Seven Network announced today that it will launch a mobile WiMAX network in Perth in early 2010 under a the company VIVIDWIRELESS. Nathan Burley, Analyst, based in Melbourne comments:
“We believe that competing against three other established and strong mobile broadband operators (Telstra, Optus, and Vodafone/3) will prove extremely challenging. No doubt, SEVEN has clear advantages to leverage, for example content and a glut of spectrum which equals capacity. But regardless VIVIDWIRELESS will have its work cut out.”
Mobile broadband is now driving almost all the growth in the mobile industry in Australia. With incredible connection growth of 120% year-on-year there were 2.2million 'big-screen' mobile broadband connections in June-2009. This means on average 1 in 10 Australia's has a mobile broadband connection.
Seven Network aims to capture some of this market and its clear further potential growth. However, we believe that competing against three other established and strong mobile broadband operators (Telstra, Optus, and Vodafone/3) will prove extremely challenging. No doubt, SEVEN has clear advantages to leverage, for example content and a glut of spectrum which equals capacity. But regardless VIVIDWIRELESS will have its work cut out. Coverage which is so important in mobility services will be among key obstacles.
The decision to choose Perth to rollout services is also interesting. Seven with Unwired already has an established wireless broadband presence in Sydney and Melbourne. Perhaps, Perth is a large scale experiment to gauge whether it can compete on a large scale in the bigger markets of Sydney, and Melbourne, etc. However, it will have to make do without the advantages of leveraging established transmission towers, customer base, brand, distribution which it would have in Sydney.
Additionally Seven has chosen to go to market under a new company, VIVIDWIRELESS, rather than under the established Unwired (although Unwired will build and operate the network. Unwired business is centered on Sydney and Melbourne, but this may also point to wholesale as the preferred business model for Unwired going forward.
