More Than One Yota of Difference

Yota is busy these days. The first Russian service provider to deploy a mobile WiMAX network, Yota has signed up over 350,000 customers in the six months since its commercial launch in June 2009.

It continues to sign up 3,000 customers a day, and is the first service provider to have launched a WiMAX/GSM smartphone.  While expanding domestically, Yota has also soft-launched a WiMAX network in Managua, Nicaragua, and is planning for networks in Belarus and Peru.

As a greenfield service provider new to the telecom market, deploying a new technology and a new type of service, Yota’s success is remarkable.  The company has avoided the common trend among emerging market operators of focusing on basic fixed broadband connectivity in underserved areas.  It is instead offering mobile broadband connectivity in cities where 3G is available, and where wireline broadband, including residential fiber in some areas, is available and cheap.


Usage levels among Yota's customers

We have just published a paper that explores what made Yota’s achievements possible, and what lies at the core of its unique market approach.  We looked at the market in which it operates, at how it is building and expanding its network, and at the proposition it offers to its customers in terms of services, devices, content and applications.  We also widened the scope to follow Yota’s activities in markets outside Russia and to look at future prospects.

You can download the PDF of the paper here.
 

Sunday, February 14, 2010 in Deployments  | Permalink |  Comments (0)

Imagine Communications Launches WiMAX Service in Leixlip, Ireland

As part of the €100 million ($138 million USD) WiMAX rollout across Ireland, Imagine Communications has announced the launch of a high-speed broadband and phone network in Leixlip, Ireland.

The launch of this technology will provide broadband and phone services at rates up to 50 percent less than current provider charges, according to a company spokesperson.  Though the town is small, with a population less than 15,000, it is home to Intel's Ireland Campus with a workforce of more than 4,000.  Imagine estimates that local homeowners and Intel staff will save €300 ($410 USD) per year on phone and broadband bills compared to some competitors and that the new network will deliver the fastest and most reliable broadband internet in the region. 

Intel and Motorola are partners with Ireland-based Imagine Communications in the WiMAX rollout across the country. 

Phase one of the launch starts today and will cover a radius of about three miles from the city center, which is located 10 miles west of Dublin.  Imagine hopes to expand the service to areas beyond the town and urges interested households in nearby urban centers, as well as suburban and rural areas around Leixlip to register with Imagine WiMAX today.  Once sufficient numbers of homes register their interest, Imagine plans to roll out the service to those areas as soon as possible


Intel's Leixlip campus

The local newspaper, The Leinster Leader reports that the Irish Minster for Science, Technology and Innovation, Conor Lenihan has stressed the important impact on the local economy that this new WiMAX network will have.  The Minister said it represented "another important foundation in the development of the Smart Economy which will bring about Ireland's economic renewal."

Imagine Communications Group is pan-European and has substantial business operations in Europe with overall network reach extending to the UK, the Netherlands, Austria, Norway and the USA.  In Ireland Imagine provides fixed voice, broadband, IP and ISP services.  It provides residential customers across the country with the Imagine, Gaelic Telecom, Access and Cinergi brands and serves 10% of the Irish population with broadband.

The company is led by its founder, Sean Bolger, who has founded and operated businesses in fixed, mobile and data telecommunications
services for nearly 20 years.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010 in Deployments  | Permalink |  Comments (0)

Wireless Broadband Growth Shows Signs of Recovery

This week telecom market research firm Maravedis revealed further details from its research on the growth and deployments of next-generation wireless broadband networks.

Despite the bleak economic conditions at the first of the year, operators are starting to show signs of recovery with increases in subscribers and service revenue growth.  This was based on analysis from Maravedis and its 4G Counts service that tracks 4G operator deployments and provides details on the 4G ecosystem from over 200 operators in 92 countries.

The Maravedis webinar presented earlier in the week provided breakdowns of network deployments, leading 4G operators, applications, usage and pricing.

According to the firm, approximately 560,000 BWA/WiMAX subscribers were added in Q2 2009 - a 74% year-over-year growth rate since Q2 2008.  The total number of BWA (broadband wireless access) and WiMAX subscribers was around 4 million at the end of June 2009.

Based on their survey, 332, BWA/WiMAX networks had been deployed as of June 2009 of which 42% were for fixed WiMAX (802.16d) networks, 37% for mobile WiMAX (802.16e) networks, and the remaining 21% for proprietary networks.  Also, an additional 39 operators had committed to deploying LTE networks sometime in the future.

The number of fixed WiMAX networks were hightest in Europe, while the most mobile WiMAX networks were reported in the Asia/Pacific region.





Maravedis also presented the top 22 WiMAX operators Globaly in terms of the number of subscribers.  Toping the list was Clearwire in the US with over 500K subscribers, followed by Inukshuk in Canada, Korea Telecom, and Telmex International and Axtel in Mexico. 

