Re: Will Alcatel Become a LMDS Equipment Powerhouse?
Bernard and Thread,
I'm afraid to say I just stumbled across this article recently concerning Alcatel's(sym:ALA) plans to dominate the LMDS equipment market.
In doing a SI search, I see Bernard has already mentioned ALA's relationship with Stanford Telecom in a post directed to me, no less. But I was so focused on his Newbridge comments, I had forgotten his Alcatel reference(in post linked to this one). I couldn't find the article below on the WSJ site. But I'm assuming it's their somewhere. I did a copy&paste over from the Alcatel thread.
Bernard- at the bottom of the article, notice the reference to the time frame at which the French version of our FCC is going to award licenses to LMDS operators. Apparently mid 2000. And I find it especially intriguing that ALA has, "relationships with dozens of operators...."
For those interested, here is a link to Alcatel's broadband fixed wireless product offerings. It's pretty substantial and was a surprise to me:
alcatel.com
MikeM(From Florida)
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Alcatel Eyes 30% Share Of Local Radio Systems Market
PARIS -- French telecommunications equipment supplier Alcatel SA (ALA) said Friday it hopes to seize 30% of the nascent broadband local radio loop equipment world market.
The world market for local radio loop equipment, often referred to as Local Multipoint Distribution Service[LMDS], should reach $610 million in 2000 and $960 million in 2000 from near zero in 1999, Alcatel Radio Telecommunications director Gerard Dega said at a press conference.
These estimates, based on Alcatel's own research, are conservative given that they don't include the promising local radio loop services home market, Dega said.
Dega said he expects to announce two or three major contracts before the end of this year, similar in size to September's EUR120 million three-year contract signed with U.S.'s Formus Communications Inc. to supply LMDS equipment for the Polish market.
He also said that to complete its range of products, Alcatel has reached an agreement with Israel's wireless equipment maker BreezeCOM to market that company's low frequency local radio loop equipment aimed at the home market.
LMDS technology allows new telecommunications operators to access customers without laying their own network or renting capacity from historical telecommunications companies holding a de facto monopoly on the local loop.
However, the success of LMDS products is highly dependent on the conditions and pace at which regulators in each country will open up historical operators' local telecommunications loop, also known as "the last mile", to competitors, Dega said. "(Each operator) will have to do the maths," he said. He acknowledged that the profitability of LMDS networks could be challenged if operators are offered cheap access to the existing copper wire network.
LMDS operators are expected to target small companies or offices which cannot afford the price of a broadband fiberglass subscription but aren't satisfied with the narrow bandwidth solutions available on the home market, Dega said.
The French telecommunications regulator is expected to attribute licenses to LMDS operators by mid-2000. Dega said Alcatel is in partnership with a dozen of operators which have applied for a license in France.
-david.gauthier-villars@dowjones.com |
