More 4G out of Asia.
Note that a satellite connection to each outlet connects to the US ISP (DirectPC) and not only are the outlet's customers served but many regional small and medium sized enterprises. Call it a satellite-WAN-LAN combination.
Keeping in mind many people and businesses have no other access choices, this sounds promising IMHO. The private network approach should get interesting when they also offer voice in countries with strict regulations.
Rob
Pizza Station quietly building a 4G network
BY JENNIFER JACOBS
Business Times (Malaysia)
Aug 2, 2001
WHILE the large telcos are testing out their 2.5G (2.5 generation) networks and slugging it out over who gets to have a 3G (third generation) licence to offer mobile broadband in the country, a pizza chain is quietly building a 4G network.
The company, Pizza Station, is dishing out an offer which promises to whet the appetite of all pizza lovers and then some: "Buy a pizza and get free wireless broadband".
"We think it's a tremendous value proposition... I think we will sell a lot of pizza," said its director of systems and finance Nicholas Iverson.
Pizza Station has in place multiple channels of marketing, including Wireless Application Protocol and the Internet to move its halal pizza and snacks, but it recognised early in the game that the online part of the distribution network would not work with the present quality of infrastructure in the country.
So rather than gripe about the problem, the company decided to devise its own solution.
And the clincher is it will cost less than RM3 million to roll out just such a solution - a nationwide network which is based on wireless LAN (local area network) and uses the unlicensed frequencies of 2.4 and 5.7 gigahertz to provide connectivity speeds of up to 4.5 megabits per second.
For the project, Pizza Station has hooked up with Blue Square Inc, a British Virgin Islands-based company currently operating out of Malaysia which specialises in mobile technologies.
"Anyone who buys Pizza Station's products is entitled to the free broadband," said Sheikh Hisham Belwael, Pizza Station Global Corp's chief operating officer.
"Register with the Pizza Station Galactic Solutions club through our website pizzastation.com and you will be given an identification number, and presented with a virtual menu onscreen from which you can make your selections.
"Your order will be processed and transmitted to the Pizza Station kiosk nearest to you where the order can be picked up."
There are currently three Pizza Station outlets in the Klang Valley, one each at the Sogo shopping complex, Pekeliling Plaza, and Alam Sentral (Shah Alam).
Others will be opened at the Campbell Complex Bazaar, Penang Komtar and Kuantan Parade over the next few months.
"We should have 12-15 kiosks by year-end, mostly in the Klang Valley," Sheikh Hisham said.
A separate company, Galactic Solutions, has been set up to handle the broadband side of the business.
"The Galactic Solutions network will have commercial leveraging capabilities, especially in the small- and medium-scale enterprise sector, and it will be free to Pizza Station customers.
"For merchants using the infrastructure to sell their products, Galactic Solutions will only charge a fee of 1.5 per cent of the transaction value.
"Once you become a member of the Galactic Clique Club, we will provide you with a certain code to allow broadband access within 24 hours," he said.
There are as yet no mobile phones on the market which support 4G but most personal digital assistants (PDAs) and laptops already have such a platform based on the IEEE standard called 802.11 (a,b,c or d).
"While Pizza Station's initial capability will be 4.5 megabits per second, 4G can actually go as high as 100 megabits per second. The maximum speed offered by the present generation of handphones is 2.4 kilobits per second.
"We will advise customers on how to configure their hardware upon becoming members... and over the next six months, we will be coming up with our own mobile phones, PCs, laptops and PDAs configured for 4G," Sheikh Hisham said.
The prices paid in Europe for 3G licences have been astronomical and this does not even take into account the cost of infrastructure or the hardware needed to make use of the network, noted Charl van der Merwe, the South-African-born managing director of Blue Square Technologies, the technology provider for the Pizza Station set-up.
"We have no idea what it is going to cost in Asia... and nobody knows what the return on investment will be, but definitely nowhere near what it's been made out.
"With all the hype over 3G, the speed at which users can be connected remains largely conceptual," van der Merwe said.
Blue Square Technologies' 4G network, on the other hand, is a cell-based wireless infrastructure, "which is completely new and enables connectivity for mobile users at 4 megabits per second".
"We will have an omni-directional antenna to transmit signals to mobile devices and gather content via satellite from a US-based Internet Service Provider... there is no cabling involved at our base stations."
PDAs and computer notebooks can be immediately enabled to use the network, while devices aimed mainly at entertainment or multimedia access will be launced shortly "to allow users to view video streaming content that would connect specifically or proprietarily to the network".
Sounds expensive?
"In terms of investment, it is highly cost-effective and nowhere near the outlay for a 3G licence and related infrastructure.
"We will put the entire core national network in place for less than RM3 million," van der Merwe said.
Malaysia will be the first to implement the technology and is therefore serving as a test-bed.
"We will be using the Mines Business Centre as our trial site and link it up with the Pizza Station kiosk at Sogo via a non-line off-site connection."
The scalability of the network, and applications, offer enormous potential, he said, adding that the facility would be rolled out in four months.
"As long as your home or business is within our coverage area, we can enable it quickly. It's easy to do... if the home user is a Pizza Station customer, he can have this service at home."
Meanwhile, Iverson, who is also the managing director of Singapore-based Cyberstockx.com, said the system can also be used to provide rural areas with access to wireless broadband services.
"If we have a central base station in Alor Setar with a 50 sq km coverage, do you know how many kampungs we will cover?
"We could go to the Education Ministry and offer them the chance to set up their own channel and disseminate Internet-hosted educational material to the villages for free."
Cyberstockx.com developed the Equilect business model which Pizza Station runs on.
But what is Equilect? It is basically an alternative to franchising.
"You don't pay franchise fees. The investment you make to secure your 'franchise' is effectively securitised and part of the portion is collaterised as an equity contribution," Iverson said.
"So you own shares in the company... which can be traded on the Labuan Financial Exchange after a one-year moratorium."
Pizza Station is the first client for Galactic Solutions which will get 1.5 per cent of all transaction revenues made over its infrastructure.
"It's a transactionally-driven platform rather than a subscriber-based one. This will apply to all new clients as well."
What about regulatory approvals?
"We don't need them. This system is only for Pizza Station customers and other companies which convert to the Equilect system. It's a private network.
"The service enhances customer interaction and creates more 'stickability'. It's more get-in-your-face. And it enables Pizza Station to video-stream all its presentations to its customers."
Blue Square Inc however has type approvals for all its equipment from the US Federal Communications Commission.
And how much does Pizza Station expect to make from its investment in the system?
"Roughly, I see revenues of RM4 million this year, RM12 million next year and RM20-RM30 million the following year... we don't know specifically, but we know this platform will open up tremendous commercial opportunities for the group."
pyxenmedia.com
cyberstockx.com
cyberstockx.com
cyberstockx.com
Note that Charl van der Merwe, the South-African-born managing director of Blue Square Technologies
is a former Siemens exec. and that Blue Square is a recent addition to the OFDM Forum roster. |
