Chris Marsden
Annenberg School
19 November 2003
Draft for comments to: ctmarsden@yahoo.co.uk
+44 777 926 0376
1
Academic authors have typically concentrated on:
Standards – Lehr & McKnight, Croxford & Marsden
(2001)
Spectrum – Cave (2001)
Developing technology in peer networks and mesh networks – Shirkey, Benkler, Lessig (2001-2) Werbach,
Sawhney, Sandvig (2003)
This comparative law and economics study is of market developments
2
Wireless public access markets are dominated by licensed oligopolists
Typically voice-dominated – even Euro SMS and DoCoMo Japan have only 10-25% data revenues
WAP was crap, picture messaging stillborn
Hutchinson ‘3’ has 250,000 UK and 500,000
Italian subscribers – Vodafone launching mid-
2004
Verizon launched San Diego and DC October
Video phone and video download not killer applications - yet
3
Short range high bandwidth 11Mb\s-54 Mb\s
Mass market for base stations – very cheap
Backhaul on ADSL not dedicated leased lines
dependent on country, e.g. 256Kb/s in Spain, 8Mb/s in Japan, S. Korea, urban Sweden
Security and roaming less advanced
Note holes in WEP but look at USC security!
Standards: single, global, unified, American
WiFi and WiFi5 with 802.11g interim
European standards dormant both HIPERLAN and
HIPERLAN2
Spectrum – messy but workable, and FREE
4
No spectrum cost
Minimal backhaul cost – varies with business case
Minimal base station cost – $400-700
Seamless networking unnecessary
Data not voice – IP and hotspot use
Network security, roaming and interface
IP-based – intelligent device
Device simply add-on to laptop/PDA – corporate user installed base
5
Extreme short range – in-building effectively
Sharing only 5Mb/s bandwidth in WiFi devices – 20 users maximum
5Mb/s dependent on premises having multimegabit backhaul – leased line in US,
EU
Security still poor for most users
Start-ups have no subscribers or billing
No real alternative to 3G or wire broadband – supplement model
6
Parameters:
1.
Partnership model
With host locations and 3G networks
2.
Billing and subscriber management
SIM-GSM interoperability
3.
Software integration
User interface
4.
Hardware integration
Security and QoS – VoIP or video capable?
Backhaul costing and integration
7
Earthlink philosophical foundation
Santa Monica: 1601 Cloverfield Boulevard
Start-up with strong VC support & Mitsui, Sprint,
Infonet
T-Mobile has 3314 locations in US – 50 in UK!
Claims 5100 hotspots (1900 ‘live’):
1700 US, 2500 UK, 500 other Europe
but UK agreement is not roaming, just location-finding
468 California, 75 New York State
53 NYC, 25 cafes, 19 hotels
118 UK, 12 Ontario
47 hotspot partners including Telecom Italia
Earthlink and Fiberlink ISP partners
3 months free for Centrino laptop purchasers
8
Earthlink model and financing secured
Very California-centric culture
Using network of WiFi enthusiasts for value proposition
Is Silicon Valley duplicable in Santa Monica?
Caffeine addiction and Starbucks focus
Invented here!
Intel and T-Mobile support
Aggregator has roaming but no genuine national let alone international network
9
Aggregation creates critical mass
First mover advantage
Very solid financial backing
Simplicity focus on end user
Software and systems integrator
Branding of network and hotspots
Boingo in a Box
Additional activities solely to pump-prime market
Verizon and T-Mobile using WiFi to stop DSL churn – so why pay $22 a month for Boingo?
10
Inspired Broadcast Networks uses gambling
‘fruit’ machine installed base from Leisure Link
90,000 in 30,000 locations, 12,000 payphones
3000 hotspots end-2003; 21,000 further orders by end-2006
Pubs – are European cafes so different?
Critical mass of users creates scale economies
Wholesale unbranded network
Backhaul solution belongs to parent
Expansion into Europe (probably France)
Based on local network and presence
11
Backhaul costs critical
Symbiotic relationship with telco – each is the other’s largest customer
Openzone is biggest retail customer
MyCloud orders 20,000 DSL lines for franchisees
Franchisees see WiFi as ‘add-on’ to basic xDSL need – updating pub quiz games
No branding – black box product
High QoS
Including VoIP to cannibalize 3G revenues
Arguably only BTOpenzone would allow this
12
World’s most advanced broadband users
Broadband must-have with universal appeal
Triple play with 3G mobile and xDSL
Note regulatory constraints in retail
Backhaul on incumbent parent network
VDSL at 8Mb/s available to consumer
National coverage declared at outset
First mover demolishes competition
13
Leveraging dominance:
Triple play replicable for e.g. Orange, KPN, T-Mobile,
DoCoMo in French, German, Dutch and Japanese markets
First mover already used by Swisscom Mobile and
Austria Telekom
Focus on low consumer price point requires massive subscription
Difficulty of using terminal equipment holding back subscription
14
Boingo – aggregator = 5100 locations
The Cloud – wholesale network = 20,000 projected
Korea Telecom – integrator = 25,000
Backhaul – franchisee pays B + C, KT uses parent network
Role of fixed networks – BT as sponsor through BT wifi initiatives
15
Backhaul is highest cost
Base stations ideally require dedicated 11
Mb/s
That in UK costs $50,000 per annum
In South Korea $50 per month
Typically 512Kb/s ADSL – dedicated business lines at $50-100 per month
Franchisee pays…
16
Boingo and Telecom Italia
The Cloud and BT, NWP Spectrum
Korea Telecom and regulators – SKMobile
Verizon-Vodafone and Orange – fence sitters
What’s the price point for mobile data?
17
Weroam – GSM-SIM authentication from
Togewanet ‘clearing house’
TeliaSonera-Swisscom deal – includes
Megabeam UK, WLAN AG, Service
Factory, Homerun.
Note – Nespot charges $9 a month above
$27 DSL charge – 250,000subs
18
Boingo interface – 24 hour promise
Systems integrator as primary business focus
The Cloud – using:
Service Factory (TeliaSonera interest)
Sun Microsystems – virtual WISP
Nespot – private network only
19
Centrino co-operation with all 3
‘Boingo in a box’
The Cloud – ‘My Cloud’
20
National networks in UK and Korea
Centrino chipsets industry standard with critical corporate user mass
802.11g usable in East Asia and Canada
Requires 50Mb/s xDSL for optimal use
WiFi moving into PDAs
3G roll-out – will they use hotspots?
Having built the ballpark, will they come?
21