Telkom leads WiMax race

SA`s fixed-line utility Telkom began a customer WiMax trial yesterday, ahead of a network launch set for May.

This puts Telkom ahead of second national operator Neotel, which is still to award the contract for the building of its WiMax infrastructure, and state signal provider Sentech. The latter, which has been tasked with rolling out a nationwide broadband network, is struggling to obtain the necessary funding from government.

The WiMax deployment is a component of Telkom`s multibillion-rand next-generation network (NGN) roll-out, which will see a third of the operator`s network NGN-based by 2011.

The WiMax network will provide coverage primarily for peri-urban areas, but will also cover urban areas where it is required to complement Telkom`s DSL footprint, says Steven Hayward, managing executive for Telkom Retail Marketing.

While the company would not comment on the capital expenditure for the WiMax network, it previously said it spent R5 billion last year on NGN projects. Another R25 billion will be spent during the next four years.

Hayward says the external broadband customer trial will test WiMax technology and fine-tune service efficiencies prior to the official launch of WiMax in May.

The trial will be conducted in conjunction with Internet service providers MWeb, Internet Solutions and Telkom Internet. It will involve up to 400 customers in the northern and eastern suburbs of Pretoria, as well as in Centurion.

Telkom is finalising the WiMax product specifications and pricing strategy. However, Hayward says Telkom would like to see all customers have "fair access" to broadband technology.

A Telkom spokesman would not be drawn on how the WiMax offering is likely to compare to the pricing of its ADSL offering.

Hayward explains that, during the trial, each customer will be provided with 512Kbps fast Internet access and a 2GB ISP access product.

He says Telkom has tested the 802.16D fixed WiMax standard, which is currently the only commercially available technology. He adds Telkom will test the 802.16E mobile WiMax standard once commercially available. Deployment decisions will follow once testing has been completed, he notes.

Motorola previously said it would launch the 802.16E standard in SA shortly, as it enters the local WiMax market. It is on the strength of the new standard, which Motorola expects to become the de facto industry standard in the next few years, that the company is hopeful of landing the Neotel WiMax deal.

Andy McKinnon, Motorola`s WiMax principal for the EMEA region, recently said it is a "no-brainer" that any greenfield project in SA would adopt the new-generation WiMax standard, which offers full mobility.

All WiMax test networks in SA, as well as the WiMax networks deployed in other African countries, are currently 802.16D technology. Migration to the new standard means a full network redeployment, as the 16D standard cannot be upgraded to 16E.

However, a Telkom spokesman denies this will be a problem, saying the company`s technical experts "are some of the best in the world", and would have taken the technological challenges into account.