Also interesting was the large amount of data usage reported by some operators from their customers.  Both Tatung in Taiwan and Scartel in Russia reported close to 10GB per month of usage by their subscribers, driving by unlimited data plans and fixed rate pricing.

The webinar also highlighted some of the limitation and challenges faced by LTE operators including lack of harmonized spectrum, delays in the availability of LTE devices, interoperability/standardization and possible lack of funding caused by the economic recession.

Also emphasized were the time-to-market and wide ecosystem advantages of WiMAX, the strength of LTE with the support of the largest mobile players, and the need for 3G operators to continue to address traffic growth on their networks.

The recent growth numbers are encouraging news for the industry and show the demand for broadband, especially in emerging markets.  We expect that the number of WiMAX subscribers in the next update of 4G Counts to increase substantially with the inclusion of Russian WiMAX operator Yota which reportedly reached 200,000 subscribers in early October, as well as Clearwire in the US with its major market launches planned in Q4.
 

Thursday, October 29, 2009 in Deployments  | Permalink |  Comments (0)

Multiplying Yotas

Yota is probably the fastest growing WiMAX operator today. Just a few months after launch, it has reached the 200,000 subscriber mark in early October and has become EBIDTA positive.

At the ITU meeting a couple of weeks ago, it announced a trial for the new mobile WiMAX version, 802.16m, and a new WiMAX phone to be launched.  Yota is moving at a fast pace these days and its ambitions are no longer limited to the Russian market.

Yota has announced that it will extend its operations to Belarus, Nicaragua and Peru.  I talked to Yegor Ivanov, Director of Business Development, about how Yota plans to manage this expansion.

Just as they did in Russia, Yota does not feel constrained to follow established industry rules.  I think I found out why.  Most people at Yota do not come from the telecoms industry and this seems to be working to their advantage.  They believe they can change the way the game is played, and have tried to do so in Russia already with remarkable success. 

In the new markets, Yota is not partnering with a local operator, the most commonly followed path for international expansion.  Yota has a controlling stake in the local greenfield operators, established partnerships with non-operator players, and are trying to duplicate the Russian model where it makes sense.  In Belarus they have complete ownership of the operator.  In Nicaragua, Yota's retains 75% of the ownership, in Peru 88%. 





Yota believes that it is easier to work with a local partner that is not an operator (i.e., less potential for conflict) and with strengths that Yota can more effectively leverage.  In Nicaragua, Yota is working with a distribution player that has a good understanding of the specific domestic market.  In Peru, Yota has worked with a partner to get the desired spectrum allocation. 

Yota will use the same RAN vendor, Samsung, in all the new markets to keep a tight time-to-market schedule.  Yota got the spectrum in Nicaragua in September and they plan to be live in Managua by the end of the year.  They have a few Russian engineers on the ground to ensure that all they learned in the Russian deployment will be used in the new environment.  In both Belarus and Nicaragua, Yota has access to 60 MHz of spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band, the same band they use in Russia.  For the backhaul, they mostly rely on fiber, with wireless backhaul were fiber is not available.  In Managua, they believe fiber is available to connect the planned 20 base stations. 

At the same time, the competitive environment may different, so Yota's marketing approach is not necessarily the same as that used in Russia.  In Belarus, Yota will mostly duplicate the Russian approach, leverage the same media content partnerships, and offer comparable plans. 

In Nicaragua, however, a different approach is needed.  There, as it is the case in many Latin American countries, voice may be just as important as data in getting market share.  Voice calls, especially international ones, are typically very expensive.  An operator that offers low cost call is well placed to attract customers.  So Yota will be shifting the focus from media content, which has a key role in their Russian service proposition, to VoIP.  VoIP will be offered from service launch, while it is still not part of the service plan in Russia (the WiMAX connection can be used for VoIP of course, but Yota does not yet offer its own VoIP service, as far as I know). 

It will be interesting to see how this approach works in different markets.  Life can be difficult for greenfield operators without an established local presence in the industry, but this may also make it easier to introduce innovation and competition as they do not have legacy ties. 




Monica Paolini is the founder and president of Senza Fili Consulting and can be contacted at monica.paolini@senzafiliconsulting.com.    Senza Fili Consulting ( www.senzafiliconsulting.com) provides advisory support on wireless data technologies and services financial modeling, market research, business plan support, business development, RFPs, due diligence, and white paper preparation.    Independent advice, a strong quantitative approach, and an international perspective are the hallmarks of our work.




 

Monday, October 26, 2009 in Deployments  | Permalink |  Comments (2)

Mobile WiMAX at 3.5GHz Starting to Take Off

European operators are leveraging improvements in technology and 3.5GHz spectrum to offer true mobile WiMAX networks. New operators such as Imagine Communications in Ireland begin the launch of nation-wide coverage.

