ISP Q&A: vividwireless chief on 4G, how wireless fits in the NBN and ISP filtering
- 29 March, 2010 13:53
- Comments 12
Martin Mercer
CEO of vividwireless, Unwired and Wireless Broadband Australia, Martin Mercer, talks to ARN about the decision behind launching a 4G network, how wireless will fit in the National Broadband Network (NBN), and ISP filtering.
Why did vividwireless decide to launch a 4G network?
Martin Mercer: We wanted to have some differentiation. It’s a crowded market place with Optus, Telstra and Vodafone providing wireless services in the consumer space, and there’s no point in launching a me-too product. We wanted to launch with a leading product, best quality of service, the fastest network and a technology that couldn’t be bridged for at least four years, which would give us the opportunity to really build a substantial share for an interim period.
There has already been a fair bit of criticism about the network, with people saying it’s not quite 4G. What is your response?
There are a lot of people that get passionate about which particular elector they’re a member of, rather than what the customer experience is. 4G is a description, it’s not a standard. 4G is going to give customers an IP network, quality of service, advanced interface and provides much more efficient use of the spectrum. That’s what our service offers. As a consequence, we’ve got a much lower cost structure, faster network and we’ve got an ability to do quality of service so we can offer things like voice. We’re providing a customer experience that is remarkably different to what you get with a 3G network.
What is the cost structure for vividwireless 4G services?
You don’t need to have a contract with us. The price is $179 for the USB modem and $299 for the home gateway. If you buy them through our retail outlets, Dick Smith and Harvey Norman, you get $50 cashback on them at the moment. If you buy them online or through our call centre, you get them for nothing, provided you enter into a 24-month contract. If you choose to not enter a 24-month contract and buy the device upfront, then you can go on a pre-paid plan, which starts from 1GB for $20 per month and on a subscription plan, and you can get 5GB for $35 per month. The plans are very competitive. We’re also very competitive with naked DSL, wireless and fixed broadband space.
What are your top priorities as the new CEO?
Having just launched Australia’s first 4G network, we have to build a business in Perth, acquire customers and build the customer experience. That’s our number one priority and we're taking the network national as well. We’ve got the focus on building Sydney and Melbourne and planning in advance for Adelaide, Brisbane and Canberra. At the same time, we’ve got a very important business in Sydney and to a lesser extent, Melbourne, which is the Unwired consumer business. There are a lot of valuable and loyal customers on the network and we want to make sure we don’t neglect them while we focus on building the 4G business.
How far away are you from launching those plans?
We announced in February that we have the funding to start building the networks in Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Canberra. We plan to be in Melbourne and Sydney by August and then the other markets in the New Year.
Nominations for the 2012 ARN IT Industry Awards open on Tuesday, June 12.
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Comments
Jimmy
If these people can offer me low latency, lots of bandwidth, half decent speed for a good price then I would sign up in a flash dumping my ADSL2+.
Alas, I fear this will not be the case.
Justin
"It's somewhat inevitable..." WTF! Think again sunshine, it's not inevitable, and it's not required in a mature, civil society.
Francis
@Justin, there's nothing mature or civil about the pages on the RC list. It's good to see Martin Mercer acknowledging the reality of the filter which has 80% popular support in the electorate (even if the opposite ratio is found among tech forum users), though I can only wish him well on getting wireless latency down - it's going to be a long haul, I reckon.
gnome
It's only inevitable if good people like you, Martin, say it is inevitable and then do nothing to oppose the imposition of secret government censorship.
peterg
so the assumption is that the filter is popular with the uninformed masses. everyone else, bar few, is very much against this affront to democracy. the uninformed masses are becoming informed very quickly and will surely rebel as soon as redtube or youtube is knocked off their internet world.
Justin
@Francis, the proposed system does not have 80% support. If you're talking about the HB survey then that number would be more like 9%.
I said a mature and civil society doesn't require a filter, not that the RC list is mature or civil. Do you actually know what RC is? Because it's far more than what Senator Conroy likes to portray it as in his little sound bites. It is hardly the "worst of the worst", perhaps a portion of it "may" be, but if it's not illegal (and a good portion of RC isn't) then why cover it up? And, if it is illegal, take it away, don't cover your eyes and sing "la la la".
Jason
First problem with the service is it's very expensive! very little reason for anyone to move from adsl/cable and for office users very little bandwidth/data is used as it's mostly for email and surfing the web.
JAmes
@Jason - Have you looked at the www.vividwireless.com.au website? The plans they offer are comparable if not better the Naked DSL and better than Telstra's ADSL plans!
@Jimmy - You can get 20mbps on this network. Check Whirlpool for lots of people posting speed tests. The average speeds seems to be about ~8Mbps! That's about 12x times what I can get on LastG and don't even mention Optus!
Ross Chiswell
Hey, let’s not forget that in Perth like every capital city there are many ADSL black spots where you can not get broadband full stop. Vivid's product is going to be far better that the other 3G broadband products on offer just because of the underlying technology.
Also we must support the alternatives, Australia has always been very complacent about trying other providers.. if we don't give the other guys a shot then in time our choices will be limited to and controlled by the major service providers.
ray
It will die a slow death like Unwired did ... Mainly because they dont have a proper network. 3G has be deployed as carrier grade networks by the likes of Telstr and Optus .. they are deployed with the capability to Evolve to 4G speeds with no major differences in coverage. Blackspots in ADSL areas wil become fewer and fewer with the NBN network roll out .. The niche market for this product is going to dwindle .
memet
The service centre is crap, you will get better customer service in India than this company. They promise and liar and then treat you second rate. The speed is great, but totally lacking service.
THEY ARE A JOKE
Dave
Memet,
I'm sorry, but if you could point me in the direction of any telecommunications or internet company that does provide a decent grade of service then please fill us all in. If by some fluke you manage to get a decent quality of service from a call centre, then please hang up and try again later.
And sorry to those who think it will die a slow death, "Open your mind Quad" "Niche Market?" I don't know of anyone who couldn't use high speed wireless as well as NBN or fixed line services. Be flexible, on the move, not restricted.
Adsl blackspots may decrease, but I'd still like to see you running your 35km long telephone cord to your laptop whilst driving through town.
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