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
