World Surveillance Group Inc (fka WSGI)

[nilremerlin]

I maintain that Internafta renigged on the deal once they found out that they couldn't get the spectrum licenses that they thought they could politically buy their way into (very possibly due to objections from Enforta)(see my bold):

Maravedis WiMAX Forecast Ranks the Russian Federation Among the Top Five Largest Wireless Broadband Opportunities in the World

Leading wireless research firm, Maravedis, releases new market study titled "Russian Federation Broadband and WiMAX Market Analysis and Forecasts 2006-2010" to provide an in-depth review of current regulatory and overall wireless market trends in Russia

MONTREAL, Canada, and MOSCOW, Russian Federation, May 23, 2006 – Maravedis Research (http://www.maravedis-bwa.com), a leading wireless broadband access research firm, announced a new research report entitled the “Russian Federation Broadband Wireless and WiMAX Market Analysis and Forecast 2006-2010,” which details the golden opportunities now present within the Russian Federation for BWA and WiMAX wireless products and services.

The new 100-page report, the second of a series that includes reports on Brazil and India, provides an in-depth review of the broadband wireless and WiMAX markets and regulatory activity taking place in Russia.

The Russian economy is flourishing and demand is quickly outpacing the supply of the telecommunications services provided by legacy wired telecommunication infrastructure built during the communist era. For example, more then 70% of Russia households do not have access to fixed wired telephone services. Instead, customers have flocked to cellular phone carriers, which have built a tremendous infrastructure of cellular towers to provide service to more 130 million customers or 90% of the Russian population.

The same trend is predicted for broadband wireless Internet access services, such as WiMAX, that will provide high-speed data services over a wireless data infrastructure. Small- to medium-sized businesses realize the potential of websites and doing business online via the Internet in order to reach the worldwide economy. Since 75% of Russian households can not get basic dial-up Internet access, wireless Internet service providers (WISPs) are expected to break open the large pent up demand for broadband Internet connections.

“There is huge potential for broadband wireless Internet and voice-over-IP services in Russia because there are still more than 40,000-50,000 towns and villages with no basic communications services,” explained Maravedis’ Russian and Ukraine Senior Analyst, Artur Mironenko. “And, as the economy keeps improving, not only do customers want high-speed connections, but in many areas they now have the household budgets to pay for high-speed Internet access.”

“Several wireless Internet service providers, such as Art Com, Enforta and Tascom, have already launched service in Russia and are enjoying early successes and heavy demand from consumers and businesses,” said Adlane Fellah, senior analyst with Maravedis Research. “Our wireless forecast for Russian broadband wireless access shows the vast potential for this marketplace and provides a valuable analysis of existing wireless operators.”

Maravedis predicts a consolidation among the current 200 BWA service providers active in the country. In fact, the authors interviewed and profiled the Top 10 service providers in Russia and concluded that the most active players will be companies with deep pockets that belong to one of three major holdings in Russia, namely Alfa, Sistema and Telekom Invest which control both fixed and mobile service providers. Others such as Enforta also benefit from a sound investment capacity. Vendors and financiers need to be aware of “noise makers” who put press releases with ambitious plans but after analysis appear as just “smoke and mirrors.”

“The most promising regions (russian word for region is oblasts) for the development of BWA/WiMAX networks are Moscow city, Saint Petersburg, Samara oblast, Sverdlovsk oblast, Rostov oblast, Tatarstan republic, Krasnodar krai, Tyumen oblast, Chelyabinsk oblast and Bashkortostan republic. The center region will concentrate one-third of total subscribers,” added Mironenko.

“However, shortage of spectrum and very stringent regulation for equipment and licensing are serious obstacles for massive adoption of broadband wireless and WiMAX in Russia. For WiMAX to prosper in Russia, frequency bands in the 2 GHz range (2.3-2.4 and/or 2.5-2.7GHz) must be made available to commercial operators. That will require current analog broadcasters to digitalize their networks which will take a long time,” Mironenko continued.

Maravedis’ latest research also reveals that Russia remains a very price sensitive market. Demand for broadband services is exploding, but both service providers and residential end-users demand very low cost CPE (in the $100 range) before they will fully adopt WiMAX. So far, the demand for broadband wireless services has been mainly driven by high-end corporate and residential as well as government users.

The Russian Federation Broadband Wireless and WiMAX Market Analysis and Forecast 2006-2010 is a must read for companies wanting to enter the Russian marketplace and provides a good roadmap that will help various players maneuver around obstacles and find the real opportunities to make money in this region. A free copy of the table of contents can be downloaded at: www.maravedis-bwa.com

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:g4dQZR_De04J:www.frontpagepr.com/clients/maravedis/maravedis_wim...

nilremerlin