By Mbatjiua Ngavirue WINDHOEK Some people within the telecommunications and IT industry are questioning why M-Web is launching a legal challenge to Telecom Namibia’s monopoly over the ADSL infrastructure in the country. They argue that M-Web, after all, has the option of deploying the alternative, wireless broadband Internet technology known as WiMAX, (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access). Chairman of the Namibia Communications Commission (NCC), David Imbili, last week confirmed that the Commission granted M-Web a licence to operate WiMAX services. Imbili tried to distance the NCC from the upcoming court battle between M-Web and Telecom Namibia. “Telecom claims to have a monopoly on ADSL, but the dispute between the two companies has nothing to do with the NCC,” he said. There appear to be conflicting views on whether WiMAX can in fact serve as an acceptable broadband alternative to ADSL. A number of overseas analysts seem to have gradually concluded that WiMAX is not yet a mature technology, and that some of the claims made about the technology may be more hype than real substance. The evidence, they say, seems to suggest there are still technical difficulties that need ironing out before WiMAX becomes a viable alternative to ADSL broadband service. Locally, industry players speculate that M-Web may have run into technical difficulties, as well as cost issues, associated with deploying WIMAX. This might be what led M-Web to decide that it somehow needs to break Telecom Namibia’s stranglehold over ADSL, using the courts if necessary. Telecom Namibia recently also trumpeted its proposed new WiMAX offering, but has gone noticeably quiet about WiMAX in recent months. On February 20, Telecom announced a scheduled launch of its WiMAX service in Windhoek during March of this year. The plan was to expand the technology to other towns and settlement areas in Namibia gradually after the initial launch, but since then people have heard very little from Telecom. WiMAX is theoretically supposed to offer numerous advantages over ADSL, including providing consumers with cheaper service than ADSL. Whereas ADSL’s range is limited to between 5 and 12 kilometres from the nearest Telecom node, WiMAX theoretically has a range of 50 kilometres under ideal conditions. This means WiMAX broadband services can reach areas that ADSL cannot, including peri-urban and rural areas. The theory is that in line-of-sight environments WiMAX could deliver symmetrical speeds of 10Mbps at 10Km. In an urban environment, such as Windhoek, it is more likely that 30% of installations may be non line-of-sight, meaning users may only receive 10Mbps over 2Km. This is still better than the 8Mbps that local experts say Telecom Namibia’s ADSL service can deliver over a single line. The great unknown, however, is that WiMAX is susceptible to interference from a whole host of radio-wave traffic, including analogue TV signals. In reality, deploying WiMAX in a mountainous region such as the Khomas Region may be technically very difficult, and costly. It might, however, be an ideal technology for the four north-central regions that are as flat as a pancake. The cost of the equipment used also affects the quality of service. There is high quality, but costly equipment, and there is cheap and nasty equipment that offers relatively poor quality of service. “To provide good service, an ISP might have to install N$35 000 worth of equipment on the client’s premises. “That is fine if it is a client you can charge N$4 000 a month, but it is a losing proposition if the client is only paying N$400 a month,” one local expert said. Sources also speculated that the reason Telecom Namibia might be facing difficulties with WiMAX is because it opted for the cheap equipment route. It is not clear whether M-Web has any intention of deploying WiMAX at this stage, even though it holds a licence. The company may have decided that to cover its investment in WiMAX it needs to supplement its income stream with ADSL.