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Green Packet’s
Winning Strategy For WiMAX In Asia
Green Packet
November 5, 2009
Kuala Lumpur -- As the major WiMAX players in Asia meet in Kuala Lumpur
for the WiMAX Strategies Asia conference (3-5th Nov), Green Packet’s
Group CEO and Managing Director, CC Puan, comments on the future of
WiMAX in Asia and his Company’s strategy to take full advantage of the
opportunities.
Green Packet Berhad (“Green Packet”) is a leading developer of Next
Generation Mobile Broadband and Networking Solutions and one of the top
four WiMAX players in the world. Green Packet has the advantage of
first-mover experience via its subsidiary, Packet One Networks
(Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (“P1”), through which it handles all elements of the
WiMAX ecosystem – infrastructure, outdoor, indoor and USB CPEs, software
and customer services. Green Packet has also recently announced its
intention to expand its WiMAX services into Singapore in 2010 Via its
newly set up, Packet One (S) Pte Ltd. |
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Puan said Green Packet sees WIMAX as a
driver of converged technologies leading to a different communications
business model encompassing an entirely new range of end-user devices
and services.
“WiMAX allows a limitless range of devices to be permanently connected.
While the application of this to mobile phones, PDAs and PCs is perhaps
more familiar, the opportunity goes way beyond that. Consider a world
where your camera or even your car is permanently online, or where
cargo, products and equipment are permanently connected to a network.
That’s the beauty and future of WiMAX,” said Puan.
Green Packet has a two-pronged approach positioning itself as both a
leading operator as well as a hardware and solutions developer so that
it can be a global leader in the WIMAX world and in the larger picture
of the converged services space, globally.
Puan said that the big question in the minds of the investors and
analysts is “how will legacy mobile players respond?”
“The investment community sometimes compares this to a VHS v. Betamax
battle, but the comparison is fundamentally flawed,” Puan said. “VHS and
Betamax arrived on the scene at the same time and thus it was a head to
head battle of essentially similar technologies, with VHS eventually
winning based on Sony’s ability to leverage its content. WIMAX however
is about 4 years ahead of LTE, giving it a window during which consumer
and market expectations are changing. The questions remains, however,
but it’s not an either/or scenario. It is a with/without option for the
legacy telcos,” Puan said.
Puan believes some Telcos will choose to wait until LTE is available
then invest in costly network upgrades, which will in time bring them to
parity with WIMAX enabled networks. Others will choose a hybrid model,
leveraging the superior functionality and the immediate availability of
WIMAX to supplement their current network to offer a broader range of
products and services to its customers and alleviate current network
congestion.
Puan said those that choose a hybrid model will have first-mover
advantage over the other legacy players, giving them the necessary edge
in a highly competitive environment.
GP as both an operator (via P1) and a solutions developer (via GP
Solutions) has an exceptional understanding of how to secure and manage
its own subscribers and thus grow an independent operator model.
However, it is also positioned to supply and service legacy players with
access to its networks and capacity. Thus the strategic issue for Green
Packet is coverage.
Within any given market, the key success driver both as an independent
and as a WiMAX network provider would be to have the best and largest
in-market network. The bigger picture however, is to offer the best
in-market network coupled with the best international roaming
proposition. To that end Green Packet’s central strategy is to grow its
international footprint through securing or partnering WiMAX licenced
operators in other emerging markets.
Puan said, “For our partners this is a win-win formula. Green Packet
brings to the table a combination of network experience, technology and
value added services alongside a growing local and international
subscriber base which differentiates GP from all other players in the
sector. No other WiMAX player in the world shares GP’s combination of
operator and technology experience, not to mention a growing
international footprint.”
Green Packet sees that, in time, it will have a role to play as a
strategic partner to the more dynamic legacy players as well as
servicing its own end-user subscribers with a differentiated and
customized connectivity option. |
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