The sad demise of Australian car manufacturing

Australia is about to lose its car manufacturing - regardless of what side of the political spectrum you support this is a sad thing - but it simply was not standing on its own two feet and was over reliant on taxpayer support to survive.

While all that sad news was breaking I read a very interesting article which showed how Volkswagen make incredibly high margins from their prestige brands - for every Porsche they make around $23,000 profit (18%) with Bentley similar and Audi (including Lamborghini) about $5000 profit or an average of about 10% - compared with only $800 or 2.7% for their mainstream like Golfs and Passats

This made me wonder if Australian car plants might have stood a better chance of survival if they had lifted out of "mainstream vanilla" car production where, lets face it, the Australian domestic market is not big enough and production not large enough to really compete with the mega plants in Korea, Japan and Europe. 

There was a glimpse of what could be done when Holden designed and made the Monaro in Australia- (about 10 years ago I think) - a true muscle car but generated a lot of sales overseas - maybe if Holden had seen the niche they could have went on to be a specialist Aston Martin /Porsche/Ferrari/Lotus type manufacturer. Mass market car manufacturing was always doomed in Australia unless supported by government - but specialist, high specification, top range, low volume with very high margins vehicle manufacturing may very well have succeeded. Wouldn't it have been great to have an iconic world beating Australian car marque?

NOTE: The article was in Business Week and can be seen here: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-03-13/volkswagen-pockets-23-000-when-you-buy-that-new-porsche

Possibly My Shortest Blog Ever.

Doing things on the cheap is NOT innovative thinking...

The Wireless and mobile site build industry and its race to the bottom....

I am saddened that, every day, people are dying in my industry - even sadder when the majority of these deaths could have been prevented.  This week three riggers lost their lives in the US in a preventable accident.

What we are seeing with financial and time pressures on jobs is a (now literally deadly) race to the bottom - cheapest equipment, cheapest labour rates, fastest schedule for roll-out (seldom achieved - right??).  And why is this?

I see several reasons but the main is a flow of price chains being driven downwards in a farcical arrangements where even major vendors are holding reverse auctions to get the cheapest prices for components (even for towers)  - and the same with labour rates with continual downward pressure.  THIS IS NOT THE WAY TO BUILD A QUALITY NETWORK - EVER!!!!!

(A balanced Time/Cost/Quality triangle)

What is wrong with this, as we are seeing now, is this race to the bottom has casualties - in a network terms its long term quality of service from build shortcuts, in human terms its peoples lives and safety - and the irony is the carriers/ operators are the ones who will suffer customer complaints and churn when their network quality problems come home to roost.  Worldwide there are countless examples of this. Their network coverage, data speeds and even deployment speeds and overall site costs would all be better with a change of approach.

The network operators (and their equipment vendors in turnkey roll-outs) need instead to change the focus from COST and onto that of VALUE - big difference -in fact its a huge difference but when innovation comes in, when contractors are making reasonable money and ways of delivering value are used then you see productivity going up, you see safety improving and also the quality of the network and hence its reliability statistics improve out of sight.  Operators need to look more closely at the value they are getting in network builds and upgrades - taking a whole of network life cost look not a "cheap and nasty " now look.

(When you cut costs and time - guess what goes out the window - network quality, build quality, including safety)

And when you run projects like that they are more cost effective than disasters where every cent is squeezed out of the supply chain.   This cost cutting and time focused approach means that there is a lot of dud project managers, dud logistics people and even duds in the guys at the industry front-line - but you pay peanuts you get monkeys - and other than throwing poo around (and isn't it usually their own...), monkeys have a limited use on a telco project!!!  In the end the quality of the delivered site or network will be compromised as short-cuts are taken and the cheap work fails.

When you look at sports teams you don't see many champion winning outfits that try and get the very cheapest of cheap players and then get them to work with the very cheapest equipment they can find for them.

I dont have the answers on how we need to implement this everywhere but it needs action pretty much worldwide to get out of the crazy ruts major projects always seem to go through.  I do see some glaring areas in Australia that could be improved straight away though.

As Benjamin Franklin famously stated:  “The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten”

Apologies if this is a bit of a rant - but I am saddened than every week I seem to read of a climber somewhere in the world not going home to their family at night because of the above.

Is it just me or is this really obvious...

So - the Australian government didn't make quite as much as expected from the "digital dividend" - the spectrum auction that was to sell off the 700 MHz spectrum freed up by the analogue/ digital TV switch-over.  Not only that the spectrum authority ACMA has been left holding some sizeable chunks of spectrum that didn't sell - spectrum that is ideal for LTE .

Meanwhile the NBN roll out continues to hit problems - this time asbestos fibres in the pits - which regardless of if its Telstra or NBN Co who is ultimately responsible, the pits are being disturbed as a direct result of the NBN roll-out.  Combine that with recent announcements about delays to the network and the number of connections made and its not happy reading.

We also know that many areas are not going to get fibre rolled out for ten years or so.

