Rajala - WLL is not going to be big.It combines the huge cost of cellular infrastructure to fixed phone appeal. Its for people in remote areas who, typically, have not much money.
Just some information. Several months ago there was print article about Brazil, where there are some 10's of millions of people (I think it was 20) on a waiting list to get a fixed phone, and the average wait time is several years. Each of these people is prepared to fork over between $2000 and $9000 for wireline service. In addition, in the slums small groups of people get together - each person paying several hundred dollars - to have a party line tapped into the local pay phone (only marginally legally). Given that the cost to install a WLL system is less than $1000 and it is much faster than wireline, I would say there is very large demand. Finally, in places like Thailand many people have a cell phone for home use because it is cheaper and faster than getting wireline service. Now that WLL is available there will probably be less of this since WLL is cheaper then mobile, but just as quick to install.
I concede that mobile systems are growing much faster in dollar terms than WLL, but I contend that that is because it started earlier, not because it is actually growing at a faster rate. Although I haven't seen statistics on it I suspect WLL is actually growing just as fast in percentage as mobile. My biggest concern with WLL is not the demand, but the fact that the undeveloped countries are that way for a reason - typically bribery, centralized bureaucracy, ... , and that impacts the ability of WLL to deploy.
Clark
PS NF - As Rajala said, billing software isn't really an issue. There is an industry standard for recording and transmitting the most basic billing information, so it is actually possible for a customer to mix and match billing software with the cell system that they choose. |
