WiMax set to rival Telecom coverage

High-speed wireless internet technology WiMax continues to gather momentum here, with two more companies announcing plans to trial the system.

The news comes amid increasing speculation that small firms will work together to establish national coverage that could put the squeeze on Telecom.

Wellington-based internet service provider Nzwireless said yesterday that it would begin trialling WiMax broadband internet services this month.

Hawkes Bay company Airnet also began deploying WiMax technology on its existing wireless network recently.

National Communications is about to begin trialling WiMax in Auckland this month and CallPlus is testing the technology in Northland.

Nzwireless recently gained rights to a slice of 3.5 gigahertz radio spectrum suitable for WiMax and is to trial services from three of its 50 wireless sites in Wellington for 60 days beginning later this month. Should the trials prove successful, Nzwireless hoped to roll out commercial services in late March.

"During the initial stages, it will be targeted at the business broadband market but will expand into residential broadband, business voice and residential voice markets as uptake increases and hardware costs decrease," said managing director Chris Aspros.

Aspros said WiMax was a cheap and fast alternative to broadband market leader Telecom's "Jetstream" DSL services, which are delivered over its fixed copper-line network or "local loop".

Nzwireless was already partnering with a number of other 3.5 Ghz licence holders around the country with a view to establishing national coverage to provide a viable alternative to Telcom's services.

"I think it will be particularly good if a whole bunch of the smaller providers got together in a like-minded way and formed the equivalent of a local loop in their regions," Aspros said.

"Telecom's huge benefit is their nationwide coverage. We've got clients in Wellington and Auckland, but as soon as we get outside of that they don't really have another option.

"Obviously partnering with local wireless companies is the most effective way of broadening everyone's reach."

While such an arrangement was at least a year off, "we absolutely are working towards a common standard in technology and services and equipment".

National Communications chief executive Frayne Cooke said his company had not discussed WiMax co-operation with Nzwireless "but certainly we are thinking the same way" and was talking to other companies including CallPlus.

"Hopefully, we and all of these companies can work together.

"All of these companies are competitors but New Zealand is small and we do need to work together as much as we possibly can to make this work."


To the max

* WiMax is a wireless broadband internet standard that boasts high speeds at ranges of up to 10km to 70km.
* Championed by leading chip-maker Intel, WiMax hardware will become standard on many laptops within the next year or two.
* Rupert Murdoch's News Corp is looking at WiMax as the technology platform for its $1.4 billion push into high-speed internet.