Telkom WiMax freeze

Looks like they are putting all their eggs in the 3G basket. Never got the impression that they were really comitted to WiMax anyway. This would reinforce that perception.
 
maybe more people would actually take it if they didn't take four flippen months to do anything.
 
Maybe they should look at their pricing, telkom pushed as an adsl replacement(hence fixed location installation) with similar pricing. 3g+ has moved on to 7MB and offers greater mobility on a large existing network from established players like voda, mtn etc using existing/in use handsets(granted its more expensive). LTE is what?? 1 yrs away?

Unless its cheap who is really gonna use it any more especially with the packages in SA? (only thin i can think is under serviced /rural areas)
 
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Use it or lose it, scum.

Look at Screamer, they want to use it, so they have good growth. The other major players all have Wimax but to them it is just another means of communication. They waste it.

Free up the Wimax spectrum and give it to companies that really care to use it. There are some damn good wisps out there that are constrained by the noise on the 2.4ghz and 5.8ghz frequencies.

Give them the Wimax and you will see how quickly Wimax takes off.

Give it to a network operator that has other horeses in their stable and they will just ignore it, letting it go to waste.
 
it is possible that no new customers will be added to our network in some areas,” said Ajith Bridgraj, Telkom's Senior Specialist for Media Relations.
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Thanks for clearing that up.... "is possible" "some areas"

Despite the hype that surrounds WiMax, the technology has not had a significant impact on the South African market yet
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Because the price is not right...
 
This is oldish news to some of us who had wimax from telkom, they actually removed wimax support from some areas already

But I agree, give the wimax to someone else then.
 
The reason why iBurst/Vodacom has hardly no customers is that it is extremly expensive. Looking at a 512 5GB package, it is infact more expensive than HSDPA. The 5GB package is over R1000 per month.
 
I'm living in PMB and looking at getting a 512k Wifi connection for R550pm uncapped. The latency is'nt as good as a fixed line solution... but it's so much cheaper for an uncapped account!

While I don't think its a long term solution, the speed at which fixed line prices are coming down makes it a viable option for at least the next year or so. I gather from chatting with a couple of the chaps that they will adjust their prices to remain competitive as the need arises
 
Strategy?

I was the member who spoke to Telkom trying to order a WiMax link. :)

I am just a bit annoyed as now they say there in no shortage of equipment, mmmm WTF???? :confused:
 
telkom is using the divide and conquer strategy... only they got the implementation wrong. They thought they were supposed to aim internally, so what you end up with is a useless telecom with the added bonus that its right hand doesnt know what its left hand is doing and vice versa.

I agree, take the spectrum away form the major players who dont seem to know what to do with it, and give it to companies like Screamer
 
I'm fairly happy with my Telkom WiMax. It took a while to install but all happened in under a month. And it works out cheaper than having a 512kb fixed line because no voice line rental is compulsory. As long as you are happy with being limited to 512kb then it's a great service to people like me who don't have the option for fixed, and cannot afford alot of data via 3g. But I see Telkom has now run cables into my area, so I wonder if they will force me to get fixed at some stage...
 
Shred said:
The reason why iBurst/Vodacom has hardly no customers is that it is extremly expensive. Looking at a 512 5GB package, it is infact more expensive than HSDPA. The 5GB package is over R1000 per month.
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Totally agree.. one has got to question the thought process behind the cost for the iBurst/Vodacom WiMax solution. They obvioulsy make a greater profit from their 3G subscriptions.. but hey, surely there is room for both fixed and mobile solutions?

eugenevdm said:
Anyone who does a little bit of research will see that this proprietary technology is and has been dead for a very long time.
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I have got to say that as a gamer living in Joburg this technology is by far superior to any other Wireless technology available.

I have heard of people being able to play MMORPG using 3G but all of them are located in areas like Bloemfontein or Potchefstroom.. this kinda gaming is impossible in Jozi.

WiMax FTW!

Neotel has not launched commercial WiMax-based broadband offerings yet,...
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These guys should quit while they're ahead... or are they?
 
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The WBS 802.16e WiMax network is fully on track. As with all new technologies there were some hurdles to overcome and we've managed to work through most of these by now.

On the network side we actually did a technology refresh (read: vendor swap out) that completed earlier this month.

CPE's have been a bit of an issue but they're now available although the cost is still not insubstantial. New, more cost effective CPE's are now becoming available and we're busy testing.

There is still not a large number of CPE's, dongles, embedded laptops, etc. available but again they're now beginning to appear. Interoperability is still a bit of an issue though.

Lastly, some process issues have been ironed out.

In hindsight, we all were maybe a bit optimistic on how quickly these things could have rolled, but I don't see any real hurdles anymore.
 
eugenevdm said:
Anyone who does a little bit of research will see that this proprietary technology is and has been dead for a very long time.
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eh :confused:

WiMax is far from a proprietary technology - it was originally intended to be standards based and it is reaching that point rapidly. Some of the vendors released products before the standards were finalised and this is obviously causing interoperability problems for providers that rolled networks on these BETA products (eg Telkom).

Over the next year we will most likely see WiMax maturing to the same level of standardisation as WiFi and with a little luck - consumer WiMax products that are just as cost effective :)
 
eugenevdm said:
Anyone who does a little bit of research will see that this proprietary technology is and has been dead for a very long time.
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Ahem. I took your advice and did the research and I see that Wimax is a 3GPP standard - not proprietary.

Telkom appears to be using 802.16d which is an outdated version and doesn't allow mobility. Of course one would not want to continue punting this. It's like a 3G operator not upgrading to HSPA and complaining that the technology sucks. If they could update the version they would most likely get much better performance and be better able to punt the service.
 
entrepr said:
Ahem. I took your advice and did the research and I see that Wimax is a 3GPP standard - not proprietary.
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OK let me rephrase that. Vendor controlled technology that uses licensed band which in turn is controlled by inept agencies such as ICASA. There are so many reasons why Wi-max hasn't taken off and won't ever take off. For example compare a high site's power requirements to wi-fi and you'll see what I mean.
 
eugenevdm said:
Vendor controlled technology that uses licensed band which in turn is controlled by inept agencies such as ICASA.
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All of the above are characteristics of GSM, 3G/HSDPA, CDMA, IEEE802.20 and many others - All of which are extremely successfully deployed both in ZA and around the world.
eugenevdm said:
There are so many reasons why Wi-max hasn't taken off and won't ever take off. For example compare a high site's power requirements to wi-fi and you'll see what I mean.
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Oh - I get it... this is a "my WISP is better than WiMax" post. :confused: Not a chance mate. ;)

WiMax is vastly superior as an access technology. The fact that it runs in the licensed bands is a pro... not a con. There is simply not enough spectrum in the ISM bands to ever sustain 802.11 technologies as a significant contender in the broadband access market. WISPs will most likely continue to be an important fringe competitor in the market for a long time but you simply cannot provide any kind of telco grade service on ISM spectrum. :cool:

I suspect that when ICASA gets their WiMax spectrum allocations going you will be begging them for a slice of that band :p
 
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