John Linton .....in line with the published GSM standards.....how surprising - at least for the pig ignorant
While I was in Colombo I tried their 96mbps mobile telephone data service (in a store) and it really did deliver amazingly fast data streams in whatever test environment was being used. In Singapore, meanwhile, their high speed fibre data service is being rolled out at 2,400 users per week but the installation delays published in today's Straits Times article (can't find it on line) are over 3 months with no installation dates other than 'open' given since November. Given Singapore's excellence in delivering every service I have ever tried it seems that it is more difficult to deliver fibre than wireless as a 21 mbps service is readily available from every retail outlet I have seen.
Recently Exetel. along with every other Telstra wholesale customer I would think, was offered access to Telstra's low speed (7.2 mbps) 3G mobile service. As we didn't like the commercial terms we were offered we didn't get beyond the first pass read and forget status. As with all Telstra offers the costs ensure that Exetel could make zero profit from reselling the service and Telstra Retail has a faster service in any case. It did raise the issue as to whether at some future time Telstra might wholesale a realistic mobile service - but that was really the only interest. I see in the Australian media various comments concerning this latest Telstra "offer" all of which seem to be either very wrong or, possibly, Telstra is offering other wholesale customers much better deals. Either way makes no difference to Exetel.
I am advised that Optus is now offering 21 mbps 'dongles' in anticipation of its new increased speeds roll outs and this may have some interest to our customers when it s available in their areas.....Newcastle being the first scheduled for some time in April 2012 with Sydney, Melbourne and Perth scheduled for later in the 2012. Sims for tablets and other devices will also be available later in the year. So Optus will offer LTE 'soon' with the accompanying lower latencies (maybe 20 - 25 ms) and speed capabilities up to 70 mbps down and 20 mbps up 'in the fullness of time'. Still a few months to being actually able to offer the service to Newcastle users but a real set of time lines now in place. Pricing? No idea other than it will have to be competitive with Telstra.
I am using the hotel's wifi to connect to the internet with a 130 mbps signal which is delivering timed downloads at better an 15 mbps on a consistent basis so I am assuming they have a fibre connection to a local ISP. I haven't bothered to buy a local sim to test out the 21 mbps speeds because with those claims plastered over every outlet I have seen I am assuming they are not marketing exaggerations. So high speed fibre and high speed mobile data are commonplace in Singapore and high speed mobile data may be a reality in Colombo befre it is in Sydney. I am not sure what that says about our mobile companies.....perhaps seeing Optus is owned by Singtel it says Australia is not a 'main stream' mobile marketplace?
We will buy some 21 mbps sims to begin to test the demand for such services and which marketplaces will be interested in them. As I have said for over four years - high speed wireless data makes the 'NBN2' a difficult proposition to sell if the costs favour wireless. This is going to prove to be the case for a sizeable chunk of the prospective 'NBN2' marketplaces. Now that these wireless services are becoming available for more than Telstra it will be interesting to see whether my much and long decried views on the future of residential data communications become more accurate than those of the no-nothings who made their stupid assertions at the time.
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