Wireless Technology

YTL Communications dari Malaysia dengan brand "YES" dengan nilai investasi WiMAX 16e sebesar US$850 juta minggu lalu diresmikan pengoperasiannya. Layanan ini termasuk layanan jaringan VoIP nasional yg ter-interkoneksikan, 1.500 BTS yang menjangkau 65% penduduk, bebrapa perangkat, termasuk USB Dongle, modem rumah, WiFi HotSpot, dan ponsel Samsung. Tahun 2011 akan membangun lagi 1000 BTS untuk menjangkau 80% penduduk.

Tarif prabayar-nya adalah US0,03 untuk tiap menit pembicaraan, per berita SMS, dan Data per 3MB.

Strategi pemasarannya sangat menguntungkan pelanggan, sebab dengan tersedianya pipa Data WiMAX berkecepatan tinggi, maka pelanggan tidak di "cekik" salurannya seperti yg terjadi dengan 3G Indonesia, bila over-quota.

Kecepatan USB Dongle-nya dispesifikasikan sebesar 30 Mbps, jauh diatas 3G Indonesia. Inilah yang membedakan antara WiMAX dengan 3G, sebab teknologi mobile-nya merupakan loncatan teknologi baru, disebut pra-4G, karena kecepatan transmisinya belum mencapai 100 Mbps, sebab itu WiMAX 16e disebut sebagai WiMAX 1.0 (generasi ke-1).

Pada generasi ke dua (WiMAX 2.0) yang tidak lain adalah WiMAX 16m, maka kecepatan transmisinya mencapai 340 Mbps, yang backward compatibel dengan 16e.

Keuntungan dari WiMAX 16e adalah bahwa perangkatnya sudah tersedia dengan harga sebanding dengan 3G. Sedangkan LTE barangnya masih langka dan harganya sangat-sangat mahal, pertengahan tahu ini ada yg meng-quote modemnya seharga US 20.000,- (Rp 200 juta).

Makanya adalah langkah cerdas bagi Operator 3G Indonesia kalau juga menggelar jaringan WiMAX 16e untuk off-loading traffic Data 3G yang saat ini sangat tercekik, dengan akibat pelanggan tidak bisa memperoleh "real 3G experience", dengan dampak minimnya innovasi dan value added services yang dapat mengembangkan Broadband Economy Indonesia.

Keuntungan lainnya, kecepatan transmisi tinggi ini dicapai tanpa harus melakukan investasi CAPEX yang besar2 seperti kalau pakai HSPA+.

Berita lengkapnya ada dibawah ini.

John C. Tanner | November 22, 2010

YTL Communications has become the fourth and final operator to join Malaysia’s Wimax party, unwrapping its “Yes” branded network on Friday.

YTL says it plans to spend $850 million on building out the network, which is more than two years behind the August 2008 launch deadline set by regulator MCMC.

Yes includes a fully-interconnected VoIP network, plus 1,500 base stations covering 65% of the population, and several devices including a dongle, a home modem, a Wi-Fi hot spot device and a Wimax handset from Samsung.

“We wanted to build a converged voice and data network, not just Wimax with a voice component, so for us, getting the technology right and the business model right was the most important thing,” said YTL Communications executive director Yeoh Seck Hong when asked about the delay.

The VoIP portion – part of an integrated web portal that also supports SMS, email and IM – assigns users a phone number with a 018 prefix. YTL said it had secured interconnect agreements with all local operators, to include international connectivity, to allow users to call anyone on or off the network.

While users can only send and receive calls via internet-enabled devices like PCs, laptops or tablets – or via the Samsung Wimax phone – they can also use the voice service anywhere in the world, as long as they can get a net connection.

Rival Wimax operator PacketOne also offers voice services to its customers, but only via its home modems.

Apart from the voice offering, Yes’ chief marketing points include no need for SIM cards (which allows customers to use multiple devices on the same account), an integrated billing platform that bundles all services into a single bill, and its cheap prepaid plan: 9 sen (almost 3 US cents) per voice minute, per SMS message and per every 3MB, as well as a 30% rebate for customers that download over 4GB a month.

“We don’t throttle users, we don’t set data caps, and we don’t lock you into 24-month contracts,” said YTL Communications CEO Wing K. Lee.

The operator is also claiming data speeds “3-5x faster” than 3G services in Malaysia, although executives declined to specify an actual speed.

The Wimax dongle specifies a peak speed of 30 Mbps. Actual speeds will depend on traffic congestion, but YTL Communications executive chairman Francis Yeoh said that “whatever the condition of usage on the network, we will be three to five times faster than 3G networks running under the same conditions.”

Yeoh also declined to reveal subscriber targets, saying only that pre-registration numbers were “beyond expectations”.

Lee said YTL Communications – which is investing around $800 million on its network – would deploy another 1,000 base stations to extend network coverage to 80% of the population by the end of 2011. YTL also plans to launch an IPTV service over Wimax using a hybrid video solution from Sezmi by the end of next year.

YTL Communications executives also declined to comment on whether they plan to stick with Wimax or migrate to rival technology TD-LTE in the near future.

Qualcomm struck an agreement with rival Wimax player AsiaSpace last month to explore TD-LTE.

All of the country’s Wimax and cellular operators have reportedly been assigned 20-MHz blocks of 2.6 GHz spectrum for LTE deployments starting in 2013.

Malaysia’s broadband penetration – including Wimax – currently stands at 54.5%, according to Malaysia’s Information, Communications, and Culture Ministry.