In many countries, there is an abundance of relatively inexpensive spectrum available at 3.5GHz and slightly higher frequencies.  This spectrum has traditionally been used for fixed BWA (broadband wireless access) with proprietary technologies such as Motorola Canopy, as well as IEEE 802.16d fixed WiMAX. 

While this technology works well for fixed access, it's often been a real challenge to use these frequencies for mobility due to its propagation characteristics and to Doppler shifts (or more precisely the Doppler Effect), which is more pronounced at higher frequencies above 3GHz.  From a technology perspective, these shifts in frequency and wavelength result from a source moving with respect to the medium, a receiver moving with respect to the medium, or even a moving medium.  As modulated symbols are transmitted, they interfere with one another, creating a phenomenon known as Inter Symbol Interference (ISI).  ISI complicates symbol detection at the receiver, often producing an unacceptably high bit error rate.

Consequently, there has been a perception that 3.5GHz spectrum should not be used for mobility.  That thinking is now changing with the roll outs of several 3.5GHz mobile WiMAX networks in Europe.  And if 3.5GHz can be effectively used to deploy IEEE 802.16e mobile WiMAX networks, then operators could provide both fixed/nomadic as well as mobile broadband access to subscribers at a lower cost than at 2.5 GHz and lower frequencies. 

Indeed, there have been several deployments and recent announcements of operators using 3.5GHz for IEEE 802.16e based WiMAX networks in Europe:

- Worldmax based in Amsterdam is using Beceem's silicon and Motorola equipment to deploy a nationwide mobile WiMAX network in the Netherlands at 3.5GHz .  The operators's service is currently deployed as a city-wide hot zone in Amsterdam and early results have been quite encouraging. 

- Imagine Communication Group is deploying a nationwide mobile WiMAX network in Ireland at 3.5GHz.  The network will use Motorola's end-to-end WiMAX solution to deliver voice and high speed data services to residential and small to medium-sized enterprise customers as well as offering mobility in city centers, using USB dongles.  More on Imagine's WiMAX roll out later in this article.

- Clearwire announced that it would deploy 3.5GHz mobile WiMAX in Malaga and Seville, Spain next year, using RAN equipment from Alvarion and ZTE.  "We intend to prove that WiMAX can work not only at 2.5GHz, but also at 3.5GHz, which is the spectrum we have in Spain," Barry West, president of Clearwire International, said during a press conference at the ITU Telecom World 2009 show in Geneva.

- UK telecom regulator Ofcom has changed Freedom4's spectrum license conditions, allowing the operator to offer mobile WiMAX services across the U.K.  using the spectrum it already owns.  (Note: Freedom4 is a joint venture between Daisy Group and Intel Capital.) Freedom4 owns a broadband wireless spectrum license consisting of two blocks of 84 MHz in the frequency band 3.6-4.2GHz.  Ofcom's move will enable Freedom4 to launch mobile WiMAX services, rather than just fixed wireless access.  As a result, the company will be able to directly compete with the UK's five mobile network operators.  However, Freedom4 has not disclosed any deployment time frames or other details of its planned mobile WiMAX network. 


Imagine Communication's WiMAX Network

According to a fact sheet provided by Imagine Communications Group, Ireland's broadband infrastructure is struggling to keep up with the demands of its modern economy.  For broadband quality, Ireland ranks in 37th place out of 66 countries and behind countries such as Estonia, Greece, Poland, and Turkey.  On the major cities ranking list, Dublin is ranked in 94rth place behind locations such as Krakow, Ankara, Naples, Nanjing, and Istanbul.  One out of three fixed lines in Ireland cannot get broadband and four out of 10 lines can get a maximum of only 1Mbps.

In an attempt to greatly improve Ireland's broadband infrastructure, Imagine recently announced it will invest €100 million in upgrading to mobile WiMAX technology, a move that could result in the creation of up to 200 new jobs.  The Imagine WiMAX service is already in operation, with phase one of the rollout covering 250,000 homes in Dublin, Wexford, Sligo, Tralee and Athlone to be completed by mid-November 2009.  Imagine's new network will not be restricted to high-population areas, but will also be rolled out to smaller towns and rural communities at a rate of 15 new WiMAX areas per month.  Imagine's CEO and founder Sean Bolger stated that Imagine plans to cover 90% of the country by 2012 with WiMAX services. 

"Customers across Ireland will soon experience a leap forward in terms of broadband access and speeds.  Motorola's globally renowned WiMAX solutions are quick to deploy, flexible and scalable and allow us to meet increasing demand for next-generation voice and broadband data services at home, at work and on the move," according to Bolger.


