Industry comment

In the rapidly evolving telecoms environment, all players must be prepared for the challenges brought by constant change. Our consultants offer an expert perspective on the issues that confront the telecoms industry.

LTE: when will it arrive in New Zealand?

August 3, 2010

Long Term Evolution (LTE) really is the Holy Grail of the mobile industry. It is said HSPA+ can’t match LTE in terms of speed. Telstra, currently trialling LTE over 1.8GHz and 2.6GHz, has already achieved 100Mbit/s. In theory LTE could achieve around 300Mbit/s with a 20MHz carrier in ideal conditions.

Mobile broadband: why isn’t New Zealand doing better?

July 27, 2010

LTE may not arrive in New Zealand until some six years after its first commercial launch in Sweden and Norway, now that the New Zealand Government is indicating that the analogue switchoff may not happen until 2015.

The business plan for fibre: stacking up the building blocks

December 8, 2009

Achieving a positive Net Present Value from broadband fibre initiatives may take on average well over 15 years. We know this from both our own business case modelling, and indications from existing initiatives from around the world. Although the time horizon for commercial return may be long, it is possible to improve financial prospects by focussing at the business planning stage on strategies for cost minimisation and revenue maximisation.

Open for all: designing successful open access ultra-fast broadband networks

October 13, 2009

A common theme associated with state-funded plans for national broadband infrastructure around the world is that of providing “open access”. This ensures that customers have as wide a choice as possible of services and service providers on the new network. Governments and regulators have taken a range of open access approaches, from mandating full access for service providers to physical cables (layer 1) through to access network operators being required to supply managed data services at layer 2 and above.

The cost of telecoms regulation: is it too much to pay?

October 1, 2009

To ensure that the often-cited benefits of telecommunications liberalisation can be realised – lower prices, improved access, a key driver of economic, social and national development – in most countries worldwide some degree of telecommunications regulation has been implemented. In those that have only recently introduced regulation, and smaller developing countries in particular, the urgency for the desired outcomes of telecommunications often overshadows the effort and costs required to achieve those goals.

IPTV success: spotlight on the stars

June 9, 2009

France has been one of the dominant forces in the global IPTV market. According to the French telecoms regulator, ARCEP, 37% of xDSL subscribers were able to access IPTV as at the end of 2008, either through subscriptions or via the triple-play bundles that are a feature of the French broadband market. The audience measurement company Mediametrie claimed that IPTV overtook cable TV in terms of subscribers in mid-2008.

Will VDSL2 be enough for an ultra fast broadband network?

February 17, 2009

The telecommunications industry and major broadband users wait with baited breath for the New Zealand government’s NZD1.5 million broadband decision. Will Telecom New Zealand’s recent VDSL2 announcement help?

Micro-trenching: can it cut the cost of fibre to the home?

December 9, 2008

Government funding of fibre to the home (FTTH) networks is one of the key issues exercising the creative thinking of telecommunications carriers around the world. Naturally, the public insists that government money is spent wisely, so cost-effective solutions must be used for publicly funded fibre roll-out.

Fibre to the home: who’s doing it, how and why?

November 18, 2008

From the FTTH Council’s global rankings for FTTH penetration we can gain some insights into the thorny question of how to achieve fibre rollout in the face of a difficult cost versus revenue equation. South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan are the leaders in Fibre to the Building deployment with their dense urban dwellings assisting the economic case via demographic and geographic patterns. The leaders in straight FTTH deployment are Japan, Sweden, Norway, Slovenia, Iceland and Denmark where in most cases geography is less useful for the cause. So what makes the economic case workable in these countries and who are the prime movers?

Bang for buck: what you can get for your broadband dollar

October 14, 2008

For most consumers, choosing a broadband plan is an exercise in identifying the “best” service for a given budget. While the headlines tend to focus on the downlink bandwidth – faster is better – the consumer’s purchase decision is more complex as it involves prioritising various criteria, based on individual requirements and budget.

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