So - here are some ideas:

1. The spectrum that was not sold could be allocated to NBN Co for the greater good of the Australian people.
2. A LTE wireless broadband network could then be rolled out very quickly - which would allow more people to connect and start generating income for NBN Co.
3. At the same time fibre deployment should continue but the wireless layer would give greater understanding of demand areas so greater efficiency in deployment could be made
4. After the fibre has been deployed in an area the wireless service would become a premium service with limited mobility - so that connectivity could be achieved in cafes, on the beach - anywhere really.

This approach would allow the deployment of a meaningful level of connection that would still be better than available in many areas (only 500m from my house people can not get ADSL and NBN is not forecast for 5+ years) and overall the high level of service that is fibre to the home would be delivered in a timely manner where the demand was.

Seems simple and I am sure there would be a myriad of issues to resolve - but it also might be better than the way its going today...

Today in History - (and how to motivate your team.)

In 1915 a clergyman from Tasmania the Rev Frank Bethune enlisted in the Army - he could have chosen the rank of major and become a Padre but instead chose to be a commissioned officer (2nd Lieutenant) in an infantry unit.  By March 1918 he was a Lieutenant with the 3rd Machine Gun Company and at that time the German army was using new tactics (including the use of "storm troopers") and had re-captured much ground.  Bethune's section was tasked with the defence of an area of the Ypres Salient known as Buff Bank - while his whole section volunteered he chose 6 men to defend the position alongside himself.  Meanwhile the nearby Australian and British troops were moved back to prepare for counter attacks leaving the 7 men dangerously exposed to attack.
On 13th March 1918 Bethune wrote his orders to his section as follows:

Special Orders to No 1 Section 13/3/18
(1) This position will be held, and the Section will remain here until relieved.
(2) The enemy cannot be allowed to interfere with this programme.
(3) If the Section cannot remain here alive, it will remain here dead, but in any
case it will remain here.
(4) Should any man through shell-shock or other cause attempt to
surrender, he will remain here dead.
(5) Should all guns be blown out, the Section will use Mills grenades and
other novelties.
(6) Finally, the position, as stated will be held.
F.P. Bethune Lt
O/c No 1 Section.3

Despite continuous artillery barrages of high explosive, shrapnel and gas
shells and attack after attack by German storm troopers they held the position for 18 days.  Bethune was awarded the Military Cross and his orders were circulated widely as ‘an admirable model of all
that a set of standing trench orders should be’

Many years later at the 1999 rugby world cup final, Millenium Stadium in Cardiff and the Wallabies are about to take to the field to play France - the coach, Rod MacQueen, gathers his team together - doesn't talk tactics but reminds them of a visit they had made to an Australian WW1 war grave cemetery in France and the row upon row of crosses for fallen Australian Diggers - and then he told them the above story - with the finishing note "And guys, they held that position"  As soon as he finished the team took to the pitch without another word being uttered.

How do you reckon they went?  Do you think the hairs stood up on the backs of their necks as they stood and sung "Australia Fair"?

The use of inspirational stories in team motivation is very, very powerful and should not be underestimated.

(BTW they won 35-12 against a strong French team that were favourites after beating the tournament favourites  the All Blacks in the semis)

Camouflaged Sites or Screening

As more new sites are built and existing sites upgraded there is a very noticeable trend emerging - sites themselves are becoming more visually intrusive and the public do not like it.  Analysis of the NBN Co Wireless roll-out reveals tower rejections at Scottsdale in Tasmania, Yandon in Moorabool, Victoria, Napoleons and a few others all primarily because of the aesthetics - councils were faced with members of public not liking the visual impact of the presented designs from NBN Co.  Now the NBN Co wireless roll-out is an interesting case because most of us that have worked in the Australian mobile industry for a few years have traditionally experienced regional communities working very positively towards provision of services in their areas - but now the visual impact of towers and not EME concerns are driving resistance.  In rural areas it is perhaps just that vertical infrastructure has reached saturation point with protests against wind farms and so on - but its clearly a trend that visual impact matters.
 
In urban areas and back to mobile networks this concern may be more pronounced - many rooftop sites are having more antennas and equipment like RRU's added so the visual "clutter" of sites is increased.  Larger antennas that allow infrastructure/ frequency sharing will add to the problem and while still "low impact" under the Telecommunications Act determination - they may not be seen as low impact visually by landlords or the surrounding public. Traditional means of "hiding" the antennas by setting them back from the roof edge will be obsolete due to the revisions to exclusion zones and access requirements for building maintenance workers - and the need to maximise RF coverage be being on the building edges.  All this of course is activity going on now - before networks integrate (or are created) for the 700 MHz spectrum.
 
Here is some suggested solutions: 

1. Photo Montages -Back in the early days photo montages were used for the purpose of showing landowners what the developed site would look like - but they were expensive to have done.  Now with digital cameras and Photoshop they are fast, easy and inexpensive.  Prepare them and use them - with landlords, with neighbours and with councils - pictures tell a better story than drawings and can show the expected view from any particular point.  (Tip - make sure you do them accurate and to scale - you will be caught out if you dont!!)

