19 January 2005


Thursday January 13, 2005

Broadband: Wireless is no silver bullet
BY EDWIN YAPP

EVERY so often, technology journalists get to witness good news that brings cheer to the country. 

For instance, Internet service provider (ISP) Jaring officially launching its wireless broadband service, targeted at consumers and businesses, on Dec 11 last year. 

The company was first given the nod to run a wireless broadband network last July, and chose US-based Soma Networks Inc as its infrastructure partner. 

The launch was indeed a significant milestone – not merely because Malaysia’s first and oldest ISP can finally provide broadband services to the masses, after more than a decade of providing dialup Internet connections – but because now another ISP has made its foray into broadband service provision. 

Malaysians first experienced broadband surfing in 2001 when TM Net Sdn Bhd rolled out its streamyx service via ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) to consumers. 

Last May, Time dotCom Bhd became the second service provider to launch broadband services, which it did with its wireless solution called Webbit, but only for selected areas in Petaling Jaya. 

TM Net now has 270,000 broadband subscribers, while Time dotCom has garnered about 1,300 subscribers. 

This puts the broadband penetration rate at approximately 1% of the population, according to industry regulator the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). 

Despite this, the Government has expressed disappointment in the broadband take-up rate. 

Reiterating his stand on the matter, Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik recently said that the country’s broadband penetration rate leaves a lot to be desired. 

“We have a miserable 0.85% broadband penetration rate, compared with 5.5% in Singapore, 3.1% in Australia, 14.6% in Hong Kong and about 22% in South Korea. 

“This is shameful,” he said. 

Wireless to the rescue
The Government regards wireless broadband as a supplementary technology that could help drive broadband take-up (see In.Tech, May 6, 2004), but certain realities must be laid out before anyone gets the idea that it will save the day. 

For starters, although the chief advantage being touted is that subscribers can get hooked up almost immediately after subscribing to the service, the truth is far from that.  

This claim only holds true if you’ve got wireless coverage in the first place. In any wireless system, the service is only as good as its coverage; and coverage expansion can be a thorny issue because there are often problems associated with site and land acquisition for transmission towers in urban areas. 

Jaring plans to launch its service in “significant parts” of the Klang Valley, including Shah Alam, Klang and Damansara in Petaling Jaya, by this month, after which services will be extended nationwide. 

This is easier said that done. Just take a close look at Time dotCom’s experiences with Webbit. 

According to a Time dotCom spokesman, while its initial plan to roll out Webbit to the rest of Klang Valley and other major cities and towns in Malaysia remains, there has been some “schedule change in view of the latest technological developments in the industry.” 

Hence, parts of the Klang Valley still do not have Webbit service; contrary to what the company promised when it first launched Webbit last May. 

Thus, coverage expansion must surely be Jaring’s chief concern as it seeks to build up its network as quickly as possible in the coming months. Failing to roll out network coverage quickly will surely dampen potential subscribers’ enthusiasm. 

Then there is the issue of the service quality. Any RF (radio frequency) system will always be susceptible to variations in environmental conditions, such as foliage scatter, blockage from terrain and buildings, and transmission loss due to diffraction and reflection. 

What this means in practice is that, if the network is not designed and implemented properly, these factors could affect transmission speeds as well as service reliability. 

And today’s increasingly demanding subscribers will only give service providers one chance to deliver a high quality, always available and easy-to-use service. Should Jaring’s wireless services not measure up to consumers’ expectation, take-up rate will be affected. 

Content is king
The above are merely the technical challenges. What about the non-technical ones? 

One issue foremost on my mind is content (or the lack thereof) for the broadband user. 

Broadband may initially excite former dialup users because they can experience the increase in raw download and upload speeds. But just as how the rush after a rollercoaster ride often fades, speed alone will not sustain consumer interest. 

Content and applications must be compelling enough to keep users coming back for more, and they should have a broad reach inspiring everybody – not just the tech-savvy – to hook on to the Net. 

You can’t just build it, and hope they will come, and more importantly, stay on. 

