With lukewarm adoption of data transmission, local WiMAX operators are attempting to break into the massive, albeit saturated, voice market to better utilize bandwidth and to generate revenue before the introduction of ultra-fast 4G broadband.
This could be a gambit for WiMAX service providers in developed telecoms markets like Taiwan, which contrasts with thriving WiMAX business in emerging markets like Russia, where network deployment remains sparse.
Last week, local WiMAX service provider Global Mobile Corp (全球一動) demonstrated stable voice quality over a WiMAX-enabled phone indoors, highlighting its ambition to compete with mobile service providers by providing voice service over the Internet in the second half of the year.
VOIP
Tatung InfoComm Co Ltd (大同電信), another WiMAX operator, also intends to roll out its so-called Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) service in the third or fourth quarter.
“We must meet out customers’ needs and making calls is the very basic service they need,” Stephen Tsai (蔡木源), chief operating officer at Global Mobile, said on Wednesday. “To a certain extent, voice services are becoming one of the killer applications on 4G technology.”
Tsai said voice services would be a major source of revenue for 4G technology providers, adding it would be wrong to limit the range of the service to simply mobile Internet by selling data cards to notebook computer users.
Local 3G mobile operators generated between NT$100 billion (US$3.15 billion) and NT$200 billion from voice services, which still accounted for the largest share of their revenue, although 3G can also offer high-speed data transmission and Internet connection.
Data services made up between 12 percent and 13 percent of overall revenue at the nation’s top three telecoms companies last year.
“Our advantage is that we can offer reasonable voice fees. The voice rates are way too high now,” Tsai said.
Global Mobile is considering offering a flat rate for voice and data transmission, which would set a precedent as wireless service providers are reluctant to cut prices at the expense of profit, Tsai said.
Tsai, however, said that expensive handsets and limited selection would be major obstacles for the company in pushing VoIP services, a problem that 3G operators also faced in the early stages.
A WiMAX phone retails at more than NT$20,000 per unit, he said.
PARTNERS
To drive costs down, Global Mobile is considering joining US WiMAX partner Clearwire in purchasing handsets, Tsai said.
Global Mobile said two handsets — one from HTC Corp (宏達電) and the other outfitted with MediaTek Inc’s (聯發科) WiMAX chip — had passed tests and would be ready for the launch of its voice service.
“It will be hard to increase adoption of the WiMAX service without offering roaming services,” Tatung InfoComm president Don Lin (林東亮) said last week. “Billing is the core issue.”
Initiated by Global Mobile, the Mobile Broadband consortium brings in the nation’s main WiMAX companies, including Vmax Telecom Co (威邁思), and has pushed for roaming services across the nation. An agreement has yet to be signed.
PHASING IN
Four of the nation’s six WiMAX license holders began introducing their services in the beginning of the fourth quarter last year. At present, service is limited to the northern and southern parts of the country.
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