spectives from the wireless broadband access via WiMAX. solutions off of it to tap the high end of technology community, and this is caus- At that recent Economist Roundtable, the enterprise application-driven corpo-ing carriers to further drag their feet. I’m the man behind the only successful IPTV rate market. These are the types of horses not even going to go into the whole “Why, offering in the world today talked about the WiMAX cart needs.
Max?” debate sparked by the eponymous what television really meant for broad- China is another case; WiMAX would white paper-cum-polemic put out by band carriers. Paul Berriman, head of be a tremendous solution to help China Qualcomm’s SVP for Marketing, Jeffrey strategic marketing for PCCW and one continue its break-neck broadband roll-Belk. Well… yes I will. Belk’s simple of the main architects behind the NOW outs, and would well mesh with the net-enough premise seems to me to be that Broadband TV program, sees IP TV as work fabric and usage habits of the world’s the relative maturity of next-gen mobile the core driver of broadband in Hong largest wireless networks. But at (yet an-broadband solutions, coupled with the Kong: with over 440,000 subscrib- other) conference, this one in Beijing, the gravitational pull of the much, much big- ers, NOW has more than three times as tone towards WiMAX was sober, muted, ger mobile market opportunity, means many paying IPTV customers as ex- non-committal. Ironically, this was in fact that WiMAX (and to be fair, specifically ist in the rest of the world combined. a WiMAX conference. “China’s got too mobile WiMAX) will have a much more NOW has been the catalyst for a mas- much to risk in committing to WiMAX difficult time delivering on its promise. sive broadband upgrade campaign across now, with a massive DSL commitment In other words, it is the size of the ad- Hong Kong (well, everywhere expect the and 3G–or 4G or whatever-G–licenses dressable opportunity that the ‘fully’ mo- small fishing village where Your Humble coming on stream,” a close friend of mine bile world offers that hobbles WiMAX, Correspondent unfortunately owns his recently told me. Okay, he wasn’t at the not necessarily WiMAX’s deficiencies as a house); the average subscriber today conference. Nor was I. In fact, we were at technology. And this (if indeed I’m boiling has 6 Mbps downloads, but Berriman is the Happy Valley race track when he said it down properly) can’t really be disputed, confident that the pipe-widening won’t this. But he’s still got a point. particularly in mobile – not wireless – centric Asia. But it stirred up a significant When being lead- Future-Spooked debate in Asia, specifically because many ing edge assumes And that point is that China, or most of carriers know that they simply have to Asia for that matter, won’t step out on one make a choice about deploying wireless too much technol- particular wireless limb or another be-broadband in their tele-ecosystem, and ogy risk, it is better cause of a more fundamental issue. Asia’s the Qualcomm stance was interpreted telecoms players like to be leading edge, as a big fat WiMAX veto–and when one to hang back. but future-proof infrastructure must pre-of the 800-pound gorillas of the wireless vail, above all, and when the future’s in world casts a no vote, it leaves carriers stop until he has the ability to deliver doubt, don’t push it. When being lead-more unsure than ever, particularly for High Definition TV over PCCW’s DSL ing edge assumes too much technology traditionally fixed line operators who network–which means clearing at least risk, it is better to hang back. In China’s don’t have a 3G path to trod. 25 Mbps download speeds for each case in particular, hanging back has other
Earlier this year (“Wireless, Wanting” broadband customer. clear benefits: a chance to observe how in the April 2006 issue), I argued that Which is why WiMAX evangelism cam- 3G first movers get on, a chance for DSL wireless broadband wasn’t really going paigns like Intel’s recent announcement to get a decent installed base under its to go anywhere without finding applica- to roll it out in rural and underserved belt, a chance for the home-brewed TD-tions–not ‘killer’, just applications–that markets in Southeast Asia seems cart be- SCDMA to find its legs. But fundamental-would justify the investment (and my fore horse-ish. No doubt markets like ly, it has the benefit of allowing the future careful readers will note that in that Vietnam–one of Intel’s targets–are clearly of broadband wireless to creep in a little column, I beat Mr. Belk to the pun, in thirsting for more bandwidth; interna- closer–close enough to take a more con-pondering Korea Inc’s wirelessbroadband tional submarine bandwidth to Vietnam fident bet on the sustainability of either aspirations with the ever-so-witty ques- shot up four-fold this year to 4 Gbps, and ‘stand alone’ fixed-ish wireless solutions, tion “Why, Bro?” I may not be a technol- ADSL subscribers, of which there were vir- or those integrated (or upgradeable) into ogy visionary, but do know a clever sub- tually none 18 months ago, now number Asia’s mobile ecosystem. My bet is going head when I see one…) Internet access close to 200,000. But where there are clear to stay at the race track, where you’ll find and services is certainly one, and again, sets of applications that require band- me tonight… in a sweater vest, natch. it’s all TV, all the time in Asia. Cisco’s width, carriers tend to go with more con-
Scientific Atlanta play, like drums in trollable and tested solutions: Vietnam’s Ross O’Brien, our Asia/Pacific Editor, is the deep, tells Asian markets that they second leading ISP FTP Telecom, which a long-time telecoms analyst, consultant, were right all along to push their tel- has deep roots in the country’s enterprise writer and speaker who regularly appears cos into the deep end of the broadcast- software outsourcing space, has built out on CNBC and CNN. He is headquar- ing pool. PLDT appears convinced that fiber rings in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi tered in Hong Kong. You can reach him at IPTV is the way to push broadband and it’s provisioning Ethernet last-yards robrien@vonmag.com.
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