Is your local public library poised to become the next big distributor of movie content? Well, the short answer is no. But the longer term answer is maybe. To give a bit of background here, I saw an interesting little piece in the Wall Street Journal about some of the country's major libraries in Denver, Seattle and New York partnering with a company called OverDrive (who is a digital content provider) to deliver movie downloads to library card holders. It seems patrons would be able to view these files for two to three weeks. This apparently seems to please content owners who feel they can reach a new audience. Besides the libraries will pay for the licensing fees. Now there are limitations, only major market libraries are onboard for now. However OverDrive supplies over 2,000 libraries with download products already and they want them all. Also too the content won't be first run stuff but likely older films and classics. Still, I thought this notion was very instructive of how the broadband revolution that WiMAX and other broadband products herald are likely to impact us all. This sea change will alter all of our lives. So, WiMAX and broadband wireless ISPs, what innovative new ideas are you coming up with to shape people's lives? Be interesting to hear from some of you. Tim Sanders, tim@thefinalmile.net www.thefinalmile.net www.wimaxglobalnews.com

The big WiMAX European meeting WiMAX Summit 2006 takes off for four days this week (Feb. 21-24) of non-stop conferences, training classes, speaches and for a nice change of pace, maybe a bit more concrete product announcements than hype. Don't get me wrong, the Forum has done wonders to promote broadband wireless, I just think the public has latched onto theoretical numbers a little too much. In any event, look for lots of press releases, product announcements, alliances and partnerships, overwrought speculation and just general good fun by all. I wish I could be there. So stay tuned for lots of news this week, real or imagined (tongue in cheek). I will try to pass some of it on as I hear it. Oh one thing, some of the Working Groups are really starting to address practical issues to service providers and that impresses me. But more on that later as I can talk about it. But look for real practical viewpoints to find their voice within the Forum in the coming months. I am most encouraged. Tim Sanders, tim@thefinalmile.net www.thefinalmile.net www.wimaxglobalnews.com

I saw this news item and thought it worth commenting upon. Apparently Vietnam feels it needs broadband. And who can argue that? The details are that three companies are poised to receive licenses (the spectrum is not named). Clearly, for a developing country that lacks infrastructure this move makes all the sense in the world. The story is almost more notable due to what it doesn't say, which includes when licenses would be issued, the spectrum range and more. The three companies mentioned are: Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Corp., FTP Telecom and Vietnam Digital Television Corporation. I thought it unfortunate that the writer got caught by the hype bug in that the data rates and ranges cited are theoreticals, rather than practical limitations more likely to prevail in real world scenarios. Still, this is a good thing. It indicates that the world clearly understand the value proposition of broadband wireless. Tim Sanders tim@thefinalmile.net www.thefinalmile.net www.wimaxglobalnews.com

I saw this article in Business Wire India and thought it was absolutely huge. Apparently Intel and Skype are collaborating to optimize Skype to take advantage of Intel's new dual-core chips. A first product will be free ten-way internet conferencing on Skype at least for customers using PCs with dual-core processors such as some Centrinos. Future products will include video conferencing as well. This really grabbed me as Tom and I use Skype wherever possible for our WiMax Global News podcast. I am consistently pleased with the quality of the service even when calling Internationally. Please note Skype is not paying me a dime for this. I just like it. In any event, I thought this collaboration was a big deal for the future of personal telecommunications. The upshot is that all of this groundswell of new capabilites should offer super opportunities for broadband wireless operators. I realize it is hard to stay on top of the tech curve. But Voice is still the killer app. Voice delivered in unique ways is going to be big. So WiSPs look into using Wi-Fi phones in some way with your customers. Get involved in the promotion of the technology. It helps you seem like a solution provider and might bring you cash too. Tim Sanders, tim@thefinalmile.net www.thefinalmile.net www.wimaxglobalnews.com

I noted an article in Digital Media Europe about SEQUANS receiving addtional certification. This will support Fixed WiMax and I am all for that. Nothing against Mobile WiMax but we need product in the field as soon as possible. Kudos to them. I hope to see LOTS more certifications soon. I do know the Forum is very mindful of getting information to service providers on how to leverage the technology. But more on that later. Tim Sanders, tim@thefinalmile.net www.thefinalmile.net www.wimaxglobalnews.com

