RoamAD continued....
For ease of reference, for those interested, here's the RoamAD presentation at Convergence2002: wirelessdataforum.org.nz
Also, see roamad.com
<1) Wireless backhaul ... microwave, meshed 802.11, 3G ???>
Gidday again Trev. 802.11b back across the nodes [or it can be any other way into a cyberspace drain, such as AirFiber, ADSL, Fibre, ]
<2) Standard System ... hardware yes ... software ???>
Standard system [hardware, yes] but with their proprietary Mozart score for harmonizing the orthogonal frequency division multiplexed phragmented photons in 802.11g [when that standard is developed] and currently on bog standard 802.11b. Better security than the standard 802.11b glasshouse security.
<3) Capacity ... unloaded yes ... loaded ??? other wi-fi ???>
With 80MHz bandwidth, in small cells, the capacity is vast. Heaps of other wifi and hifi and pipi can all pile in together. With OFDM in 802.11g and 80MHz, good luck trying to fill the spectrum. Loaded is good.
<4) Voice ... Hard to see this being as cheap as cdma/gsm.>
Voice over Internet Protocol is working well. The bits are cheap, so the voice is cheap. Much cheaper than GSM and CDMA, but CDMA can be so cheap that coverage, service and quality will dominate subscriber choice. But until CDMA is actually that cheap, price matters. Bills of US$300 a month aren't attractive to cellphone users
<5) Demand ... Desk Broadband + Mobile Voice = Mobile Broadband ???>
Everyone wants voice, text and cyberspace and they want it everywhere [even if they deny it at present, they will want it]. They want it everywhere, they want it fast and they want it cheap [also, secure, reliable, blah, blah, blah].
<6) What Users Want ... an 802.11 card is a "new" device ???>
Cards will soon be out of date as devices have 802.11b and g built in. The marginal cost is now down to US$80 and falling fast.
<7) What Users Want ... to haul a laptop around ???>
They want a range of devices depending on what they do. They'll have a phone, a laptop, a Tablet, pdQ, EarCell, and many more configurations. When going for a run, they'll take their cellphone. When having a meeting, they'll have their notebook or Tablet. When going to the movies, they'll take their pdQ. Many choices with many devices.
<8) Assessment Criteria ... only fools compare "skim pricing" with a "wee bit">
Huh? Price is a function of cost of capital, competition, technology life etc. The market will be charged what it will bear. Competitors will try to get the customer while maintaining profit [and if they can't, they'll get a real job]. The cost of RoamAD's network is much cheaper than anything else I've come across.
<9) Assessment Criteria ... Bursty data is the reality ???>
My notebook seems to burst okay when running around town.
<10) Best of Both World ... Why are they covering their bet ???>
QUALCOMM's stuff is needed for wide area networks and out into the bush, but 802.11g is needed for downtown, high density places. People will have dual mode devices, with 802.11g built in.
<11) Hotspots ... RoamAd is more "in bed" with this than 2.5/3g.>
Maybe people won't bother with their own hotspots when a better, cheaper service is available. As engineer says, why would Starbucks want to goof around running an inefficient network when their customers can use RoamAD's? Come to think of it, why would Starbucks customers want to log on to the expensive Starbucks hotspot when they can roam on RoamAD, right into the store. Ooops, I detect a problem for Starbucks. Who is paying and who isn't?
<12) End User Story ... Predicts "The Destiny of 3G".>
Capacity, cost, speed ...
<13) Network Operators ... Fear of not being Scalable ???>
RoamAD is scalable. Just build out another area and switch on.
<14) Product Positioning ... Isn't 3g moving towards high utility / low price ???>
Waiting for low price. Waiting a long time, I bet. Telecom is using the Globalstar model.
<Interesting that they wish to stay below 3g in price and make their business model work by expanding the market. Price wars are won by fat cows not frisky ponies.>
Price wars are won by the people with the lowest costs and most attractive stuff. They attract a lot of investment capital. But each technology will have its appeal. Wide area networks will be CDMA. Up close and personal will be 802.11b and g.
<I'm not as convinced as you about the RoamAD Challenge. Then again, we differed about the direction of the price of oil as it bottomed out just before the tech blow-off.>
Dec 1998 was the bottom for oil. How did we disagree? By May 1999 I was ranting regularly that there would be a stock market crunch to get rid of all the mania, margins, irrational exuberance, infectious greed [though I really didn't think it would be as big a crunch as this - for the Nasdaq anyway, though I thought the Dow would go down to 8000 and 7000 isn't that far from 8000].
<Once we get over the w-cdma mole hill, all the advantages of cellular wi-fi can (and will) be translated into 3g offerings.>
But what about cost and capacity? QUALCOMM's White Paper said 2c a megabyte cost using 1xEV-DO. That isn't all that cheap and nor is it all-inclusive of other costs - that was the cost to the service provider of buying the service in some theoretical network.
I cannot find a substantial problem yet.
Mqurice |
