WiMax, the wireless internet broadband technology introduced in Malta less than five years ago, is all but dead and buried, i-Tech can reveal. It seems the technology could not survive the competition with 3G technology available on such devices as mobile phones, smartphones, tablets and internet keys.
According to the MCA’s latest statistics there were just over 4,000 WiMax subscribers at the end of September 2011
Last year Vodafone Malta, the only company actively selling WiMax access locally, has stopped providing the service to new customers while still running the service and supporting the few thousands of existing customers.
According to the Malta Communications Authority’s latest statistics, there were just over 4,000 WiMax subscribers at the end of September 2011. Actually the number of subscribers to the service has been rising steadily since its launch in July 2007 but the rate of growth was very small compared to the rate of growth of fixed-line broadband internet such as ADSL and cable internet, or the use of 3G and its faster evolution known as HSDPA on mobile devices.
“We have no plans to switch WiMax off. We just decided we did not want new customers,” reassured Andrew de la Torre, the chief technology officer at Vodafone Malta, when contacted by this newspaper.
“The reason behind this is that in 2007, when we took decision to bring WiMax to the market, it was a good solution and a good idea. It was an opportunity to compete with home broadband. Unfortunately for WiMax, HSDPA and 3G proved to be technologies with some life in them and it was not very long before it was clear that the performance of our 3G network was actually better than what WiMax could do.
“The other difficulty is that 3G is an evolving technology. The WiMax that we launched in 2007 was actually just about to be superseded by a better version known as Mobile WiMax. Mobile companies focused their research and development on Mobile WiMax and so there was no evolution path for our version of WiMax. All the while 3G was running away with developments.”
While Vodafone was taking the strategic decision on WiMax, it launched the Mi-Fi, or mobile Wi-Fi, service in Malta. Mi-Fi is a small portable device with a SIM Card inserted in it that connects to 3G/HSDPA and then gives wireless broadband internet access to a number of devices such as smartphones, tablets, game consoles and laptops connected to it. The SIM card connects to Vodafone’s high-speed HSDPA network at speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps, which are comparable to basic home fixed-line broadband. While a new WiMax service took a few days to be installed, Mi-Fi is ready to go as soon as it is purchased.
In a recent interview with i-Tech, Mr de la Torre had explained how only 37 per cent of Vodafone’s 3G network is currently in use and its infrastructure already supports higher speeds up to 28.8 Mbps. The 3G technology allows for even higher speeds.
Today WiMax has the potential to reach speeds of 1 gigabits/s (1,000 megabits/second) and is considered as part of the next-generation 4G technologies. However, contrary to the experience in other countries, in Malta it has not taken root, a result of the upsurge in the use of 3G and the fact that in such a small country you are never far away from a fixed-line broadband internet point at home or the office.
Vodafone Malta is not the only company to hold a licence to provide WiMax services. Go also has a license but it did never actively promote the service commercially like its successful ADSL fixed broadband internet service. Its WiMax service was launched in June 2009.
“When Go acquired its licence there was an expectation in the industry that WiMax would become one of the main technologies for mobile networks. This has not materialised. Nevertheless Go went ahead and built its WiMax network to honour its licence obligations,” explained a company spokesman, who declined to give the number of customers as it is “commercially sensitive”. Indeed the number of Go’s WiMax customers does not feature in any of the MCA’s statistics.
WiMax was originally scheduled for launched in 2005, before the first 3G services were eventually launched in 2006. The three available WiMax licenses were awarded to Vodafone Malta, Go Mobile and Cellcom, the latter being a consortium of small internet service providers. Melita’s bid for a license failed.
However, as i-Tech had reported at the time, both Cellcom and Go Mobile requested more time to get the latest WiMax technology standards for their networks. In early 2006 they managed to obtain an extension of the deadline from MCA but their second attempt in 2007 was unsuccessful. In the meantime the third licensee, Vodafone Malta, launched its WiMax network in mid-2007.
This breach of the license led the MCA to impose a daily “administrative” fine of €127.63 (Lm 54.79) on Go Mobile and Cellcom until they complied with the conditions of the revised timetable of network roll-out. The sanctions were imposed in August 2007. Cellcom eventually forfeited its license and never rolled out its network, while Go Mobile, now rebranded as Go, launched commercially in June 2009. However the launch was very soft and subsequently WiMax did not feature prominently in its marketing campaigns. It was not included in the bundled offers together with TV, mobile telephony, fixed-line telephony and ADSL fixed-line broadband internet.