2. Can the site be rescoped? - Can smaller antennas be used?  can that redundant equipment be removed? Think how you would feel if you had to look at it every day.

3. Screening- Sailcloth works but it is a short term solution and if it rips in the wind you end up with a maintenance issue - needs replacing every 5 years to maintain effectiveness - (will that really happen?)

4. Camouflage Solutions The only real solution when required - replication of parapet lines, re covering of plant rooms with Rf transparent screening.  Stealth can be colour and texture matched to ant surface including old sandstone on listed historic buildings.  Make sure that your supplier can supply Rf tests that show the performance of the screen as some materials do create losses, particularly for microwaves.

5. Smart Site Design This is the easiest, most effective and completely underused solution.  Make sure that your site designers "get" the visual impact side of things and you will get good results that are not visually offensive.  Some big roll-outs end up with inexperienced people on the design side and it can cause problems,

Update on the rising cost of power...

I am interested to see that the rising cost of power has become a political issue here in Australia as the government desperately try and separate the rising prices of electricity that are due to the cost of "post and wire" renewals and that which the carbon tax is going to cause (actually the carbon tax impact is minimal just now but may rise in the future as subsidies fade out).  Interesting to see just how much power has gone up recently and I would really like you to look at your networks power bill now and compare it to what you were paying 5 years ago - with more pain yet to come

In one of my recent blogs I went over some of this: http://telcotom.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/rising-cost-of-power-one-of-subjects.html - while I would like to claim it was my blog that started all this political uproar I think thats over inflating my readership just a bit!!

What is clear though is that one thing this political bun fight will not do is turn back the tide of rising electricity costs - so wireless and mobile operators here are still faced with rising power costs at a time they are trying to reduce costs.   Thats why it makes even more sense to deploy energy saving technology right now - the longer you wait the more money is getting burnt.

Our business partners in this sector, Orun Energy have just posted some fantastic results from case studies - not results from a lab but real sites, single and multi operator sites and the power cost savings are impressive - see : http://orunenergy.com/case_studies.html .  Bear in mind for suitable customers we can retrofit your network at no CAPEX cost to you and it becomes compelling.

As I concluded my previous blog if there was a way of installing a network wide solution that not only made the sites more efficient but reduced their power consumption drastically (over 80% certified on diesel sites) and that solution came at no cost in capex - then wouldn't you as a wireless or mobile network operator want to deploy it?

In actual fact the question really is:  "faced with rising power costs can you really afford not to deploy it?"

Coming attractions...

There are yet more signs of on-line retailers affecting bricks and mortar retailers here in Australia  - in reality this is to be expected as a sign of the times - but it is interesting to note that few, if any shopping centre owners or major retailers are doing much to engage with the customer where it matters - in the shop. 

That's where the battle line is drawn and where the war of customer engagement and shopper experience will be fought.

 Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ and Facebook hits are great but wouldn't real time engagement with shoppers be much, much more useful?  Imagine if that engagement enhanced their shopping experience as well.

Watch this space - something great is coming...

The rising cost of electricity

Hi Everyone,

One of the subjects close to me at the moment is the high price of electricity and its impact on wireless and mobile networks here in Australia and around the world.  Here, years of deferred spending on upgrading electricity networks has reached the point that now many tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of distribution poles and endless kilometres of wire need to be installed and transmission networks need upgrading as well.  This will not happen overnight and while smart networks will certainly help with load management it is a simple fact that huge spending is required and guess who will be invited to pay for it - that's right - the consumers.

Here is a press article on this:  http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/electricity-bills-to-go-up-again--by-21-per-cent-in-the-city-20120613-20957.html which confirms that this is happening now - over 20% in electricity price rises now and more pain to come.

Now while I could spout forth here about the many fine qualities of GeoStrut carbon fibre poles and monopoles and how they could be used to great effect to dramatically reduce the capital costs of these required pole and tower works this blog is actually about power. (Hey but if anyone in the Australian powerline industry reads this feel free to call us!!!)

In the wireless arena for small operators right through to major mobile operators, electricity has become a major operational expense - a mains connected site in the middle of Sydney with power costs increasing at 25% before the carbon tax comes in is as big a cost headache as a non mains connected site in India running on diesel or solar combo.  As it becomes vital for operators to squeeze every last cent/ rupee/pence out of the network operational costs to deal with ultra competitive call/data tarrifs and increasing profit distress then electrical consumption needs to be placed firmly under the microscope.

There is a lot of solar, hydrogen and semi hybrid solutions out there - most of which have been designed as a solution for remote sites running on diesel but they mostly are a fix for only part of the problem also - and this is truly the biggest issue of them all- they require a huge amounts of capital expenditure to deploy - thus further straining the bottom line of operators.

