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Technology Stocks : The *NEW* Frank Coluccio Technology Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Peter Ecclesine who wrote (31398)	9/18/2009 12:35:46 AM
From: Frank A. Coluccio	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 46821

Hi Petere. I've recently heard rumblings concerning femtocells with souped up power ratings. Four watts, say, as opposed to the customary 1 watt. I presume these are designed to support current 3G and future LTE extensions via FMC (fixed-mobile convergence) either in the home or in similar closed-in environments -- although WiFi and WiMAX are not out of the question here, and in fact WiFi was specifically mentioned to me in one such discussion that I had. One entity that I'm aware of is actually considering mounting them outdoors, which is something we discussed here in this forum not very long ago, too. Can you say anything about the legal power restrictions, or perhaps provide me/us with a pointer to a good resource that lays out these criteria across the entire range of air-interface types that femtos are now being designed to support? Any insights that you could offer concerning the fundamental design criteria that play into this would likewise be appreciated. TIA. FAC ------

To: Peter Ecclesine who wrote (31398)	9/19/2009 4:36:02 PM
From: Maurice Winn	1 Recommendation Respond to of 46821

Having read through their pdf document about it, the NZ government's fibre plan is a half-baked socialist enterprise. There are already some fibre companies trying to run their businesses [doing a bad job of it, but that's life in the markets - especially when those businesses are really just government department extensions]. Private businesses can't invest in fibre because governments will confiscate the assets by regulation [of price or something such as where it has to go to]. The government's idea to get past the problem is the communist approach where the Kremlin does the planning. People in government love to spend OPM and think that they are important people who should be deciding for everyone what goes on. The list of towns to be covered is interesting. I notice that Kerikeri and Paihia are not included. Nor towns on the Coromandel peninsula such as Whangamata and Pauanui. Warkworth was skipped. Mount Maunganui and Papamoa are not mentioned but that's perhaps because they are part of Tauranga. Whakatane is in the plan but not Ohope [just over the hill]. Then there are places in the plan which look like they would have low requirements for high speed cyberspace other than for down-loading high speed porn. Waiheke Island is included? It must be that some of those on the committee have their houses there and are making sure they don't miss out. [Only partly kidding = it might make sense though fishermen will drag up the fibre with their anchors if it's not buried]. Where the heck, seriously, is Ohakune? There is fibre right now going up the train tracks between Auckland and Wellington and there should be a pipe off to the town. It's a high value town where cyberspacoids go by the thousand. It's the world headquarters of Zenbu. What fibre enables is people from around the world to set up shop and run their cyberspace industry from a nice location. They won't go to live in Invercargill, Greymouth, Waiuku, Hawera, Masterton, Tokoroa, or Levin, but they will go to live in Paihia, Russell, Kerikeri, Warkworth, Pauanui, Whangamata, Nelson. There used to be train tracks around a lot of New Zealand. That provides some nice easy fibre laying routes. That would make some places economic where other more attractive places might not be economic. The New Zealand government should do something more sensible, which is make cyberspace a tax-free zone. Any income from cyberspace pays no tax. Geeks from around the world would set up shop here, in nice locations in the hinterlands. Umpty $billion in activity would be attracted. Geeks can work from anywhere there's fibre that's reliable [meaning no armed insurrection]. The government's fibre idea will be a lot more useful than umpty $billion more that they pour down the gurgler on welfare rorts, "education" and medical waste - they spend a fortune just on dialysis when there are swarms of perfectly good kidneys going to waste because people are not allowed to sell them to those dying for the lack of a kidney. The politicians and doctors and ethics committees are of course paid for their part in ensuring the death of those without kidneys. The government looks as though they will do a similar job with fibre as they do with education, welfare, and Obamacare = a bumbling attempt at being well-meaning, but with very high costs. They are building a bigger Gordian knot, with fibre tangled everywhere, binding up cyberspace in a twisted government-run mess of suffocatocracy. If they were to cut the Gordian Knot, sell everything to the highest bidder, fire the price regulators, stop cyberspace taxes, cut government spending, change the constitution so the government can't do stupid things without an 80% referendum, then things would come right. Meanwhile, instead, eventually, some New Zealanders will get some expensive fibre in some places once the government has lumbered into gear. It might be cheaper than what Vector, CityLink and Velocity charge, but I wouldn't count on it. At present, ADSL [not even ADSL2+] is a better deal than is offered by those fibre merchants. If they can't sell that how will they sell fibre in Gisborne? Mqurice

