Re:
Skynet Global (ASX – SKG)
Extracts from
Communications Day …..
Communications
Day 8 January 2004 Page 2
SkyNetGlobal
on target to Wi-Fi Singapore
SkyNetGlobal
announced
yesterday that is on track to complete deployment and testing of
its Singapore Wi-Fi network comprising of 119 McDonald's
restaurants, by the end of January 2004. SkyNetGlobal plans to
officially launch its Singapore Wi-Fi network with 119 wireless
hotspots February 2.
Once
completed the SkyNetGlobal Singapore public wireless network will
become the island state's largest branded chain of wireless
hotspots with a potential 4.4 million visitors per month.
SkyNetGlobal CEO Jonathan Soon claimed that interest from
potential new customers was strong and the operator is currently
in the process of finalising several major contracts. He also
forecast that SkyNetGlobal Singapore is expected to provide
positive cash flows and earnings to the group as early as this
financial year ending June 2004.
Natalie
Apostolou
Communications
Day 13 January 2004 Page 3
•
SkyNetGlobal
yesterday
said its W Home Automation subsidiary had made a net profit
of $412,971 for the half-year period ending December 31,
representing what the company claimed was a 26% increase on
forecast earnings. SkyNetGlobal CEO Jonathan Soon said, given that
W Home Automation had nearly achieved its fullyear forecast in the
first half of the year, it would revise its yearly figure up
accordingly in due course.
Communications
Day 15 January 2004 Page 2
WiMAX
to vastly expand wireless broadband
potential
While
everyone from courier companies to coffee shops is busily rolling
out Wi-Fi fixed wireless broadband (FWB) networks for the benefit
of on-the-move businesspeople and savvy consumers, new research
from In-Stat/MDR indicates that these remote networking
segments will only represent a portion of the market potential of
FWB technology as new standards emerge.
Wi-Fi,
based on the IEEE 802.11b standard, has been in development for
over 20 years now and there is no doubt that it fills an important
need in the market, particularly in worker flexibility. However,
according to new In-Stat/MDR postings, the emergence of
FWB-specific standards like IEEE 802.16 and IEEE 802.20, those
supporting the so-called WiMAX platform, will soon boost the
capabilities of wireless broadband to enter whole new revenue
segments, something In-Stat/MDR analyst Daryl Schoolar says is
just over the horizon.
”The
need for and interest in FWB is already there, with the existence
of areas that have yet to be reached by common wireline broadband
technologies and those that lack basic copper infrastructure.
These emerging standards will merely give this market the extra
boost that it has needed.”
According
to Schoolar, the 802.16 and 802.20 standards will help grow FWB in
three main applications – last mile connectivity, network backhaul
and private networking. As a result, the market will grow from
US$558.7 million in 2003 to over US$1.2 billion by the end of
2007. Growth will come from more than just low-cost consumer/small
business Internet access. Market drivers for emerging FWB
applications, such as cellular backhaul and metro Ethernet, along
with private networking, will all play important roles, Schoolar
says.
With
major backing from heavy-duty vendors like Intel and
Alcatel and Wi-Fi already attracting significant regard
among operators and users, there is little doubt that the first
WiMAX gear will generate some serious interest when it arrives
later this year. The technology will vastly increase the range of
wireless hotspots and raise the prospect of copper networks being
finally condemned to the wastebasket of technology’s
yesteryear.
Tim
Marshall
Communications
Day 19 January 2004 Page 2
Operators
begin to see WiMAX potential
With
new studies last week predicting that WiMAX will drive massive
growth in the fixed wireless broadband market, the industry body
responsible for developing and commercialising the technology says
it has more than doubled its membership over the past five months
and that telecoms operators are starting to open their eyes to the
potential it presents.
While
the first commercial products supporting WiMAX are not expected to
hit the market until later this year, there is already
considerable hype surrounding the technology, essentially a
suped-up version of Wi-Fi.
Reflecting
the growing industry-wide confidence and interest in the
technology, the WiMAX Forum claims it has significantly
boosted its membership of late, with operators such as
AT&T, Covad and PCCW, as well as vendors
like Siemens and ZTE now on the books. The additions
represent a considerable diversification of the Forum’s member
base from firms concentrating more specifically on WiMAX equipment
design.
”We
are delighted to have the active participation of prominent
operators, infrastructure providers and broadband wireless
application innovators that share the belief that interoperability
of standards-compliant systems are essential to delivering
cost-effective broadband services on a global scale,” WiMAX Forum
president Margaret LaBrecque said. The Forum says it now has a
membership of 67, up from 28 since its creation five months
ago.
According
to an In-Stat/MDR study posted last week, WiMAX has the
potential to radically transform the fixed wireless broadband
market with its additional reach over Wi-Fi allowing it to support
applications such as cellular backhaul and metro Ethernet and
private networking. As a result, In-Stat/MDR expects the fixed
wireless broadband market to grow from $US558.7 million in 2003 to
over $1.2 billion by the end of 2007. Separate research from
Allied Business Intelligence recently pegged the market for
broadband wireless equipment at around US$1.5 billion in
2008.
Tim
Marshall
See IRG research reports