So how to solve this issue in the manner that works for the wireless and mobile operators as well as the equipment provider?  Well let me just ask this - if there was a way of installing a network wide solution that not only made the sites more efficient but reduced their power consumption drastically (over 80% certified on diesel sites) and that solution came at no cost in capex - then wouldn't you as a wireless or mobile network operator want to deploy it?

In actual fact the question really is:  "faced with rising power costs can you afford not to deploy it?"

Temporary and not so temporary sites ideal for new networks, network expansions, construction sites, mining, special events, emergencies...- a never ending list

Temporary sites are a complex issue, be they for mobile (cell) networks or other wireless applications and I thought that I would try and set some clarity round them in this blog.

The first point is that temporary sites are just as likely to not be on a trailer as they are to be on one – Cell on Wheels or Site on Wheels (COW/SOW) is very much the norm for temporary sites in some areas and for some applications they are ideal but in other situations they need not be trailer mounted.  The good thing about COW’s is that they have everything in an immediately deployable format – power, tower and base station.  Ironically that can make it a bad thing as often an equipment failure in the base station or power generator requires the whole site to be demobilised and taken back to workshop for repairs.  It depends on how long the service will be required to run from that site – if it’s for a special event like a festival or an unexpected disaster then a wheeled option is probably a good idea.  Town planning is generally the same for wheeled or un-wheeled temporary sites.

What about circumstances where coverage will be required for a longer period but not permanently – and it is probably worth mentioning these circumstances in a bit more detail.  Take the construction industry and particularly major infrastructure projects.  These will put a lot of people in a concentrated area at one time and there will be large data needs as drawings and specifications are all issued electronically these days.  To cope with this bandwidth demand there has just been "ad-hoc" solutions including fibre to the site (expensive) and hoping the mobile coverage is good enough.  What is a better approach is to build a dedicated wireless site that does broadband and mobile communications for the site.  

Mining is similar but tends to be in existence for a lot longer than most construction projects and, as mine automation increases, there is a need for more quality wireless services in and around mine sites to allow autonomous and remote control of plant.  The tower and base station sites that provide this need to be in a location for a while but also need to be adaptable to relocate easily to suit the mines growing needs.

Another area where temporary sites are great is in achieving quick area coverage – temporary sites providing area coverage until the permanent site is brought on line – and it’s also a good way of testing  a new technology or a network without doing a full build.  Mind you I do know of at least one “temporary” site in London that is still transmitting more than 15 years after it was installed!

So what is the answer – well for short term deployments a COW/SOW is a really good idea – easy to get there and set up and service for only a few weeks – anything more than that in terms of time and you really need to look at alternative solutions – in the old days this used to mean tonnes of steel grillage and a small lattice tower with a big clunky generator running 24/7 – however the good news – and it is good news in terms of ease and speed of deployment – is that with modern materials such as GeoStrut carbon fibre telescoping towers and our unique foundation system you can erect a 20m tower with a tri sectored site and microwave link in no time at all.  Combine this with a really effective (and network proven) hybrid power system and a quite genset is only running a couple of hours a day and saving over 80% in fuel and servicing over one running the same time.  Clearly these are really powerful and intelligent solutions.

Finally – on the power front you may be able to get a friendly neighbour to allow the site to be plugged into their supply for a small fee – but here is a tale of caution.  As a young project manager working in the UK I did this for a temporary site I had build in North Wales – I was feeling very smug as I had the site up on air a week early – however we kept getting an intermittent power fail on the site.  Several times we sent technicians out and the mystery fault could not be found.  One of our more engaging technicians was there on a cold day and was invited in to the neighbours kitchen for tea and toast and saw “our” precious power cord being unplugged to allow the toaster to be plugged in – mystery solved!!!!

Well played Ninjas...

I heard a really good joke recently that went like this:

"I looked up Ninjas on Thesaurus.com - the computer told me Ninjas could not be found - well played Ninjas, very well played..."

It made me think about how we are building wireless and telco sites and I suddenly realised that we have drifted away from the skill sets that used to be in site acquisition and design 10 years ago when sites were built with a bit more consideration and thought about how they would look - and we have sadly gone back to the mantra of "speed is king" in network roll-outs.  Fast deployments are important but its project management 101 - a three legged stool of time, cost and quality - cut one leg and the stool falls over and that's what is happening here in Australia right now.  We may have technical quality but if sites are getting refused on visual impact then environmental quality has left the building and that stool is wobbling or falling - impacting time and cost - (delays in town planning - having to find new sites - additional acquisition and design fees - and lost income from not getting a site on air where one is needed)

I read a press article today about how the Council for the town of Buninyong, near Ballarat had rejected an application to build a 40 metre tower because of the "unacceptable visual impact" - now it is difficult to get true public opinion out a press article but there it was - this was not about EME concerns, this was not NIMBY's this was a tower that was turned down because of visual impact. Rather concerning this tower was intended for the NBN wireless roll-out - so ultimately a government agency - surely they must have high visual standards one would think?  Similar stories abound in rural areas such at Tamworth - this time again for NBN, in WA this time for Telstra, Optus has one just up the road from me - every operator has at least one and some have many many more.

