PCCW Slows Down Wireless Broadband Rollout

Wed, Nov 24th 2004 4:48pm — Mike Masnick

Back in May, PCCW announced that they were going to launch wireless broadband in the UK, and there was some confusion, because the press called it WiMAX, when that wasn't the case at all (it was IP Wireless UMTS TDD). A few months later, there was more confusion when PCCW apparently claimed they'd be switching to WiMAX at some point, but the reasons didn't make any sense. Well, now, PCCW is apparently saying that they're going to slow down their wireless broadband rollout in the UK. Considering that both of the first two stories about PCCW got the facts wrong, at this point, it seems like it would make sense to be cautious about how accurate this story is as well. However, for all the talk about wireless broadband offerings, it's worth noting that one thing they all seem to have in common is that they're not showing up nearly as fast as the predictions you keep hearing.

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james murphy, 24 Nov 2004 @ 4:48pm

PPCW slows down wireless broadband
the basic reason that PCCW has slowed down its wireless broadband rollout in the uk is twofold: it has discovered that the environment for more masts for telecoms is unfriendly (ie they didnt spend �22bn on licences and therefore have no government backing) and more importantlym, Richard Li in Hong Kong has stopped the flow of money to the UK--ie the UK is not a priority in the PCCW world.
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ryan, 24 Nov 2004 @ 4:48pm

Wimax is not read and not mobile
WiMAX is neither ready in fixed form nor mobile. The plug fests just started. mobility is going to take years. The business model at 3.5 GHz is tough and solutions from IP Wireless, Arraycomm, Navini, and Flarion all currently deliver better economics than anything from WiMAX. Reality may be setting in.
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