Trio of contracts wins back Walker's bid to take on Telecom

Southland led the way, followed by Wairarapa and now Northland, in looking for the seemingly impossible in New Zealand: a viable competitor to Telecom.

The three regions, the vanguard of the Government's Probe project to promote broadband competition, are all betting Walker Wireless, with some assistance from Vodafone, is up to the task.

Can it be done? There's no doubt Walker's technology works well as a wireless bypass to Telecom's monopoly hold on the wires to our homes. And an Auckland trial last year showed it can deliver fast internet.

Not so clear is whether it will cope as demand increases. Not surprisingly, Walker says yes. Just add more transceivers to the Vodafone cell site towers.

What about frequency? On paper the company seems to have plenty of that resource too - having acquired two bands of "1098" frequency in the 2000 radio spectrum auction and another, similar, band a few years earlier.

Then there's the question of "backhaul" - the fibre and microwave pathways that route traffic to its ultimate destination.

Despite concerns that many of these backbone pathways are sorely lacking in New Zealand - especially in remote areas - Walker and the three regions say it is not insurmountable.

But even if all of these technological hurdles can be overcome, there is still a big question about voice calls. While Walker has demonstrated internet capability, delivering voice over its network is very much in the realm of vapourware.

Given that each of the regions sees an alternative voice network - and untimed local calls - as central to their needs, it's hard to understand why they've selected a vendor who is yet to show that capability. Sure, voice over internet protocol (VoIP) works on wirelines, but it's a big leap of faith to expect it will immediately work over Walker's wireless technology. Let's hope the regions' advisers have seen more than vendor hype that VoIP through the air will work.

The ability to offer a complete telecommunications alternative - voice, internet and mobile - to Telecom will be critical to Walker's success.

On the fast internet front, Walker's services are $7 a month cheaper than Telecom's. It's an encouraging start.

But the real test will be for how long Walker can match Telecom in a price war.