World Surveillance Group Inc (fka WSGI)

[nilremerlin]

A Golden Opportunity for WiMAX
By Bob Wallace
Posted on: 10/12/2006

In further proof of the technology’s traction outside the United States, Russia’s Golden Telecom Inc. announced plans to conduct a field trial of mobile WiMAX in Moscow as part of a longer-term plan to provide citizens and businesses with citywide access to high-speed services.

Golden Telecom, which has a presence in 20 cities across Russia, will evaluate mobile WiMAX systems from Nortel. The trial is due to be completed by the end of the year, according to a spokesman for the vendor.

The Golden Telecom trial will provide a connection speed range of between 1mbps and 25mbps per user. The operator chose the Nortel system in part because it uses MIMO antenna technology that’s capable of making the most efficient use of available spectrum.

“Moscow users are extremely sophisticated and will welcome the opportunity to use high-bandwidth services and applications wherever they roam,” said Dmitry Bragin, vice president at Golden Telecom, in a statement.

While mobile operators in the United States grapple with the issue, and potential expense, of upgrading existing base stations (BTS) to support WiMAX versus buying brand new ones, operators in emerging markets aren’t as concerned given the preponderance of terrestrial and satellite networks.

Mobile WiMAX is viewed as a means to serve metro areas efficiently, such as the Russian capitol where the population density of more than 9,000 per square kilometer justifies the installation of WiMAX BTSs and equipment with each BTS potentially serving hundreds of users or more.

“Emerging markets such as Russia are where all the action is for mobile WiMAX, where broadband access is scarce and it makes solid business sense to leapfrog terrestrial networks to high-speed wireless systems,” said John Mansell, senior analyst with Kagan Research in Great Falls, Va.

It is, however, hard to estimate when Golden Telecom would be prepared to begin providing commercial service using mobile WiMAX technology, said Mansell. “In the U.S., trials tend to take six months to a year, or longer, depending on whether they’re focused on the technology or on its marketing.”

Golden Telecom is a facilities-based provider of telecom and Internet services in major population areas throughout Russia and other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States. It offers services via an overlay network in cities including Kiev, Moscow, Nizhiny, Novgorod, Samara and St. Petersburg, to others via intercity fiber and satellite-based networks through a combined 287 access points.

“Offering a true broadband mobile experience in developing countries requires a very large network footprint,” said Monica Paolini of Senza Fili Consulting LLC, in Sammamish, Wash. That, she added, requires operators to focus on the different profiles of the business market, which offers higher profits, and of the residential markets, which promise higher revenue.

Operators in emerging markets such as Russia also must plan to use spectrum for backhaul purposes as their in-ground networks often are less robust bandwidth-wise than in the United States. Mobile operators here already are moving from T-1 and E-1 leased-line links to gigabit Ethernet landline connections, and high-speed wireless spectrum, to optimize performance and reduce operational costs in backhaul applications.

The Yankee Group has estimated that leased-line infrastructure represents between 6 percent and 12 percent of a typical service provider’s operational expenditures. Globally, the research and consulting firm claims this accounts for $22 billion in operational expenditures for wireless service providers.

Service providers here and abroad, including Sprint Nextel Corp., according to Mansell, also are paying close attention to WiMAX technology as a potentially efficient answer for wireless backhaul. The list of vendors already includes Alvarion, Aperto, Airspan, Cambridge, Motorola, Navini, Proxim and Redline.

Golden Telecom Inc. www.goldentelecom.com

http://www.xchangemag.com/tdhotnews/6ah12102348.html

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