Wireless technology down under...

Eurorunner

Could this be useful here??

Article from The Age

A new form of wireless technology is promising to deliver high-speed internet access to mobile users across the Sydney metropolitan area and serve as an alternative for other wired broadband services such as cable and ADSL. Personal Broadband Australia is preparing to launch the service, called iBurst, in December.

"It's what Australians have been waiting for to unshackle broadband," says Kanwar Saluja, Personal Broadband Australia's general manager. "It will change the way we work, where we work and how we access our email and other applications."

The iBurst network is similar to a mobile telephone network. A series of refrigerator-sized base stations transmit a signal to the user's wireless modem, a card that plugs into the notebook (below), but the beam between the modem and the station is more powerful than those used by mobile phone networks.

As a result, faster data rates are possible - faster than any competing wireless data technology, including 3G and WiFi. Saluja says that net access up to 1Mbps on the move is attainable and that trial users say it's faster than most ADSL services.


As a user moves between the coverage of two base stations, the service maintains the broadband internet connection seamlessly. The person can have net access via a notebook anywhere within coverage - while shopping, on the train or even at the beach.

It should also prove a godsend to those living in metropolitan areas that don't have access to wired broadband services such as cable and will also make moving an internet connection from one location to another very simple; no more waiting two weeks for new phone lines to have ADSL capabilities activated.

The technology has the potential to provide high-speed internet access to country areas that miss out on ADSL and cable.

Unfortunately, rural areas won't be covered by the service any time soon as the Australian Communications Authority hasn't allocated regional spectrum yet. "There's no reason why regional Australia can't enjoy the benefits of iBurst - provided the spectrum can be made available," Saluja says.

Pricing of the service may be its greatest stumbling block, with a connection likely to cost more than cable or ADSL. "Our highly differentiated service will be available at a small premium over existing [conventional] broadband services," Saluja says.

Two versions of the kit will be available at launch: a USB/ethernet kit for use on desktops and a PCMCIA card for notebooks that looks identical to today's 802.11b network cards. Kits for PDAs are also being developed.

Still in testing phase in Sydney, the iBurst service impressed Icon. The kit took a short time to install on a laptop and connect to the internet.

The experience is similar to broadband for web browsing. We tested it in Chatswood, Redfern and the CBD and the slowest download speed from websites was about 30Kbps, although speeds often reached 100Kbps. Download and upload speeds vary with the signal strength on the network. With 20 to 30 per cent signal strength, the connection still operates at broadband speeds.

Multiplayer gaming performance was also exceptional, with test results comparable to an ADSL connection.

Six base stations are operating in a 100-square-kilometre corridor from Chatswood to Sydney airport. By December, Personal Broadband Australia aims to expand coverage in the metropolitan area with a further 16 base stations. Other rollouts in capital cities are also planned.

However, it's not certain whether the iBurst network will be able to maintain high connection speeds when large numbers of users log on - there are now only 500 users testing iBurst.

spongebob

The manufacturers of the iBurst are Arraycomm who made a submission to Comreg on Nomadic Wireless in the first quarter of this year. Australia will be their first live deployment, it has been trialled for the past 4 months.

The Oz equivalent of the IoffL Boards is Whirlpool , keep an eye on comments about the technology in there.

Remember that a specific chunk of spectrum around 1800Mhz has been reserved in Ireland for a system such as this, assuming that it is tightly locked into one or two towers and is not 'Too Mobile' for Comreg.

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