MWEB upgrades WiMax network
MWEB has deployed a trial WiMax network in Gauteng and Cape Town serving around 700 trial users with unlimited broadband Internet access. The aim is to extend the trial to 1 000 users whilst observing the technology and network capabilities and testing the true performance of the service.
The company currently has seven base stations, 4 in Johannesburg and 3 in Cape Town, and MWEB is looking to erect another base station in the Cresta/Northcliff area in Johannesburg.
The deployment is based on the Mobile WiMax (802.16e) standard using Alvarion equipment.
Upgraded the network
Eugene van der Westhuizen, GM for new business projects at MWEB, said that they recently performed a software upgrade on their WiMax network which has resulted in significant performance improvements.
Van der Westhuizen said that the speed improvements seen after the upgrade are substantial enough that the company may now try to connect people who were not initially successful as trialists due to poor coverage and throughput.
Van der Westhuizen further pointed out that the amount of research and improvements that happen in the mobile WiMax space is astounding, and that the improvements after the recent upgrade is but one example of such developments.
Speed and latency
MWEB is currently trialing a 256 Kbps, 512 Kbps and 1 Mbps service, but the company is confident that it will be able to launch a 2 Mbps service using WiMax should they receive adequate spectrum from ICASA.
Van der Westhuizen said that they are seeing good throughput from trial users which makes them confident that WiMAX provides a satisfactory end user experience.
He further points out that they are consistently seeing latency of below 80 ms, well within the parameters of good quality VoIP.
Waiting for spectrum
While this trial is progressing well, MWEB can not launch any commercial services with out spectrum allocation from ICASA. The company is confident that it will receive spectrum in light of their well laid out WiMax plans and successful trial, but the exact dates for when spectrum will be allocated by ICASA remains unclear.
Van der Westhuizen said that consumers can expect a commercial offering from the company around 5 months after they receive spectrum (that is assuming that MWEB will receive spectrum).
He further said that consumers can expect competitive prices from MWEB as the company will have to compete against ADSL. While the customer premise WiMax equipment remains a significant barrier to entry at somewhere between R 2000 and R 3000, Van der Westhuizen said that a subsidized pricing model is definitely on the cards.
Other players waiting in the wings
MWEB is however not the only company hoping for spectrum from ICASA, and large players like Altech, Internet Solutions and Vodacom all have big plans for WiMax.
The only company that has so far rolled out a commercial WiMax network is Telkom, while Neotel, Sentech and iBurst all have WiMax spectrum at their disposal.
Sentech has recently indicated that they will invest in a WiMax network after receiving R 500-Million from government and Neotel is also deploying a WiMax network in parallel to their CDMA rollout.
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