And what happens in urban areas is just as bad - almost without fail when objections first start about a site it is not about EME or health or house values or noise or any other of the issues that get whipped up - no - the initial objections time after time after time are about the visual aspects - and I am not surprised because some rooftop sites look frankly horrible and they wouldn't be on my roof for sure!!

Now I know that some in the industry will say I am just plugging "Stealth " products because my company is the Australian agent for them (see http://www.entirenetworksolutions.com/infrastructure-solutions/stealth-products/) - well yes I am their agent - but here's the thing - I am their agent because I see ugly sites every day that should not be there, I see inappropriate sized towers build in view lines every day that should not be there.  Above all though, most sites do not need a Stealth solution - set the antennas back a couple of metres from the roof edge - go for a lighter duty monopole that is thinner and - here's an idea - pop it into trees at just above the tree line not 20m above the treeline - if you do that then when you have an architecturally challenging site or a landowner that insists on it - well then come and speak to me about a Stealth solution because that's when you need a camouflaged solution.

As an industry we need to look at our legacy - we have a great responsibility to roll-out high speed high capacity wireless data and voice networks world wide - but where does it say they have to be horrible to look at and ruin the look of buildings to achieve it.

Lets get smarter at choosing, designing and building sites with some sympathy to the environment they are in and also with consideration for the people who live with the visual impact of sites.  Sounds like Telcotom has gone soft? - well here's another thing for everyone in an operator to think about - everyone that can see that ugly site is a potential customer - everyone who protests about that site is almost certainly a customer lost - and imagine if one of your competitors was building sites with just a little more thought and didn't run into visual impact problems, didn't have councils rejecting sites for "unacceptable visual impact" - where do you think those customers churn over to....

So here's a takeaway for you - the next time you send a brief out for a new site, or if you are the one looking for, designing or building a new site - remember the Ninja joke and make your site so it cant be found.

Well played Ninjas, very well played...

The Year Ahead

Firstly I wish you all a happy and prosperous new year - this is the time of year when all manner of predictions are made for the year ahead - and I often wonder how many of these are checked out at the end of the year....

Anyway - I'm not going to make any fanciful predictions here because I have enough sense to know that things can change - however one thing is clear and that is the ongoing growth of wireless networks - be they for conventional mobile, mobile broadband and so on we will undoubtably see more and more wireless in the world.  This will put huge demands onto spectrum and network capacities and there will be ongoing new site builds and existing site upgrades as the existing networks start to creak and groan at the seams with the ammount of data being transmitted and as new networks are rolled out.

So what is needed in the coming year - I see a couple of things coming up:

Networks will need sites that can be build ecconomically and offer savings in capex - this means a complete rethink on current site designs and layouts and use of materials.  The use of items like GeoStrut carbon fibre monopoles and rooftop stub towers offer such an opportunity in cost and time saving - same strengths as steel but at about 10% of the weight makes the advantages obvious.  Hybrid power systems will also start to gain ground once network operators realise that its not just a "green" thing - it actually saves opex $ as well.

In an effort to save the networks from overloads I also think we will see things like the rise of WiFi data off-loads - particularly in retail environments where there is growing WiFi coverage and heavy mobile data demand.  In city areas we will also see more and more outdoor DAS systems come on line (watch Crown Castle in the US for this - quiet - and astute -achievers in this market at the moment).  We will also see more refarming of the older GSM spectrums to allow LTE roll-outs - interesting just now here in Australia as many of these original spectrum licences are coming up for renewal - no doubt some tense negotiations with the government agencies will result.


Finally I think as more and more new or upgraded sites are needed, even with smaller equipment, there is going to be more and more need for sites to be better blended to their surroundings.  I dont think we will see a rush on palm tree sites but more "Stealth" type screening on rooftop sites where parapet extensions to exactly match the building and so on will be required - either by town planning restrictions or just as a means of getting sites in certain areas.

Whatever the new year brings I hope it is a peaceful and happy one for you and your family

Indian domestic smart pad/tablet

Hi,

For those of you that remember a blog I did about 3g and LTE (4g) in India a few months ago (http://telcotom.blogspot.com/2011/07/3g-and-lte-4g-in-india-oh-and-and-my.html) I am pleased - no delighted - to see that there is now a smart pad device available that is made domestically and is affordable - this is indeed fantastic news and all invloved should be congratulated on what they have achieved as should the government for seeking this solution.  See the article in the New York Times at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/13/opinion/sunday/friedman-the-last-person.html

So this is a fantastic move - a device like this makes not only education more achievable but also can be used for medical triage, mobile banking and for the growth of commerce.  Producers can check prices and even sell on line, farmers can learn of better techniques and even get better weather information - in short this is a major strategic step in the ecconomic growth of India.

