Australia to Become WiMax Testbed

shrewd writes "AU News site Whirlpool has news on a huge AUD $37 million investment by Intel in a WiMax project. From the article: 'Australia will become the world's testbed for WiMAX - Intel's wireless broadband technology - with the announcement that the chip giant will invest AUD $37million in the expansion of the Unwired network in Australia ... Unwired CEO David Spence said the investment will make WiMAX an absolutely mainstream technology. 'Unwired will be in the unique position of having access to the majority of the WiMAX-designated 3.5 GHz and 2.3 GHz licensed bands in Australia's major metropolitan areas,' Spence said.'"

Comments

Crikey!

[TheOtherAgentM]

I see live video streams of the Crocodile Hunter in our future.

"She's a beautiful critter! Look at the power of her jaws as she's chomping on my laptop!"

Huge?

[rlp]

37 million AUD ($27 million US) would be a huge investment if it came out of my bank account (which would then be very much overdrawn). Coming from a company the size of Intel, it is NOT a huge investment in a new technology.

Re:Huge?

[Nos.]

True, but Intel has made huge investments in WiMax. They've got the first chips undergoing testing for certification right now. They've dedicated a lot of time and man power to it and this is just a continuation of that investment. In fact, depending on how you look at it, this is almost more marketing than anything else.

If it doesn't work well,

[Karma_fucker_sucker]

then I guess people will get really angry and call it "MadMAX"! - get it Australia...MadMax Movies with Mel Gibson... well...get it?

Ok, that was lame. I really need to get some lunch!

Re:If it doesn't work well,

[Nom du Keyboard]

then I guess people will get really angry and call it "MadMAX"! - get it Australia...MadMax Movies with Mel Gibson... well...get it?

You're supposed to put the follow-up explanation to your joke in an immediate (well, 2 minutes later) post.

You're right, you do need lunch.

Been expecting this

[Anonymous Coward]

This is kind of old news, Unwired have talked about this for a while. I'm an Unwired user in Sydney and I get awesome results, i've been able to use it across the span of 30km's.

I heard about this a while ago I can't recite the source, but when I spoke to the Unwired consultants they said they were looking into this for sometime next year.

The only benefit this will provide me as an existing customer of Unwired is hopefully better pricing, coverage in trouble spots and I would be able to use the service while roaming as opposed to having to log in everytime I change to a different suburb.

That said we also have http://www.iburst.com.au/ (iburst) who provide true roaming, but their plans are ridiculously expensive.

What's more interesting news for me is the announcement Unwired recently made of a partnership with an Australian company called Engin http://www.engin.com.au/ who are an awesome VoIP provider (I also use).

That does remind me, the only place I had trouble with reception using Unwired was in an apartment block 30+ floors up.

-Sj53

Do Pass Go and Collect $$$

[Nom du Keyboard]

Unwired CEO David Spence said the investment will make WiMAX an absolutely mainstream technology. 'Unwired will be in the unique position of having access to the majority of the WiMAX-designated 3.5 GHz and 2.3 GHz licensed bands in Australia's major metropolitan areas,' Spence said.'"

Most monopolies do make whatever they touch a mainstream technology. Looks like competition will be scarce here however.

Re:AOL and others should take heed

[ScentCone]

Is there any doubt in someones mind that WiFi or WiMax is going to eventually permiate the metropolitan areas of the world and offer free access?

Yes, there is doubt. In fact, there is 100% certainty that it will not happen. Because it will not, and can not, be free. Someone has to pay for it. If your vision is correct (however badly described), I'd say that entity would be... people and businesses who pay taxes. Or, it will be indirectly so, by showing up as more arcane usage fees on your cell phone and cable bills. There is no "free" wireless service! It's not sunshine. Companies ("like AOL and other dial-up or broadband types") will be the ones providing this service, or companies like them, either directly, or through contracts with municipal or other governments. You say the market is dimishing, I say it's just re-arranging. But what about the millions that live in rural areas, or those that are out of line-of-site for these city-centered services? Traditional ISPs, in one form or another, will be around for a long, long time. Non-traditional ISPs will become the traditional, but someone still has to pay for the hardware, the people, the systems, the security, etc. Not free! Never will be - any more than tap water is, or electricity.

Re:AOL and others should take heed

[bigwavejas]

/yawn

I guess Philadelphia intending to offer the following, "Once a citywide wireless network has been deployed, the goal will be to provide some level of free wireless Internet access to everyone living, working or visiting in the city."

Was just my imagination... or was it? Read Article

Maybe diminishing wasn't the correct word, perhaps shifting is more appropriate. ... and yes nothing is entirely free, but the old methodology for charging to use wireless internet is definitely changing.

Truly Machiavelian

[$RANDOMLUSER]

Austrailia is where most of the smart Hong Kong money went when the British gave it up. Intel is essentially buying the top tier of the Asian market for chump change.

Centrinos for everyone!!!

safer this way

[Peter La Casse]

Australia will become the world's testbed for WiMAX

This is good news. If WiMAX turns people into zombies, the problem will be confined to Australia.

Australia gets screwed right now

[Ryan Stortz]

Despite the fact I'm still stuck on dialup at home (in the US, just outside of Lansing, MI); Australia has been getting screwed for a long time. They have some of the most outragous connection fees and draconian limits on use. Good for them.

Oh yeah, and here's the obligatory bash quote for the local phone monopoly:

<FreeFrag> The most secure computer in the world is one not connected to the internet.
<FreeFrag> Thats why I recommend Telstra ADSL.

Re:Why Australia?

[ksheff]

It's the flatest continent, so there shouldn't be a lot of line of sight issues and the remote cattle stations certainly would be users that would benefit from long distance wireless internet.