[menog] PON

[Fahad AlShirawi]

Actually, I personally have reservations regarding WiMAX myself. At least as
what it's being sold to be. I don't see it as a replacement for wire-line
and broadband. It definitely will not compete in the large enterprise arena
either. Rural is of course always an option, WiMax or any other wireless.

 

However, WiMax, for me, is the true next gen mobile technology. I am not a
fan of hyping it up as the solution for broadband issues in the Middle East
or even  North America. I've seen two companies in Bahrain bid for WiMax and
get it. Out of those two, the one who paid the higher amount was the one who
did NOT overpay in my view. The other. Well, I think they overpaid by a lot.

 

My reasoning: The first is a mobile operator (MTC). They'll use Bahrain as a
test bed for WiMax and mobility. Very forward thinking. Very intelligent.
They'll of course provide broadband. It only makes sense to provide all
services possible on a single infrastructure. Yet their aim is the next gen
of mobile services mainly focused on consumer voice. Or to remove all the
'cool' words: Their aim is to reduce their spectrum costs as WiMAX spectrum
is significantly cheaper.

 

The other paid a total of 2.5 million dollars LESS and I think they
overpaid. Reason being is they are not allowed mobility. Even nomadic
services are a big question. For them, the only option is voice in a small
cell or fixed broadband. Maybe they'll eventually be allowed nomadic
broadband. But the value proposition is way under that of MTC's and so, like
for like, if I was to chose as a customer, MTC would be the natural choice.

 

In any case, thanks for the post. Should make a good reading for tomorrow
night (I'm nearly finished with tonight ;)).

 

 

Fahad.

 

 

 

 

 

From: John Leong [mailto:johnleong at ieee.org] 
Sent: Monday, August 27, 2007 1:46 AM
To: Fahad AlShirawi; 'Salman Al-Mannai'; menog at menog.net
Subject: Re: [menog] PON

 

 

An interesting side blurb on the strange economic of FTTH in North America
in the current issue of BusinessWeek (www.businessweek.com) even though the
article is about WiMax.  I suspect the challenge is not applicable to ME ...
since there are little in terms of gardens here  ... and labor is cheap ...


 

[BTW:  Personally, I have my doult also on WiMax as a serious business
proposition for North America since the Telcos have invested so much in
wireline and 3G already]

 

John Leong

 

 

 


BusinessWeek


 

SEPTEMBER 3, 2007

 

The Road To WiMAX

 

How Intel's Sean Maloney shepherded through the technology that's poised to
rewrite the rules of wireless

 

The $90 billion gardening bill was a deal killer. Intel corp. (
<javascript:%20void%20showTicker('INTC')> INTC ) Executive Vice-President
Sean M. Maloney sat in stunned silence after a telephone company executive
told him it would cost $1,100 per home just to replace landscaping and
sidewalks if the industry installed fiber-optic cabling and brought
superfast broadband Internet access to every single-family home in America.

This was in 2002, during a secret meeting organized by Maloney at a hotel
near Intel's Silicon Valley headquarters. He had offered a handful of
telecom executives Intel's help in paying for the massive fiber-laying
project. Sales growth for Intel's microprocessors had flattened during the
tech slowdown, and Intel was hoping wide broadband adoption by consumers
would goose demand for new PCs with the company's most powerful chips in
them. Maloney was willing to help get things started. Then they shocked him
with the price tag: $300 a foot for gear and installation, and a gardening
bill on top of that. That seemed like an insurmountable hurdle to Maloney
and his companions.  ....

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