It is vital now then that the Government, the telecommunication / wireless operators and also the tower companies work hard to ensure that the infrastructure is build to support these smart pads nationwide.  Not just geographic coverage either - capacity for data volume needs to be built in now and not considered much later.

This will mean using smarter and innovative materials not only for the actual the towers (where carbon fibre is the obvious answer) but also the power systems and backhaul for the networks.  This clearly cant be done overnight - it is an immense but vital project.

It might even be an idea in villages to look at a complete solution that has a quickly deployable 30m monopole along side a reliable hybrid solar/wind/ bio diesel genset plant that not only provides power for the tower but also for the village itself??

This smart pad is a great thing for India and it will be a life changer for so many locked in poverty just now. Fantastic!!

"Vorsprung durch Technic"

Vorsprung durch Technic or as it translates advancement through technology is a very well known advertising slogan used by Audi and I thought it was a great way to start this blog.

Its a real bugbear of mine that in the wireless and telecommunications world technologies fall into two categories - the actual communications technology that gets perceived as "smart" technology - all the fancy new gizmos with their flahing lights offering untold bandwidth, speed, capacity whatever and then there is what what is perceived as the "dumb" technology - all the infrastructure that supports, powers and essentially makes the smart stuff work. 

The problem is that the industry gets very excited about the new "smart" technologies - in mobile/ cell we see that now with LTE etc - state of the art technology, fantastic throughputs, great true broadband capacities, using remote radio units to solve feeder loss issues etc etc and, in all, every wireless/ cell equipment vendor has some really sexy new technology out there in LTE or WiMax right now - small units highly efficient - fantastic.

Fantastic that is until we review how this new technology is being supported - thats when we see ineffecient straight mains or diesel gensets for power with very limited renewable (or even hybrids with deep cell battery technologies) in sight, clumsy old design steel lattice towers and massive concrete foundations that need to be cast in situ - in short not much in the way of technology advancement in this area.

Its a shame because substantial savings can be made in both CAPEX and OPEX by looking at some new infrastucture options.   As operators try (need?) to save that last cent in both those areas to drive profits up and keep call costs down they need to break the mould of procurement for these types of product and use a "whole of network" cost rather than a cheapest unit cost model. 

Operators can make their networks even more efficient and cost effective to deploy and operate if they adopt the very latest in all the technologies used for the infrastucture and the actual communications equipment.

Or - to put it another way - how would Audi fare if they were selling cars that had all the latest computer controlled advanced engine management systems and superior ancillary equipment if they put it in the bodyshell of a 1970's car with pressed steel narrow wheels and no seat belts?

"Vorsprung durch Technik" - worth remembering...

Telco power and carbon taxes....

So Australia has the dreaded carbon tax.....

For those of you not in Australia and may not be aware of this, the government here introduced a carbon tax / pricing scheme last weekend and it prompted me to have a think about how legislation like this might affect wireless/mobile telcos.

The most obvious area is in power for sites.  Power consumption of base stations is certainly not as bad as it used to be but it’s still a twofold problem; firstly getting the power to the site, particularly in regional areas and secondly the operational cost of the power bill, be it either from a power supplier or in fuel for gensets.  This ,I think, has to be the main thrust of using renewable energy sources in Telco networks in that it’s not really about carbon taxes at all but simply about getting reliable supply to the site and trimming back the opex.

Regardless if its due to a price on carbon or just good operational business management, reducing costs and emissions has to be a good thing – it’s a well documented statistic that in India the mobile/wireless industry is one of the top five consumers of diesel fuel in the country so it doesn’t take a scientist to see the savings that even cutting fuel bills in half would make to network profits especially with the low ARPU’s there.  Here in Australia most sites are connected to mains power – why? Simply because they have always been and solar is only really getting a look in at remote locations where the cost of installing power lines is frightening.  It’s the same principal though – if smarter solutions are deployed that save power then the network operational costs go down and profits rise.

It’s important to understand as well that there is no single solution to this – adopting just renewable energy such as solar is not the whole answer – it needs to be a complete rethink on parameters of site designs.  A “whole of site” solution that involves wireless base stations that are heat ruggedized to a higher level, the use of free cooling units and fans, the use of shade (really cheap, really effective!!) through the range of solar panels and wind turbines powering batteries to keep the site running at a consistent and optimal power level.  In some cases this might be enough but if it is combined with a hybrid solution of either a cut into the mains or a genset start-up when the battery levels reach a predetermined level then the site will run very reliably with significant savings in energy costs.  There will be less emissions and less carbon used.  This should be at all sites, including urban rooftops, IBC’s and not just remote or rural sites – just the mix of solutions used may change to suit the site conditions.

All these solutions will be presented in detail at the “Smart Power for Smart Telecom Networks” conference and workshops in Sydney on 12 -13 September – http://bit.ly/mdCOWa

Of course in more rural areas using some surplus power to run common good infrastructure such as water pumps and the like is always a good side effect as well.

