Wireless LAN catching on slowly in Malaysia
Business Times (Malaysia); Aug 7, 2001
BY JENNIFER JACOBS
WIRELESS local area network (LAN) which basically untethers your computer, allowing you to access the Internet or your closed office network at speeds of up to 11 megabits without cables or wires, is catching on slowly in Malaysia.
Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific programme leader for the technology practice Shamir Amanullah pointed out that while the technology has caught on in other Asia Pacific markets such as Singapore and Hong Kong, in Malaysia, there is still a lack of awareness and understanding of its benefits.
"Just because you are good at information technology (IT) does not mean that you will be good at this. It involves radio frequencies, which is a whole other dimension," he pointed out.
In Singapore, wireless LAN is catching on in workplaces as it allows people to sit anywhere (not just on their desks) and be connected to the Internet or their local area network.
In Hong Kong, Pacific Century CyberWorks has connected the Chek Lap Kok Airport.
In Malaysia, he said, some of the high profile installations include KUB Bank, Maybank, Selayang Hospital, Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Equatorial Hotel in Kuala Lumpur and the Chempaka College in Kuala Lumpur.
Shamir said US-based networking company 3Com is especially aggressive in raising local awareness and understanding of how wireless LAN solutions can benefit organisations and its users.
"The industry is still embryonic in Malaysia though. In fact, it was only in the last quarter of last year that there started to be a real push for this technology in this market."
This came about mainly because the technology improved and prices came down. Wireless LAN was first developed by the US military more than 15 years ago to send data over short distances between computers and fixed base stations using radio waves. It was dependent on line of sight.
Until recently wireless LANs were not powerful enough to download Web pages or access large files on corporate networks. It only offered transmission speeds of 1-2 megabits while wired networks offered transmission speeds of about 10 megabits.
However that changed about a year ago, when an improved transmission standard - IEEE 802.11b - which uses the direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) technology provided the much higher transmission speed of 11 megabits.
"We think the DSSS will continue leading the wireless LAN market but towards the end of the forecast period (2007) there will be a shift from the 2.4 Gigahertz (GH) frequency to the 5.7 GH frequency."
At the moment, the radio frequency used for wireless LAN, is 2.4 GH is a little congested. So the leaders in this business are going to be coming up with products which uses the 5.7 GH frequency which is not congested and can transmit at higher speeds.
Shamir said products using the 5.7 GH frequency accounted for 1.1 per cent of total shipment of wireless LAN products in Malaysia last year, and he estimated that this will increase to 65.8 per cent of total shipment in 2007.
The equipment prices have also come down, which Shamir pointed out, is very important in a price-sensitive market like Malaysia. "From 1999 to now, prices have fallen by 25-30 per cent because of the volume of sales in the US. Prices of IT products typically depend on how well they do in the US."
He said the leading players in the Malaysian market include 3Com, Avaya, Cisco and Proxim, most of whom focus on the enterprise market.
Shamir added that 3Com, which is especially aggressive in the Malaysian market in terms of raising awareness and pushing wireless LAN products has the largest slice of the market with a 20 per cent market share followed by Avaya, Symbol and Cisco.
Last year, some 6,700 wireless LAN units worth US$2.4 million (US$1 = RM3.80) were shipped to Malaysia. Frost & Sullivan estimates this to grow to 48,500 units worth US$11.7 million by the year 2007.
He said other notable players in the market include BreezeCOM, Proxim and Intermec while Cabletron, RadioLAN, Compaq and Apple are stepping up efforts to promote their wireless LAN products.
"The advantage which nearly all wireless LAN vendors have, is the existing distribution arms. Networking vendors such as 3Com and Cisco can leverage on the huge existing partner base to quickly penetrate the market," he said, adding that the distributors come from both telecommunications and IT industries."
He added that vendors are focussing on vertical industries such as hotels, hospitals, manufacturing, small and medium businesses, government agencies, construction and finance companies.
"Another niche market would be convention and exhibition centres which could provide their guests with Internet connectivity as a value-added feature.
"Last year, the Putra World Trade Centre used wireless LAN solutions on trial with 30 users spread across the convention centre," he said.
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