Sean Bolger, Imagine Communications


Bolger further stated that Imagine's WiMAX service will debut at 8Mbps, but is capable today of reaching 17Mbps and higher speeds.  According to the companies website, the pricing for consumers and businesses will be unveiled shortly, but Bolger promises it will come at a lower price than current fixed line broadband services.  Bolger told the Irish Times it will be 50 percent cheaper than comparable Eircom products. 

He pointed out that Ireland has the highest fixed telephone costs in the world and at €25.47 line rental is 70% higher in Ireland than the European average.  Imagine also intends to allow other operators to wholesale its WiMAX service, although he said it had not begun negotiations with anyone.

"4G broadband is not about speed but being more competitive." He went on to say that Ireland has plenty of fiber, "now the problem is connecting to that fiber." Bolger says WiMAX could solve that access problem. 

And Imagine owns lots of spectrum.  The company holds 88MHz of 3.5GHz licensed spectrum in Dublin, Cork, and Waterford, 123MHz in Limerick and 60MHz in the rest of the country.  In those cities, this is more than double the 35MHz held by each of the 3G mobile operators.

Motorola has agreed to provide a portion of the €100 million that Imagine needs to replace its existing wireless nationwide infrastructure with WiMAX.  Motorola will provide the RAN equipment as well as deployment, integration and support services to Imagine.  Motorola's Head of Sales commented, "Today's announcement is very significant for Motorola as we see Ireland as a key strategic market for (mobile) WiMAX due to the digital divide and broadband deficits which causes lower broadband speeds and higher prices than the rest of Europe," he said. 

Intel is partnering with Imagine to supply technology for 3.5GHz mobile WiMAX enabled notebook and netbook PCs.  Mr Jim O'Hara, General Manager of Intel Ireland, said that WiMAX is a game-changing technology.  "Many people in the country are operating on a 1Mbps speed at the moment, even if they think they are paying for higher.  WiMAX is easily achieving 8Mbps, and this will be increased.  Intel is going to provide WiMAX embedded laptops and PCs from early 2010," Mr O'Hara concluded. 

These 3.5GHz mobile WiMAX deployments are great news for the WiMAX industry.  As early indications suggest, these networks should be price competitive with 3G networks while offering better performance and availability.  For true mobility, the key question is when the mobile WiMAX embedded netbooks, notebooks, and hand held devices are available that work at 3.5GHz.  We hope it's early next year.

References:

http://www.wimax.com/commentary/news/wimax_industry_news/october-2009/imagine-launches-global-4g-wimax-network-in-ireland-1014


 

Wednesday, October 21, 2009 in Deployments  | Permalink |  Comments (3)

Clearwire Selects Infrastructure Providers; Announces Earnings & Additional Markets

Clearwire announces new infrastructure vendors Huawei and Ciena and adds 6 additional cities to its build-out plans for 2009 including San Antonio & Austin, Texas, Milledgeville, Georgia, Raleigh & Greensborough, North Carolina, and Salem, Oregon.

Clearwire has signed an agreement with Chinese network equipment company Huawei to supply Mobile WiMAX radio access network (RAN) equipment for the CLEAR nationwide network in the U.S.  Under the three-year deal, Huawei will provide WiMAX base stations, element management system (EMS) components, and related network hardware and software.  Clearwire also named several other strategic suppliers for its WiMAX network: Motorola and Samsung for RAN equipment; Cisco for the core Internet Protocol (IP) Next-Generation Network infrastructure; DragonWave for the network's microwave backhaul transport; and Ciena for base station switching.  All of these except Ciena had been previously announced.  DragonWave was the microwave backhaul vendor for both Sprint's Xohm network in Baltimore as well as the old Clearwire's planned WiMAX network.  Motorola also provides additional microwave backhaul equipment.  Clearwire has said that by the end of 2010 it wants to cover 80 markets and 120 million people for its CLEAR network in the U.S.  However, the ultimate scope and timing of Clearwire's network build-out will largely be driven by the Clearwire's market- by-market success and the availability of additional capital for network expansion. 

For Huawei, the Clearwire deals marks its first top-tier player in the U.S., where it has struggled to gain a foothold (Leap Wireless is its only other wireless customer).  A previous joint venture with 3COM did not result in any material U.S.  carrier business.  "We view this as a major milestone in our overall strategy in North America," Charlie Chen, a Huawei marketing and product management executive, told the WSJ.  "Clearwire's vision for connecting the Internet to people, not just places, and their dedication to building the first nationwide WiMAX network in the United States is an exciting opportunity for Huawei," said Wan Biao, President of Huawei Wireless Product Line.  "Today's announcement is an important milestone and represents a significant step toward establishing Huawei's presence in North America and further demonstrates our commitment to delivering high-quality products and services to our customers."

