Telstra BigPond Next-G goes 'ExpressCard' at last, WiMAX threat looms

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Saturday, 21 April 2007 20:55

Opinion and Analysis

If you have a PC or Mac with one of those fiddly ExpressCard sockets, instead of the more standard PCMCIA (PC Card) socket, the good news is that more ExpressCard devices are finally starting to arrive, but wireless broadband pricing is still high.

When laptop and notebook makers decided to install ExpressCard sockets into their portable computers, instead of the more traditional credit card sized PCMCIA socket, many people were at a disadvantage because few PCMCIA cards had been turned into the smaller ExpressCard versions.

Worse still, there were two versions of ExpressCard – the smaller 34 version, and the larger 54 version which was almost as big as a standard PCMCIA card but with a 34-sized connection socket.

So, with two versions of a new expansion card to deal with, and few, if any, ExpressCard devices to buy, people with ExpressCard equipped laptops just had to wait until devices came on the market or use USB Modems, which themselves took some time to come to market but did become available.

Thankfully, some laptop manufacturers decided to stop the madness and released models that either re-introduced the PCMCIA or offered both PCMCIA and at least one flavour of ExpressCard socket, if not all three.

Now, slowly, ExpressCard devices, of which the wireless broadband modem is the most pressing variety, have started arriving. In Australia, 3 Mobile have offered an ExpressCard 34 version of their wireless broadband card for some months, and recently upgraded it to work at the 3.5G 550k to 1.5Mbps speeds of HSDPA, on 3 Mobile’s now fully updated 2100Mhz HSDPA network that covers most, but not all, of Australia’s capital cities.

3 Mobile’s HSDPA network comes months after Telstra launched their 3.5G HSDPA network, dubbed ‘Next-G’, running at 850Mhz, which sends signals over greater distances than 2100Mhz networks, so Telstra’s network could cover much larger areas in rural and regional areas so as to be able to replace the CDMA network with one almost Australia-wide HSDPA network instead.

There have been grumbles that the Next-G voice network isn’t as reliable as the CDMA voice network in the bush, and with the Next-G network only being around 6 months old (after a record 10 month installation period), it isn’t surprising that the network is still being tweaked.

Indeed, Telstra have been tweaking the network a lot over the past few months, not only to try and get rid of blackspots, but to speed up the data side of the Next-G network, from a theoretical maximum of 3.6Mbps (with real world speeds of 550k to 1.5Mbps), up to the next stepping stone of a theoretical maximum of 7.2Mpbs, and then very shortly thereafter, to a theoretical maximum of 14.4Mbps.

As far as I am aware, the upgrade to both 7.2Mbps and 14.4Mbps has been underway for several months, and is either already complete, or will be soon.

In tests I’ve done with the PCMCIA version of Telstra’s Next-G card, I’ve been able to achieve download speeds of 2.5Mbps and a bit faster in some areas, with the promise of faster speeds to come very soon, giving Telstra, at least for now, a solid lead over their competitors with the biggest wireless broadband network delivering data at the fastest speeds.

It’s good to see that Telstra have finally launched an ExpressCard version of the Next-G service, for both PCs and Macs. Long-suffering notebook owners cursed with an ExpressCard socket are cursed no longer – if they need access to a network as big and as fast as Telstra’s, they can finally get it.

And, it is a very good network. All the testing I’ve done so far has been amazing – the best wireless and most reliable speeds I’ve ever attained with a wireless broadband modem.

But what truly holds Telstra back from being the best is their pricing structure. And this is a problem that telecommunications companies around the world are facing. Only one telco in the world has had the guts to start offering realistic prices, although even they quite frankly need to go further, much further.

That telco is 3 Mobile with their X-Series program, recently launched into Australia. Virgin Mobile have just announced that you can get a 1Gb mobile download package for only AUD $10, but a 1.5c per kilobyte thereafter, downloading another gigabyte of data would cost well over $15,000! Another upcoming threat is WiMAX, so passionately explained by Mooly Eden, Intel’s mobility chief, and one of the biggest proponents of WiMAX you’ll find, who says WiMAX will dramatically lower wireless broadband costs for consumers.

Of course, it’s easy to say that when the network isn’t ready yet, but by 2008 Eden says there will be 400 WiMAX installations around the world. Australia to be serviced by Unwired and Austar, with Intel pouring money into Unwired to make sure this happens, as they are building WiMAX into their 2008 Centrino models alongside 802.11 a/b/g and n – and they dropped a 3.5G HSDPA module they were planning with Nokia just to focus on WiMAX. Eden says there is only a single digit attach rate for HSDPA modems with notebooks today.

He doesn’t say specifically why, other than saying WiMAX will offer consumers quite generous download limits at affordable pricing, but it’s because 3.5G HSPDA is expensive, at least for now.

For all telcos, even 3 Mobile and Virgin (who operate from the Optus network), the WiMAX storm is coming, and it’s the biggest co-ordinated threat they’ve ever had to face since the Internet and VoIP. WiMAX is still a couple of years away, and 3 Mobile have done good work in preparing for the onslaught. Telstra have too, by making a next-gen wireless network available here and now, at the fastest wireless broadband speeds of up to 14.4Mbps.

That’s why Telstra can charge a premium – for now. With the best network, which cost billions to install, they need to make some money back, and they need more users. But at the moment, instead of making money from volume, Telstra and other telcos want to make money from high prices. Volume profits are the way things always go in the long run, at least in the free market.

But there’s no question that Next-G is just too expensive! On the next page is an anecdotal story from friends who are switching to ADSL 2+ instead - and plenty of other reasoning that Telstra will ignore on why Next-G pricing should be much, much, much more competitive, despite their broadband range and speed strengths. If you wish you could get cheaper broadband, wired or wireless, read onto page 2 for the conclusion NOW. :-)