So where do I think carbon pricing/ taxes will impact us in the world of wireless and mobile networks – simple answer is steel towers.  The steel industry in Australia is getting compensation for a while due to the carbon pricing but most towers here are imported from Malaysia or China – so when these countries introduce a price on carbon, which they will, then steel prices will rise and so will tower costs.  In India this will have a bigger effect, depending upon when a carbon price / tax is introduced, given the huge numbers of towers currently manufactured there for the domestic and export markets. 

3g and LTE (4g) in India - (oh, and and my next speaking event!!)

One of the biggest drivers of change with the Indian economy will be the advent of data rich mobile/ wireless networks and data being available at affordable rates.  Abundant data availability will trigger entrepreneurs to sell their goods direct and on-line world wide and real steps will be made in mobile banking – this will cause a wave of growth and prosperity throughout the country.  Other benefits such networks allow are a comprehensive medical triage system using telemedicine and also educational uses.  In short the impact these networks shall have in India will be truly remarkable.

So why is even 3g taking so long to get out of the cities?  The reasons are many and complex but I see there being three main holdups:

Spectrum – the allocated spectrum was planned when the incredible explosion of data usage could not have been foreseen – therefore the spectrum bands are too narrow for effective deployments

Infrastructure – the costs of rolling out towers and power in particular to regional and remote areas makes little economic sense in terms of RoI and the Opex in power costs are unworkable.

Smartphones – the costs of iphones and blackberry devices is too high as it is for laptop computers with mobile broadband connectivity.

The mobile phone operators and the tower companies are doing what they can but they are basing roll-outs on this tight spectrum and also on outdated vertical infrastructure designs and even site layouts. 

So what is the solution?  OK let’s just for a minute “park” any political or commercial elements and look at pure solutions for these issues.

1. Spectrum – each operator has narrow spectrum availability and when the spectrum was first planned it was a different market – what would work is all the spectrum being handed back and re-farmed into decent options that allow high speed mobile data to be accommodated in sensible network planning.   Spectrum collaboration will allow better networks all round.

2. Infrastructure – the issue here is the cost and speed that network infrastructure is needed even to keep up with growing 2g (voice) subscribers. Newer, faster and more cost effective means of site roll-outs need to be adopted and in rural areas perhaps a government/ private partnership for the infrastructure would be the only way to make this work.  New materials, designs and renewable / hybrid power systems need to be adopted.

3. Handsets – It must surely only be a matter of time before a really affordable smartphone type product emerges from within India – maybe some manufacturers need to work together on this idea?

How could all of these things be achieved – well this is the biggest step – the current mobile operators and any new entrant would become Mobile Virtual Network Operators on a network that is rolled out as a single Government / Private (PPP) type model.  Spectrum would be amassed and used effectively in a single roll-out along with a single network build out.  Differing vendors could supply to different circles etc but with interoperability of standards this should be fine.  The tower companies would still be needed to roll-out sites of course and indeed would perhaps play a more pivotal role in this deployments model.  The operators would see savings in capex and opex and achieve their coverage quicker – and they would then be competing more openly on call rates as well. 

Throw an Indian made, affordable, smartphone into the mix and you would have more people connected to advanced networks faster than using the current methods.

If there was an appetite for this kind of solution (and I by no means think my ideas are the perfect solution – far from it!!) the time to start moving toward it will have to be sooner rather than later.

Anyway – closer to my Australian home – I’m speaking at the Smart Power for Smart Telco Networks in Sydney in September.  Ticket sales are now open and there are some pretty good speakers lined up and I understand tickets are selling well so I would get in quick!! Details can be found at

http://www.abovetheparapet.com.au/events/smart-power-for-smart-telecom-networks-2/

The Mobile Carriers Forum, a division of the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association are also doing their worldwide launch of the “Mobile Networks Energy Efficiency Training Programme” at the event and I, for one, can’t wait to see and hear details of that at the event

enquiries @ they dont want our business .com!!!

Apologies for the “off Telco” topic this time – but as a business owner this is something that has me puzzled – and I get a bit wound up about it!!!

I’m looking for two things for my business just now, one a product and the other is a service and I can’t find them locally or in my normal contact base so I have been doing a bit of Googling and the like to find some potential suppliers.

 It’s fantastic – straight to potential suppliers websites I go and have a little look around see that they do what I am interested in and then I find (sometimes not so easily) the “contact us” page –  that’s where two things can happen – either there is a prescriptive form to fill in that doesn’t really quite fit who I am or what I am looking for or, often, there is the option to email “enquiries@______”  

So far so good, but the problem is that out of the ten or so emails that I have sent to different companies “enquiries@” over the past three months I have had only three responses.  The three that came back did so within 24 hours, asked lots of questions to understand what I was looking for and hey, guess who’s getting the sales.

Now I have got that off my chest here is the point of my ramblings this week –if you owned a shop you certainly wouldn’t keep your door locked to turn customers away– but these companies not responding to “enquiries@” emails are, in this modern age of on-line business, doing just that.