Huawei's equipment will allow Clearwire to deploy its network at lower cost.  During a conference call for reporters, Clearwire's CTO John Saw said improved receiver performance means fewer cell sites, leading to cost-savings of 20 to 30 percent.  Clearwire plans to deploy about 20,000 base stations at a cost of $150,000 each.  Saw stated that Huawei was selected for Clearwire's network because it is the first vendor to make a multicarrier, four-transport base station that will provide extra capacity and streamlined deployment.  "The cost savings will help," he said.

Overseas, Huawei has been very successful in selling all types of networking equipment (especially optical and wireless) by undercutting the competition.  Huawei is a private Chinese company, founded by Ren Zhengfei in 1988.  As a result, they don't have to report financial results to the public.  With access to a huge workforce, which accepts far lower rates of pay than its Western counterparts, Huawei initially competed on price, picking up business in emerging markets from carriers with less money to spend.  But now, the company serves 36 of the world's top 50 operators, along with over one billion users worldwide.  While other network equipment companies have struggled and slashed costs in a frantic bid for survival, Ren Zhengfei has kept Huawei's R&D budget at a relatively high level.  Ten per cent of Huawei's annual revenue is diverted into R&D.  Huawei Senior Vice President of Marketing and Product Management Charlie Chen said the company has more than 2,000 engineers working on WiMAX R&D, and has already shipped more than 1 million WiMAX base stations.

In 2008, Huawei's revenues were up 46 per cent year on year to $23.3bn (with 75 per cent of those sales coming from outside of China).  It's said that half of the firm's workforce are engaged in research and development.  Huawei states it is "committed to providing innovative and customized products, services and solutions to create long-term value and growth potential for its customers." We don't doubt that at all. 

The newswires did not pick up the importance of Ciena's selection as a Clearwire infrastructure vendor.  The optical network transport and switching company had not previously won any significant business from a WiMAX network operator.  We think this is an important milestone for the company.  Ciena recently announced that it was providing Carrier Ethernet based backhaul for Clearwire's mobile WiMAX service (CLEAR) in Las Vegas, in addition to deployments in Baltimore, Atlanta and Portland.  But no details were announced by Clearwire on what role Ciena would play in "Base Station switching."

In summing up the CLEAR network architecture and capabilities, CTO Saw stated, "Our new network is specifically designed to deliver an unmatched combination of 4G speeds, capacity, and mobility to meet the growing demand for wireless broadband services.  As such, we have designed an all-IP network that is efficient, low-cost and scalable using standards-based technology from industry-leading providers.  Our existing agreements with Motorola, Samsung, Cisco, and DragonWave, plus today's addition of Huawei, provide us with the capabilities and support necessary to deliver super fast mobile Internet in more ways for both our customers and strategic wholesalers."


Clearwire's Earnings Report and Subscriber Growth

In a press release and follow up conference call, Clearwire announced a second quarter loss that was slightly less than a year ago.  Clearwire had a quarterly loss of $73.4 million, or 38 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $74.6 million, or 38 cents a share.  Revenue rose 9% to $63.6 million.  Average revenue per user edged up to $39.47, helped by increased sales of service bundles.  Churn, or customer cancellations during the quarter, rose to 2.8% from 2.6%. 

While that disappointed stockholders who sold off the firm's stock, the company hinted that its rapidly-accelerating rollout of Mobile WiMAX service will begin showing positive results later this year. 

Clearwire has seen growth slow in recent months.  The total subscriber count rose 11%, to 511,000, but net additions were down a third from a year earlier, to 12,000.  The company predicted in May that net additions would shrink in the second quarter.  However, Clearwire stated that there was strong subscriber sign-ups in Portland, OR and late in the quarter in Atlanta, GA.  More importantly, CEO Bill Morrow stated that Clearwire expected more new net subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2009 then in all other quarters combined.

"We are already seeing average daily WiMAX subscriber uptake in July outpacing what we achieved in June by over 75%," Morrow said in a statement.  "It is important to keep in mind that at the same time we are posting strong subscriber adds in our three CLEAR 4G markets we are also seeing the expected customer attrition in Clearwire's large base of 46 U.S.  pre-WiMAX markets." Morrow added that several new market debuts for its WiMAX service in 2009 should help Clearwire achieve the "critical mass of coverage and customers that will help propel the company forward in the next year."

Editors Note:  In addition to mobile WiMAX, Clearwire offers a "pre-WiMAX" fixed wireless broadband service in 46 U.S.  markets.  As the company concentrates more on mobile WiMAX, customer defections and subscriber growth are likely to be adversely affected.