Still, Jaring CEO Mohamed Awang Lah is confident that his company’s broadband service would be well accepted by consumers. 

“Based on global trends, we estimate that 30% of Malaysian subscribers are ready to convert from dialup to high-speed, broadband access,” he told reporters at Jaring’s wireless broadband launch. 

Jaring does have one thing going for it – the fact that it’s bundling free VoIP (Voice-over-Internet Protocol) telephony with its service. 

This, to me, would be a compelling reason why anyone would want to subscribe to a broadband connection, especially after experiencing phenomenal VoIP services such as Skype. 

IMHO, the need to communicate at reduced costs may just be that elusive “killer app” for the broadband world. 

It remains to be seen if Jaring can do what it claims. I, for one, will be rooting for its success, because if Jaring can hit the right chords, it may just unleash a chain reaction that will spur broadband take-up and make all parties – consumers, service providers and policymakers – happy.
TechCentral: Story: "Revisiting R&D focus in 9th Malaysia Plan
By ZAM KARIM

KUALA LUMPUR: The Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry will submit its proposal for the Ninth Malaysia Plan to the Government by the end of February. 

The gist of the proposal would be on 'revisiting' the nation's R&D focus, said its minister Datuk Seri Dr Jamaluddin Mohd Jarjis. 

The ministry is currently in the final stages of drafting its proposal, and is analysing feedback gathered from various industries, including the focus industries: The information technology and biotechnology sectors. 

Jamaluddin said he and his ministry's officials had also visited countries such as Norway, Ireland and India to learn from these countries’ experiences, “so that what we offer investors will be comparable with (what these countries offer).” 

This would lead to the creation of more jobs for Malaysians, and bring more income to the country, he told In.Tech this morning after officially opening HP Malaysia's new headquarters, HP Towers (formerly Wisma Semantan), here. 

Jamaluddin also reiterated the Government's intention to work closely with companies such as Hewlett-Packard to help bridge the digital divide. 

The Government is 're-tuning' its focus from the “One Home, One PC” concept to the “One Home, One PC and One Internet Access” idea. 

“What people failed to see is that the PC and Internet access are two different things,” he said. 

It is important to give people access to the Internet so that they will able to benefit from the World Wide Web's vast resources, he added. 

The Government wants to reduce the cost of an entry-level computing system to half the current RM1,000 price tag. 

'RM500 would be in line with the country's current poverty level,' Jamaluddin said. 

One solution would be to get communities to set up and manage wireless Internet-enabled servers at their community centres; households can then connect wirelessly to the server with low-cost thin clients, or stripped-down PCs that would be 'fed' applications and software from the server. 

The Government wants companies such as HP to work with its agencies such as Mimos Bhd and Multimedia Development Corporation (MDC), Jamaluddin said. 

Sources closed to HP said that the company began talks with MDC immediately after the launch ceremony in which Jamaluddin officiated this morning. 

 

Corporate conscience 

HP Malaysia's Hq was officially opened without the usual fanfare. 

To do its bit for the victims of the Asian Tsunami disaster, the company did not spend lavishly on the HP Towers launch and instead donated the event's initial budget -- plus more from an internal donation drive -- to the Malaysian Red Crescent Society and Mercy Malaysia, via The Star Earthquake/ Tsunami Relief Fund. 

The internal donation drive garnered RM350,000, with HP Malaysia matching contributions ringgit-for-ringgit, topping it off with an additional RM150,000. 

“How can we celebrate with the knowledge that so many out there are in dire need,” said T.F. Chong, HP Malaysia's managing director. 

“It touched me deeply when HP Malaysia employees themselves suggested that we forego our planned event to aid the tsunami survivors,” he added. 

At the regional and global levels, Hewlett-Packard Co has already committed up to US$3mil (RM11.4mil) through direct corporate contributions as well as employee-matching funds. 

However, HP's involvement does not end there. Chong said that the company was also working with the Government to come up with alternative ways to disseminate tsunami-related warnings to the public, but decline to give more information at the moment."