To: Peter Ecclesine who wrote (31398)	9/21/2009 1:13:07 AM
From: Maurice Winn	1 Recommendation Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 46821

And another thing! <The government does not consider that up-front price regulation is necessary or desirable. Instead, prospective partners will be required to set out their proposed prices for products, which they will be required to commit to. This requirement, in combination with ongoing independence, equivalence and transparency requirements, is likely to impose a level of discipline that is appropriate for nascent LFC businesses. > Wow, stuck with a price. Better make it a high one! I would want to make introductory low price offers to make really sure that people come swarming in, then maybe raise the price if demand justifies it. The government has already shown what they think about pricing. Companies are allowed to make bank rates of return [meaning, not the profit that banks make, but the interest that a depositor gets at a bank]. Vector, [me as a shareholder], in the business of selling fibre [and electricity supplies] decided a few years ago to stop investing because the government's Commerce Commission declared us to be greedy Rich Pricks robbing the poor citizens of their hard-earned dole. There might be suckers willing to take on the Helengrad price control Kremlin. It won't be me. I would love to invest in fibre, but decades ago I learned that investing in public things leads to government confiscation [via price controls or other regulations or "emergency" demands]. The way to invest in public assets is to wait until there is a bust up of the USSR then get Lehman Brothers or somebody to lend a fortune to privatize super valuable assets. NZ's richest bloke [Graeme Hart a decent guy] bought Government Print Office in the 1980s and leveraged it up to the multi-$billion rankings. $5 will get you $10 that he will not be investing in the funding ecology for NZ's fibreway. nzherald.co.nz He plays business the way some play golf = it's his hobby. He might be willing to buy it in 10 years or so when NZ goes bust. There's too much cargo cult in NZ thinking these days. en.wikipedia.org In the various conferences intended to boost NZ's economy, there is a train of thought that thinks of producers as cows to be milk and entrepreneurs as sheep to be fleeced, for the public good of course, not just for the benefit of those enjoying political power [the true result]. They look overseas [overseizure = a common psychological complaint first reported in the 1960s], see fibre, computers, industrialisation, car making, tv making and they come up with copycat ideas. If we just put in a lot of that fibre stuff, then we can all get rich when those Geeks send us lots of money. If we industrialize like Japan, then we'll be rich. If we get lots of people, our economies of scale will be excellent - it works for USA, Germany, France, Great Britain, but not for Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Mao's China, Nigeria which are the examples they should think of. If we build cars like Japan and USA, then we'll be rich. Okay, we'll make tvs [they really did, in Waihi, in the 1970s and I used to sell a bit of lubricant to the factory]. None of it worked or can work. Okay, I admit that's just a rehash of my first effort, but when a bull sees a red cape, they do get a bit riled up and can't help but charge. And again... I suppose that pricing mumbo jumbo means something, but to me it just says "There will be a price commissar sitting in Helengrad who will tell you what you can charge". <This requirement, in combination with ongoing independence, equivalence and transparency requirements, is likely to impose a level of discipline that is appropriate... > Rather than form giant committees and hopeless PPP conferences to make it all make sense [which it won't do] the government should just spend $2 billion and roll out a bunch of fibre and say it's free to use for everyone [or charge a little bit if it gets overloaded]. Treat it like a new road. Just another piece of government property which is free. That would be a lot cheaper than the current plan. Bad luck for anyone who has fibre in the area - they could be offered a few dollars to hand it over or see government fibre be laid alongside and given away - with new laws making privately owned use of government property right of ways really expensive. There would be a large feather-bedded sinecure for a bunch government kleptocrats to run it, but they are going to be needed in addition to the private part of the deal as it is. Mqurice