Interestingly of the seven emails that remain unanswered I got four read receipts which is even worse than just thinking the emails were not actually being delivered to a person.   Four companies I would now never use and would positively steer people away from.  Some of these are not small companies either – in fact the SME’s are the ones that tend to get this right

For most businesses operating today a web page is the front door  to the shop and its becoming the customers first point of contact, their first impression.

That said, I am in the process of getting my own webpage revamped just now because it’s not so flash  – but I like to think we do answer our enquiries emails at least.

Back soon with more Telco ramblings.

Telstra is on the move....

For those who read my last blog - heres a bit more about Telstra's activities.  I would like to think that the impact of LTE has been fully taken into account for the NBN - particularly as the current growth in broadband subscriber numbers is all in wireless - because people enjoy the flexibility of a "anywhere"  connection - and even if its not offering 100Mbs its still pretty good for video streaming on ipads and laptops etc.

Article at : http://www.theage.com.au/business/telstra-launches-4g-in-capital-cities-20110524-1f1ix.html

Wonder whats next - Apple bidding for spectrum in the 700 MHz range and opening their own iphone, ipad and mac device network???

If I ruled the world - or a tale of NBN builds

The other day I was in a forum meeting and to get the communication going our moderator asked one of these “keys of the castle” type questions – in this case it was what would you do if you had all the money in the world?  I don’t think I answered very well but it did make me think – how would I build a National Broadband Network anywhere in the world? – so that’s what today’s blog is all about!!

Starting in my own backyard, as it were, Australia – well the big problem here is that of course there kind of is a default wireless NBN that reaches 98% of the population – and that is Telstra’s Next G network – now I’m not normally a fan of Telstra but what they and Ericsson put together is a pretty robust wireless network that is mobile broadband capable and can, in places give 20mbps (the NBN Co target for wireless is 12 mbps).  Given that Telstra is now re-farming their 1800Mhz spectrum to roll out a LTE solution and you would have to assume they will end up with a mobile network with broadband capability (Next G) and a pure mobile broadband network (LTE) – and will have ditched fixed line with its falling revenues and the universal service obligation to NBN Co – nice work if you can get it!!. 

That said I do get the need for fibre roll-outs for eventual capacity – but it’s a bit surprising that NBN Co spent a lot of dollars on the old Austar wireless spectrum that covers a fair chunk of Australia and yet only intend to use it for something like 4% of the population – and that leads me to how I would roll-out NBN’s anywhere

Fibre will undoubtedly offer greater speeds and capacity over wireless – but only when demand reaches a tipping point – before you reach that subscriber number, wireless works just as well and where there is no existing infrastructure, copper or fibre, then it’s a clear winner.  There has to be a combination of both fibre and wireless but you will cover the ground quicker and cheaper with wireless than you will with fibre – particularly if you are covering rural/ regional areas.

So – what’s Telcotom’s plan for a “anywhere NBN”?  Well its basically use wireless technologies to create an “umbrella” wide area coverage in conjunction with fibre for backhaul combined with fibre to key areas that have proven demand – then as subscriber numbers build you can correctly match your fibre roll-out to the demand.  To play “build fibre and they will connect” is naive and commercially challenging at best, politically suicidal at worst. Progressive rolling out of fibre where you already have increasing numbers of subscribers on wireless allows the best match of dollar spent to coverage required.

Mind you – the subscribers might find that they don’t really need 100mbps to download a full length movie in 3 minutes (because they can’t watch it that quickly!!) and they might just like the flexibility of an anywhere connection they can get from wireless – which brings me back to what Telstra are doing here in Australia....

The problem with telco infrastructure is.....

Much is said about the huge advances in wireless and mobile phone technologies these days - 3g and LTE offer data rates that were unimaginable when the mobile industry first started.  This data rate will bring huge advances in things like mobile banking, education, health and even in "real time" reporting of natural (and man made) disasters.

The advances in electronics in base stations and in antenna science are truly daunting - yet as we advance more and more along the "hi tech" aspects why are only a few of us questioning elements of network builds such as:

1. Why are we using basically the same towers as those designed decades ago and why are we building them in the same way?

2. Why is renewable power sources such as solar and wind become the last and not first choice to power sites? - its proven now that properly engineered sites can run very well on these!!

3. Why are so many sites, particularly in urban areas (rooftop and tower) basically pretty ugly structures?

There are many, many great things happening with wireless but the passive infrastructure is being left behind - and its ironic that this is the area that can dramatically reduce the operating costs of a network by reduced footprint = reduced real estate costs and elimination of power bills? 

Operators need to revisit passive infrastructure to reduce operating costs so they can do things like keep their tarrifs lower than their competitors and increase network proffitability, particularly in rural areas.

By the way - this is the first in my blogging experience - every few weeks I hope to provide insight or question elements of the telco world - particularly the bits of it that relate to wireless.