WiMAX will be cheaper than ADSL, for Broadband Connect says AUSalliance

Stuart Corner
Wednesday, 20 December 2006 01:59

Business IT - Networking

AUSalliance, the combination of Unwired, Austar and Soul set up in May  to bid for Broadband Connect funding, says it will use WiMAX technology and claims that this will "offer services equivalent, and in many cases better, in price and performance to the most popular ADSL offerings."

Unwired CEO, David Spence, said, "For the BCIP [Broadband Connect Infrastructure Programme] to achieve its goals, the limitations of the existing copper network must be overcome by funding a solution that does not rely exclusively on this network. The AUSalliance proposal is unique in its provision of a truly alternative network in the form of Mobile WiMAX."

The consortium says it has developed four national coverage options, each requiring a different level of funding, and funding requirements have been split between access and backhaul. It has broken out proposed capital expenditure by logical 'clusters' of towns and has identified the specific communities to be covered. DSL access has been included, allowing the Commonwealth to fund competitive DSL in some areas if it wishes.

AUSalliance says that competitive access services will never be delivered unless there is affordable backhaul to move traffic from these access networks. According to Soul CEO, Michael Simmons, "It is clear to us that significant funding for backhaul is required in order to ensure underserved premises in regional areas can benefit from this program."

However some commentators are very sceptical about the economic viability of WiMAX in the markets that AUSalliance seeks to address. After modelling the business case for WiMAX in a report earlier this year,  UK based Analysys was not very optimistic for a WiMAX operator in a developed rural market. According to Analysys, "In principle, there is an opportunity to make a healthy profit from WiMAX in rural areas of developed markets, unserved by DSL or cable services. However, with fixed operators rapidly extending the reach of DSL, these opportunities are likely to be few in number and limited in size."