a little high but in the ball park. Comments (6)
I live in rural Victoria and am both an Exetel and a Satellite Co agent & I have been encouraging my fellow sat agents to apply to be an Exetel agent. (One has signed up so far as far as I know)
Between Exetel & Satellite, I can honestly say to a customer that no matter where they live, I can supply them broadband. It gives me credability as a Broadband reseller When the Optus network started coming up on the Govt's Broadband Service Locator, it meant that I didn't lose that sale & could offer the HSPA service. Count me in for the magic box & aerial I was at a client's place yesterday & Optus has him trialing a "Wireless Voice Box" phone service (over mobile BB) using a Sagem RL302. Once the trial was over, if he wants to proceed, Optus would port his home ph number. Plus he also had to have an E169 for his broadband access. Looking forward to be able to offer a better solution. Comment (1)
Maybe learning to read is a pre-requisite of this blog that occasionally uses words of more than one syllable and has sentences greater than five words.
If you could read you would not make your first comment. Your second disparaging comment is as blatantly stupid as your first. Exetel provides more 'real' and usable extras in it's broad band services than any other broadband provider. Comments (6)
Considered the possibilities of ABG to subsidise costs?
http://www.dbcde.gov.au/communications_for_consumers/funding_programs__and__support/australian_broadband_guarantee_-_for_consumers Comment (1)
I'm not sure that TBG applies in areas where Optus HSPA reaches.
Comments (6)
My apologies, does this sound better if I say "awesome idea"?
Where can you get someone to drive 10-30 minutes, install a 3-4M mast and aerial, install various equipment, contact ISP then drive another 10-30 minutes for AU$150? Comments (2)
I do most of that, but they have to do the climbing and fitting themselves if it's up high. I just take it out there, demonstrate that it works and leave them to buy a tv antenna fascia board mount or whatever they need. I just demo it attached to a ladder or whatever's nearby
I do the first 30 mins install for free. Most of them take an hour or so, so it works out at about $40 to $80 for the customer, plus $1 per km travel. I earn a commission, so I don't mind if I lose a bit on the initial install. The incentive for me is to have a happy customer, and to have a source of income that exists even if something happens to me and I am unable to work for a while. Comments (3)
Generally, no; because it is classed as a city-equivalent service.
See http://forum.agent.exetel.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=1184&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=abg for more if you're able to. Comments (3)
Seems like a good plan - I don't think any of the other components will be sourced much cheaper. It is a shame there is no "magic box"
I was curious about the "agent installation" - I thought trade licenses of some type applied to this kind of work? Also $150 installation in many cases would likely be insufficient... some installations would be quite challenging. I'd rather use a licensed cabler myself I've thought this for some time - but sounds like its time for Exetel to pull out the phone book and dial every computer consultant you can find. Sure way to get more agents, although I'm not sure I'm fond of the idea of introducing more competitors to Exetel's awesome products & services. Comment (1)
I think the way that the aerials will be installed is by the customer themselves (they are pretty used to doing that or, as you suggest, by a licenced tradesman.
The pricing isn't fixed and certainly Exetel can't 'dictate what an installation should cost - they will all be different. We will find the 'magic box' and we will get it for the needed price - it's only a question of time. Comments (6)
We have a local wireless broadband service provider who charges a setup fee of $1000 + the monthly fee and they has no shortage of punters desperate for broadband service in the bush, I'm a licensed master cable and electrical contractor, there is a quid to be made doing installations its all about knocking them over in 1 to 1.5 hours and do 5 to 6 a day, anyone could get organized and do this, the bottom line is if the install is nearly back to back its easy, if its not the customer usually will recognize the fact and pay a few extra bucks for coax/ cat5 etc and time...people love the internet and now will not do without it, $300 to $400 in the bush is a very acceptable proposition....what do you think a tractor costs these days?....
Comment (1)
Would you be able to let me know the names of the companys in your area who provide internet services?
Email: j.linton@exetel.com.au Comments (6)
I've been doing some Satellite Broadband installs lately, And so far, In most places, Theres been Good Mobile reception..
I've been wondering myself if HSPA would be a viable alternative or not, I've installed a handful of Yagi's for NextG services recently (Bringing them up from a trickle with their internal antenna's, to decent adsl-equiv. service) I've personally never owned a mobile, But its tempting to grab one just to see what the Optus reception is around here (Its known to be rather bad in many places around here) & If Exetel HSPA would be a viable alternative. AFAIK the NextG Yagi's we've got access to are around the $120 mark (With the bull-bar mounted omni antenna's being around $75). So far, I've seen about the same performance between the 2.. But would probably show better performance with a yagi i'm sure. So anyway. My question is mainly to installers of the service, How do you measure the signal quality? With Satellite installs, The Spectrum Analyser is great, Same for TV antennas, But I've not yet worked it out for 3G.. Not sure if the spectrum I've got access to has a middle range where the mobile network would be. Interested in being a reseller? Well.. If i can prove to myself theres good Optus reception.. I'd definately be interested.. Most business's around here use Telstra for the lack of Optus reception, Might have to find out if external antenna's will make a difference.. Comment (1)
If you want to become an agent go to the Exetel web site and apply.
You can also check the coverage on the web site. Comments (6)
If you can get coverage on a mobile, generally it will work well. Especially with a yagi or dish.
On rare occasions there can be weird problems with having good signal strength but unreliable service. (It's a bit like how on digital TV reception you might get a strong signal, but if it's a strong reflected signal coming off a mountain when the main signal's behind you; it might not be intelligable.) You can usually tell if this is the case by trying to ring a number that doesn't answer, and listening to the ringing tone in your handset. If it's breaking up you may be in for a challenge. I don't have anything high tech to measure the signal. However, the wireless connection software gives you the traditional 'bars' representation like a mobile would; and if you mouseover it, it will give you a score out of 100. (The same figure will be reported by NetComm HSPA routers, and probably others too.) For me, the other useful test is simply to do a 'ping -t 220.233.0.4' and just move the antenna in different directions until you reach a point where it times out; and from this you can roughly get your ideal direction. Cheers, Mike. Comments (3)
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