The WiMAX technology proposed to be used by OpEl apparently will use the 5.8Ghz range.

This same wireless range is used by many other appliances, and is prone to interference from devices like Cordless Phones (the 5.8Ghz kind), some Garage Door Openers also, Microwaves.

So, looking at it from that angle, and looking at competing technologies that can be used to deliver the same or better, to rural areas like farms, you know, the electronic garage door opener they have to open the shed to park the tractors, stops them from getting wet in the rain I suppose, but what about when they get dirt on them from the farming ?, anyway, competing technologies that would acheive similar are:

WiMAX in the 2.4Ghz range (my Cordless phone is 2.4Ghz!).
The obvious disadvantage, consumers have far more equipment in the 2.4Ghz range, and spectrum is not available due to Austar’s fast buy out.

Fibre to the node.
Forget it. Expensive. No farmer will pay upwards of $3k to get his farm, 15k from the exchange connected to broadband services, that are future proof.
And besides, Nodes are expensive, and to service ONE farmer, it’d be cheaper longterm to run FTTSS (Fibre to the Shearing Shed).

HSDPA (High Speed Downstream Packet Access)
Telstra’s NextG network is just that.
But, worldwide, people are moving away from 3G, and fast concentrating on the new 4G (WiMAX standard).

Maintain the current situation
Not even an option. Telstra really are greedy pigs, and the sooner the entire nation is alerted to this fact, the better off we all are.

So, with all that in mind, what technology would you roll out, because WiMAX is inferior, apparently?

I don’t see any other possible alternatives that will provide a solution to the area proposed in the OpEl rollout, they are servicing farming areas, where there are generally mountain peaks to sit towers on, with farms right below, or areas where there is flat open areas, where a wireless signal could go on for hours.

I imagine the maps showing at the moment have overlap for the single reason that they want both redundancy, as well, to solve any issues where a customer might be too close to one and too far from another. If they overlap at the right angle, two towers will provide service to those tricky areas, and if one is bad, go to two!

As WiMAX is still a great developing technology, and Australia will be the first to have a roll out of WiMAX of this size area, we get to become the area for innovation too, we get to try out the new technology, we get fast wireless before the rest of the world, with proven distances.

Anyone that is still complaining about price - hasn’t read the proposal, surely, because the statements made around it are that the proposal is to deliver “metro comparable” prices and broadband services to Regional areas (and therefore destroy Telstra’s choking hold on the industry).

So price isn’t an issue.

Others have said the government shouldn’t waste money on duplicating Telstra’s network by giving money to Singapore? Well Elders is Australian, and the government can see a very clear need to duplicate, simply because Telstra are too dang greedy!

So, with all that in mind, the only way to fix the issue, duplicate, was done, and done both cheap and well.

Anyone concerned about the 5.8Ghz range being a problem, should really think of it this way. The roll out gets 6 months in, if a serious problem was going to affect many people, they’d have a solution worked out, or at least be on top of it before things got too far, and farmers would not be able to use their electronic garage door opener to open the shearing shed.

I think the backlash is purely from those with a conflict of interest.

Telstra - now will lose perhaps millions in revenue due to being forced to compete.
Ericcson - deployed the NextG network, after likely advising Telstra its the best there is - best bet, find whatever flaws you can in WiMAX and attack.
Shareholders - likely see a falling share price, and would put their measily 200.00 ahead of more important government issues, like health care, and education, amazing what those greedy pigs would sell out for, hey ?

And whilst you look at all this, Telstra’s misinforming site, Now We Are Talking, really annoyed me today, with something like 4 submissions made, just silently not appearing, while others continued to post uninformed and misleading comments, under the disguise that the site offers a fair and open discussion point, if that’s the case, ask Simon Wright (creator of Whirlpool) to moderate the posts?
Or ask anyone, anyone who isn’t a shareholder or Telstra staff member, and therefore has no conflict of interest, and someone without an element of bias, someone who doesn’t want to see Telstra shares drop to $0.50 (oh, that counts me out), to do that task.

I took the time to write in to the ACCC and Coonan’s office on this issue, because whilst its a relatively small problem now, it has the potential for misinformation to spread to many people, and too many will believe the lies spat out on Telstra’s site, and due to the censorship that they are doing (hiding posts from the opposite angle), it’s easy to be seen that they are further influencing the debate in favour of shareholders, or in favour of its desired outcomes, and having the advertising budget they have behind it.

My idea to them: Perhaps spend some money on an information campaign explaining the truths behind it all, and perhaps promote Whirlpool as a site of interest to those with questions on the debate.

This would see at least the important points that NWAT decided they’d silently hide from being hidden from the general public view, and enhance / create a level playing field for those seeking such information.

Simply, I don’t see it either fair, or reasonable for competitors, like the good Australian “Employing” (and not sacking) folk at Optus, or the fantastic crew over at Internode, or the well, gaining competence people at iiNet to be stuck without much funding to throw at spreading the facts, and why should they? Telstra are spreading the lies, this needs to be policed in some manner so that all facts are made visible.

Enjoy!