Who will win out on broadband speed?

The Post.ic has posted a rather interesting outlook on the upcoming battle of the broadbands.

When news of an imminent high speed national broadband network broke three weeks ago, Ireland’s fixed-line and wireless operators dusted themselves off to prepare for a fight.

The new WiMax network, which is to be launched by Imagine and supported by Intel, Google and other multinational firms, will offer nationwide speeds in excess of 10 megabits per second (Mbs) when it goes live in autumn. The service is expected to be switched up to 40Mbs within a year.

In response, Eircom, BT, UPC and the mobile operators have promised to match this new offering with upgrades of their own. What has started as a niche service offering by Imagine, Intel and Google could trigger the most rapid broadband network upgrade programme yet seen in Ireland.

So what are Irish operators set to roll out to combat the WiMax newcomer?

The biggest single operator, Eircom, has limited its ambition to a gradual roll-out of ADSL 2+, which can deliver a maximum speed of 24Mbs at present. Other operators, which piggyback off Eircom’s network, are limited to the same speed constraints. However, some operators, notably UPC, have been investing heavily in fibre upgrades.

“We are building a next generation network and launching next-generation network services,” said Robert Dunn, managing director of UPC in Ireland, at a recent Dublin City Chamber event.” One product which we’re working on is called Fibre Power, which will offer ultra-fast speeds of up to 120Mbs.

“We see higher bandwidth consumption in Ireland from our customers here relative to our customer base in other markets. We are now offering our triple play services to nearly half a million homes in Ireland.”

Dunn said 4G mobile services could be a major competitor to NTL and Chorus in coming years.

Smaller operators, such as Magnet, offer a combination of high-speed fibre to-the-home and ADSL 2+. BT Ireland has placed most of its network investment in business infrastructure. Smaller rivals such as Digiweb offer a mixture of conventional and satellite broadband.

Mobile operators have little intention of being left behind. Vodafone, O2,Meteor and 3 Ireland are aiming for a 4G technology standard known as long term evolution (LTE).The technology, still considered to be at least two years off, is expected to increase pay as you go mobile broadband speeds to up to 150Mbs.

In May, Meteor showcased a 4G demonstration from its broadband network partner, Ericsson. The demonstration, operated within a single closed network, achieved a broadband speed of 130Mbs.

“The buzzword that is circulating is LTE,” Dunn said.” LTE meets the requirements of next-generation networks and is deemed to be the next step in mobile radio communications. It’s still in its infancy and has not been ratified as a standard service but it is developing.

“I personal ly see it as a fusion of fixed and mobile networks. We aim to be part of this future technology and infrastructure evolution, whether it’s coming down the line or through the airwaves.

There’s room for everyone, and it will deliver more choice and introduce more competition into the marketplace.”

While the mobile operators wait for 4G to materialise, O2 is set to trial a new 21Mbs service, known as HSPA Evolved, later this year.

So much for private industry. What is the government doing to give next generation networks a push? Two weeks ago, it announced a new set of promises. It pledged that Ireland’s best mobile broadband speeds would equal or exceed those in’ comparator’ EU countries by 2012. A comparator country is one with which Ireland competes economically.

However, as you may have heard, the government is all out of cash. It has already committed €80 million to rural broadband roll-out under the National Broadband Scheme. It has placed further tens of millions into the (little used) metropolitan area networks. So how can it meet its promises, when comparator countries such as the Netherlands offer 50Mbs services for €30 per month?

Its big idea is to allow private companies to use ducting tunnels on state assets.

“Extensive ducting already exists along publicly owned energy, transport and other infrastructure, which could provide backhaul connections,” said a statement from the Department of Communications.

“The government will facilitate network operators’ access to these assets, including road, rail, gas pipeline and electricity infrastructure, on commercial terms. This will reduce the cost of fibre roll-out.

“In addition, major public infrastructure projects will, in future, install ducting at the construction stage to facilitate the extension of existing networks and the roll-out of planned networks. Furthermore, new premises in Ireland will be required to install open-access fibre connections.”

Will this be enough?

The companies backing Imagine’s WiMax initiative are banking that it won’t be. Sources close to the WiMax project say that the reason that Imagine’s multinational backers are helping to launch WiMax in Ireland is because they cannot see a home-grown next-generation network emerging any time soon.

Eamon Ryan, the Minister for Communications, the man who is most politically responsible for the development of faster mobile broadband networks, believes that a blended approach will carry the country into a faster broadband era.’

“I think collaboration between different network providers will deliver success,” he told a recent broadband conference.”‘ It’s difficult, because of our demographics, to out-do Korea in terms of running fibre into our apartments. But maybe we can use a flexible combination of competition between cable, fixed line, wireless, satellite and others

http://www.sbpost.ie/computersinbusiness/broadband-battles-42847.html