Clearwire's Mobile WiMAX Deployments and Network Build Out Plans

CLEAR WiMAX service is currently offered in four U.S.  cities: Baltimore, Portland, Atlanta and Las Vegas.  CEO Morrow stated, "The next wave of CLEAR launches in 2009 is on track to extend our 4G network to over 30 million people in more than 25 markets by the end of 2009 bringing Clearwire's total network coverage in both legacy and 4G markets to over 40 million people."

Morrow continued.  "With the 2009 addition of new markets like Chicago, Dallas/Ft.  Worth and Philadelphia, and the migration of pre-WiMAX markets like Seattle, Charlotte and Honolulu, CLEAR's super fast mobile Internet service is poised to achieve a critical mass of coverage and customers that will help propel the company forward into next year.  And as I hope you've read, we have announced plans to add San Antonio and Austin, Texas, Milledgeville, Georgia, Raleigh and Greensborough, North Carolina, and Salem, Oregon.  All of these new markets are progressing towards a fourth quarter launch.  We continue to target true broadband mobility, covering up to 120 million people in 80 markets by the end of 2010."

"Some of the markets slated for 2010 include New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., Houston, and the San Francisco Bay area, among many others."

Editors Note:  Clearwire groups it's "4G" market expansion into two categories -- conversion markets, where it operate pre-WiMAX services, and the new mobile WiMAX (CLEAR) markets.  Last week Clearwire announced that it would complete its first 10 conversion markets on September 1, 2009.  These include Boise, Idaho, [Bellingham], Washington, and eight Texas communities.  In the fourth quarter, Clearwire plans to convert Charlotte, Seattle, Honolulu, and Maui.  For more information, please see:   Clearwire to Launch CLEAR Service in 10 Markets on September 1, 2009.


Key Operating Highlights:

- Atlanta and Las Vegas Markets Launch CLEAR™ Adding nearly Five Million People and 1,800 Square Miles to Coverage Footprint
- Nationwide Roaming in CLEAR Markets Now Available via Clear 4G+ Mobile 4G/3G Service
- Now Targeting Over 40 Million Total Covered POPs for 2009;  CLEAR 4G Network Set to Increase Five-Fold in 2H 2009 Reaching Over 30 Million People Across More Than 25 Markets by Year End
- Clearwire's Wholesale Systems Platform Initialized; Sprint, Comcast and Time Warner Cable Announce 2009 4G Plans and Comcast Begins Launching Service Offerings

Key Performance Highlights - Q2 2009 vs.  Pro Forma Q2 2008

- Portland and Late-Quarter Launch of Atlanta Generate Strong WiMAX Subscriber Additions Offsetting Higher Seasonal Churn in 46 US Pre-WiMAX Markets and Drive 12,000 Net Adds During Q2 2009
- Revenues Increase 9 Percent Driven by 11 Percent Subscriber Growth and ARPU Stable at $39.47
- Network Covered POPs Increase Nearly 40 Percent to 23.1 Million
- Design and Development Pipeline Includes More Than 20,000 Cell Sites to Fuel First U.S.  4G Network Build Plans
- Ends Second Quarter with Cash and Short Term Investments of $2.5 Billion

For more information on Clearwire's earnings report, please see:  Clearwire Reports Second Quarter 2009 Results
 

Sprint Announces Additional Markets

On the heels of Clearwire's announcements, SPRINT said it's expanding its Mobile WiMAX (CLEAR reseller)service to 17 new cities by the end of the year.  The new additions for 2009 include Texas, Washington, Hawaii, Idaho, North Carolina and Oregon joining the previously announced markets of Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Portland, Philadelphia and Seattle.  The Overland Park, Kan.-based company also said it plans to sell the service in Boston, Houston, New York City, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., next year.
 

Wednesday, August 12, 2009 in Deployments  | Permalink |  Comments (17)

Clearwire to Commercially Launch WiMAX Services in Las Vegas on July 21st

Clearwire officially announced the launch date for its third WiMAX Market in Las Vegas, Nevada in a note sent to media and analysts on Tuesday.

The announcement follows launches earlier this year in Portland, Oregon and Atlanta, Georgia.  Other markets including Chicago, Charlotte, N.C., Dallas-Fort Worth, Honolulu, Philadelphia and Seattle are planned for later this year.

CLEAR, the brand which Clearwire markets its mobile WiMAX services, plans to celebrate the launch with a consumer event on July 21st at Town Square Mall on Las Vegas Boulevard where they will showcase WiMAX products and services.

The network is extensive and covers the entire Las Vegas metro area based on coverage maps provided by CLEAR.
 

Clear WiMAX Las Vegas coverage map

The Las Vegas launch is another milestone and puts Clearwire on track to deliver on its launch promises made earlier this year.  With the launch, I suspect we may start to see more devices certified on the CLEAR WiMAX network.


