Inaugural Motorola Wireless Server Provider user group meeting explores NBN inclusion strategy
Announcement posted by Motorola Solutions 28 Jul 2010
Melbourne, Australia– July 28, 2010 – Wireless Internet Service Providers (WSP) have a window of opportunity to make their voices heard for inclusion in the NBN rollout, especially in rural communities.
That’s the main messages coming from the inaugural Motorola WSP user group meeting, held in Sydney last week.
“There is an open window of opportunity for WSPs and the NBN Company to work together to mutually leverage their goals of reaching out to rural and regional communities currently not part of the NBN’s metro-based FTTH access plans,” says Paul Brooks, Lead Consultant for the Communications Alliance NBN Project, and the keynote speaker at the inaugural WSP user group meeting.
“Obviously WSPs would have to meet the NBN’s wireless performance requirements, such as 12Mbit/s bandwidth access, proven Quality of Service, and also open up their businesses to wholesale services,” he says. “But the fact remains that WSPs have an existing customer base and infrastructure, and working with them can give the NBN a quick way of reaching these customers and improving the services they already receive.
“Giving WSPs access to the NBN fibre infrastructure for backhaul will also help them provide more cost-effective services back to their customers, and potentially attract new customers through these services.”
Communications Alliance, the peak body for the Australian communications industry, is leading the industry's response to the National Broadband Network implementation.
Roy Wittert, manager, Wireless Network Solutions, Motorola Enterprise Mobility Solutions, Australia and New Zealand, says WSPs need to work together so their collective voice is heard.
“WSPs are already working with the customers the NBN wants to reach, they have a close connection and commitment to their communities, so it’s not a matter of working out who to service, but more a decision on how to bring the two groups – the NBN and WSPs – together to make it happen,” says Wittert.
“The technology is there; both point-to-multipoint wireless access solutions and point-to-point wireless backhaul systems can provide the required service levels. Now it’s a matter of working with the NBN to connect the fibre network to the wireless networks at the various communities, and allow the WSPs to carry NBN traffic to their customers across the last mile – or miles as the case may be.”
According to Motorola, the NBN Company can reach up to 25 per cent of Australia’s rural population by giving Australia’s WSPs direct access to its fibre network. Figures
released by the group show that WSPs account for one per cent of Australia’s national service provider revenue. This means that WSPs service almost 25 per cent of the rural and regional customers that account for the four per cent of the population the NBN will need to reach wirelessly to attain its coverage target.
Motorola currently services more than 25 WSPs across Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, and plans to host two WSP user group meetings each year.
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