Why do I say to take heart WiMax guys? Today I have some musings on the process of switching to VoIP or why my current broadband service provider is driving me crazy. My question is why do service providers make it so hard to do business with them? Don't they understand how to encourage customers to spend more? Today I am so desperately wishing for some WiMax service at my office. Or even DSL which is also not available. My cable provider (who will remain nameless) has been offering a 3 Meg down and 256K upload pipe for some time. Just recently they launched a VoIP service all their own. I have a friend who is using it and it works fine she says. Well, they sent out a new price bundling package informing me that they were raising my price but that they had a bundle package with a bit more TV service including voice for about $5 more. What is more they apparently have a new 5 Meg down and 512K up that really caught my eye. Especially if I were to switch to VoIP that would help and help a lot. The incremental price as listed on the right was only about $7 different. What a deal I thought. Now of course, the downside is I have a business phone line and nobody will LNP those numbers. I would have to inform all of you of a number change. No fun at all with that. Still, the savings would be substantial. So could I also upgrade to the 5 Meg service. Yes, but only for (depending on who I talked to) $25 to $40 extra per month. What I said? Your flyer says it is $7 difference. Well there is no package with the 5 Meg in it so that is that. Somewhere in here one of the people then told me that NO the VoIP wasn't available in my area after all. I think they just wanted me off the phone. I did ask if I could switch to a business account so I could pay for whatever I did get out of my company account. Yes I was told but only for a higher price. Cool I said, what extra service am I getting? Why none of course (like I was a fool to ask), you are a business so you would get charged more. Now having sold B2B broadband I can tell you that no customer, business or otherwise wants to hear that. They didn't even make an attempt to package some class of business service (with extra emails or hosting or spam filtering or something that costs virtually nothing) to justify a much higher price. They were just going to abuse me because they could I suppose. Well, currently I am thinking of just cancelling all of the TV, buying JUST the 5 Meg pipe and switching to Direct TV. Then I could add Vonage or some other VoIP provider for cheap, take my sweet time getting my new number to everybody and then cancel my landline phones. So I would go from planning to buy more to spending less. Good job service provider. Take heart WiMax service providers for your competiton is clumsy, not bright, provides poor service and they ARE giving you openings. TAKE THEM. Tim Sanders, tim@thefinalmile.net www.thefinalmile.net www.wimaxglobalnews.com

Vonage Attempts an IPO

An Article in The New York Times details Vonage’s attempt to launch an IPO. What does this mean for WiMax?

Vonage is attempting a first. The first Initial Public Offering (IPO) by a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) company that I know of and that the Times staff know of too apparently. It is groundbreaking. Interestingly it could also turn out to be backbreaking. Why? Vonage has grown and move at unprecedented speed for a Telecommunications launch. Founded just in 2000 to be prepared to launch an IPO within six years by old switch telecom standards would be miraculous. Still, it may almost be a victim of the speed of the technology. Vonage faces significant hurdles. The sheer speed of the technology adoption has not only been noticed but co-opted by others. Cable companies like Charter, Cablevision, and Time Warner have VoIP offerings. America Online does. As does EarthLink and AT&T. In short just about everybody. The technology may almost be a commodity now. This has resulted in increasing losses for Vonage per this article of almost $190 million all on sales of $174 million. Partly this is because Vonage is selling cheap and spending a lot to get customers to the tune of $215 per customer. Because of this the response to this IPO has been a bit lukewarm, which seems unfair. Well, business as life often isn’t “fair”. Vonage may be the victim of too broad a consumer strategy with too few “niche” approaches. So what does all of this mean for WiMax? Well, most wireless ISPs I know are fielding such a service—more for self-defense than anything else maybe. Many wireless ISPs report to me that voice is a pain to deliver. Still, if they don’t pick up those customers someone else will use their bandwidth to do so. So the upshot for WiMax is that VoIP is essential but still hard to do. So the coming enhancements in quality of service (QOS) capability coupled with enhanced support for VoIP delivery will be big. The trade off between larger data packets and smaller voice packets which have differing sensitivity to packet loss is a tough one on a blended network. WiMax could be a technology that allows even smaller players to be successful with this service. Also, some creative “niche” plays going after higher margin VoIP business are cropping up (I promised not to tell). And some of these players are garnering customers much cheaper than $100 each. Tim Sanders, tim@thefinalmile.net www.TheFinalMile.net www.WiMaxGlobalNews.com

Hello everyone. Thank you for visiting my new site. I appreciate your interest and your reading my blogs. There are a number of new aspects to the site already up as well as others I hope to roll out in the coming months. The first and most important is a regular blog feature for those interested in WiMAX and things Broadband Wireless. The RSS feed for those of you who follow that is: Blog I changed the look and feel of the site using a content management system. I hope you like it better. I am also extremely proud of the podcast I am doing with my associate Tom Parish called WiMax Global News. The RSS feed is www.wimaxglobalnews.com/rss. so please give the show a try. We have an interview series that I especially enjoy with some terrific guests so far ranging from Kelley Dunne to Tim Downs with Shorecliff to Eliot Weinman with WiMax World to Martin Cooper with ArrayComm and others. Our coverage is international as well as US. I have also added support on the front page for clients who only need basic questions answered to call and simply pay by the minute. I added feeds (RSS where available) to the primary news services I work with on the front page. In my opinion these outlets cover the full gamut of broadband wireless. I will hopefully have some informational products available soon. Also, please look here in my blog for upcoming speaking engagements and a new Webinar series I am doing with Juptermedia on the ISP side. My first one was very fun and is about pricing. This is linked on my first page. It is totally free here is the link. I promise to share my frank opinions on things wireless, give readers a heads up on trends I am hearing about (even if I am not at liberty to discuss details), and in general be useful to all. Once again thanks for reading and have a great week. Tim Sanders tim@thefinalmile.net www.TheFinalMile.net www.WiMaxGlobalNews.com