 

Tuesday, July 07, 2009 in Deployments  | Permalink |  Comments (8)

At Yota, Creativity Rules in Mobile Broadband

Increasingly, WiMAX operators in emerging markets are moving away from duplicating models that dominate in developed countries to create truly innovative models that are based on the specific dynamics of the markets where they operate.

Yota is one of the best examples of this.  I met them in February and I found them amazing, but at the same time I was a bit suspicious.  Could they really pull it off? Well, a few months later, they appear to be moving in the right direction and if anything they are doing better than I expected.  True, having deep pockets helps, but that does not guarantee innovation, and in some cases it may stifle it.

So what's special about Yota? They are one of the many WiMAX operators in Russia, but they are the ones with the strongest focus on mobility.  They have 2.5 GHz spectrum and $470 millions funding.  Since their launch in June 2008, they have signed up 76,000 customers and claim to sign up 1,300 new subscribers a day (suggesting that demand has started to pick up lately).



Of their 850 employees, 200 develop software, because Yota sees itself as a content and application provider as well.  The service offered includes voice and a subscription to video and music content, and it has been all tightly integrated since the very beginning.  They are working with major content providers, like EMI, Sony, Universal, and Warner.  All the services they offer are on based on unlimited use to make the service simple and attractive to subscribers.  With the all-you-can-eat plan at $16/month, it will be challenging for Yota to offer all this and become profitable, but they may be able to generate the volumes needed.  It is a big gamble though.

Yota has been the first operator to launch a WiMAX and cellular phone.  The proposition they offer to their subscribers is very simple: they can choose the cellular operator they want and they are in charge of managing their contract with the operator as they wish.  In most cases, this probably means that the subscribers simply move their existing SIM card from their old handset to the new one.  The phone works like a regular cell phone where there is no WiMAX coverage.  In WiMAX areas, subscribers can receive calls to their cellular number and their VoIP line, and can decide whether to place a call through the VoIP or cellular line.  This leaves maximum freedom to the subscribers and removes the need for Yota to establish a partnership with one or more cellular operators.  As a result, the WiMAX phone was introduced in the market right away, since lengthy negotiation with cellular providers could be skipped.  More importantly, this approach provides subscribers with a device that combines good coverage (in cellular-only areas) with good throughput and lower cost services where WiMAX is available.

The phone is quite expensive at over $1,000, but not much more expensive than other smartphones, but that does not stop subscribers from buying it.  In February, the company said that 20% of their subscribers had a phone.  That's quite a high percentage given the cost of the phone and the fact that the core WiMAX services typically appeal to the laptop users.

More devices have been announced, including a mass-market phone and a middle-range Android phone.  It will be interesting to follow the evolution of their service.

Along with its subscriber numbers, Yota disclosed some interesting data on their subscribers' usage profiles.  Within three months, the operator has noticed a rapid shift towards mobility.  Subscribers quickly discover on their own the value of mobility and gradually expand the area where they use the service.  This is not a surprising trend, but it is remarkable how fast the process is-a month or two.  Clearwire has observed the same phenomenon in Portland and within a comparable timeframe.



The scary part comes with the traffic generated by subscribers.  Excluding idle and abusive users, the average traffic generated by a Yota subscriber is 10.3 GB per month.  This is 20% over Russian DSL subscribers and 100% than 2G/3G data users.  Yota subscribers are early adopters who are well versed in all sorts of traffic-intensive applications and are typically heavy users of video applications.  The increased availability (compared to DSL) and speed (compared to 3G) of the connection contribute to explain the higher traffic levels for WiMAX.  But this does not change the fact that that traffic levels are growing very fast and that WiMAX operators are likely to be the first to see the full extent of the increase in traffic because they have more capacity per subscriber in their networks.



The trend towards high traffic levels is confirmed by other operators as well, even though the numbers I have seen are not this extreme.  While these usage levels confirm that subscribers value the service, they spell trouble for the operator.  No matter how spectrally efficient technologies like WiMAX, HSPA and LTE are, all wireless operators are bound by limited spectrum (and funding) resources.  Eventually operators will have to start face congestion issues.  High traffic levels will push operators to operate differently.  They will have to use more sophisticated techniques to manage traffic over their networks and they will have to plan their network with an architecture that relies more on pico and femtocells that increase the overall network capacity.  The days when the brute-force approach of just adding more macro cells where needed was sufficient to keep subscribers happy are forever gone.



Monica Paolini is the founder and president of Senza Fili Consulting and can be contacted at monica.paolini@senzafiliconsulting.com.  Senza Fili Consulting ( www.senzafiliconsulting.com) provides advisory support on wireless data technologies and services financial modeling, market research, business plan support, business development, RFPs, due diligence, and white paper preparation.  Independent advice, a strong quantitative approach, and an international perspective are the hallmarks of our work.




 

Monday, July 06, 2009 in Deployments  | Permalink |  Comments (1)

Comcast Launches First WiMAX Market

Becoming the first cable operator in the US to offer WiMAX service, Comcast announced the availability Tuesday of bundled WiMAX services in Portland, Oregon. Other cities likely planned in the coming months.

With the launch, Comcast becomes the first cable MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) in the US offering high-speed WiMAX services.  Although no further announcements have been made, Comcast will likely launch additional markets in the coming months as its WiMAX wholesale partner Clearwire rolls out additional cities.

The new service will be marketed as "Comcast High-Speed 2go" and will provide mobile data to laptops, netbooks and other mobile devices over wireless networks with download speeds of up to 4 megabits per second.  Existing 3G wireless networks typically offer download speeds between 1 and 1.5 megabits a second or less.

Comcast will leverage its existing install base of customers, offering mobile broadband as a bundle to its existing internet service.  Comcast will offer two different devices and service plans: The Metro data card, which is typically installed into a laptop to allow wireless internet access, will cost $50/month when bundled with home internet service and will only work within the WiMAX coverage areas.  A nationwide version for $70/month will allow subscribers to get online via Sprint Nextel Corp's 3G network where the 4G network is not available.

Last year Comcast became one of the major investors in Clearwire, providing more than $1 billion of the $3.2 billion Clearwire received from Google, Intel, Time Warner and others. 

Putting the weight of the Comcast brand and sales channel should be a nice boost to WiMAX efforts in the US.  Mobile WiMAX will complement nicely with Comcast's current internet offerings - providing a bundle of one of the best fixed internet services with the best commercially available mobile broadband service.  Partnering with Sprint and offering a dual-mode 3g/WiMAX option gives them access to a nation-wide 3G footprint while WiMAX networks continue to be built-out.



 

Tuesday, June 30, 2009 in Deployments  | Permalink |  Comments (1)

Alvarion Scores Major WiMAX Win in the US

This week WiMAX equipment provider Alvarion announced that had been selected by US broadband provider Open Range Communications, Inc. to build a 4G wireless network covering 17 states, 546 rural communities and reaching up to 6 million people. The $100M deal spans 5 years and represents the largest deal to date for the company.

Open Range Communications began moving forward with its plans after receiving funding of $374M earlier this year to build out its network - including a $274 loan from the USDA's Rurual Utilities Service (RUS) and $100M from One Equity Partners.  The funds received from RUS are from its annual re-reoccurring program and separate from the US Broadband Stimulus Funds being released later this year.  The company plans to begin deploying the network in Q3 with the first services offered in Q4 this year. 

Open Range plans to use WiMAX technology to deliver broadband services to un-served and underserved communities in America - offering portable and eventually mobile voice and internet services to its planned coverage areas including western states California, Colorado and Nevada; Midwestern states Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Nebraska; southern states Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina; and eastern states Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Delaware. 




"We are excited that we are able to be involved in such a visionary program that can bring broadband services to un-served and underserved areas to the rural US," said Greg Daily, President for Alvarion North America.  "You are looking at a 4G state-of-the-art network that is going to roll into rural America, similar to a metropolitan area and frankly, better than a lot of metropolitan networks."

The network will be built on Alvarion's WiMAX Forum® Certified™ 802.16e BreezeMAX® solution utilizing spectrum in the upper 2.4GHz ATC band, based on an arrangement with mobile satellite and data provider Globalstar.  Last November, Globalstar received an Order and Authorization ruling from the FCC allowing Globalstar's spectrum to be used for Ancillary Terrestrial Component (ATC) services in the US.

"Its a ground breaking project from many perspectives," said Daily.  "In addition to our own RAN (radio access network) solutions and CPE (customer premise equipment), we are also integrating the backhaul, IP core and ASN gateway and AAA server functionalities.  In terms of the network build-out, we are the lead system integrator."

The deal reflects a major milestone for Alvarion and perhaps offers a glimpse of the types of deals to come.  For the past 18 months, the company has been signing-up smaller turn-key projects including ICE in Costa Rica and VMAX in Taiwan, but this one is unprecedented in terms of size and scope.  Open Range reflects the second service provider for Alvarion that has received Rural Utilities Services (RUS) funding.  In April, Main Street Broadband announced that it had selected to deploy Alvarion equipment after securing $34M in RUS funding.

The announcement sends a strong signal for the overall wireless broadband industry and WiMAX technology in particular.  With the first Notice of Funds Availability (NOFAs) from the Broadband Stimulus Funds due out at the end of this month and subsequent release of funds later this year, I'm sure we can expect to see more of these deals in the near future.


 

Thursday, June 18, 2009 in Deployments  | Permalink |  Comments (5)