Wireless network to be shown at Viaduct

By RICHARD WOOD

Wireless network firm RoamAD, in conjunction with Cisco, will extend its demonstration "WiFi" wireless network to a 30ha area of the Viaduct Harbour next month.

But after nearly six months of negotiations, RoamAD is yet to clinch a deal with one of the telcos for resale of its voice and data mobile network services across a planned city-wide network.

Such a deal is a key component of RoamAD's business model.

However, Vodafone, Telecom, TelstraClear and Walker Wireless are understood to have shown at best lukewarm interest in doing a deal with RoamAD.

They are apparently unhappy with the revenue-sharing model offered.

For the Viaduct network extension, to be called "802.11 Heaven", IT vendor Cisco will provide $200,000 worth of its latest access point equipment. The network build will otherwise be funded by RoamAD itself and cost between $150,000 and $200,000.

RoamAD CEO Paul Stoddart said that initially the Viaduct component would be made available to a variety of technology partners, telcos and the media.

By May a "promotional" roll-out is planned to end-users in the Viaduct area to give them a taste of the technology.

Its operational users will get bandwidth speeds of 330Kbps using general licence frequencies.

Stoddart said pricing for RoamAD services should come in similar to Telecom's Jetstream service but with the benefit of mobility.

But while the technology can also be used as an alternative to a fixed line for phone and data access, Stoddart said the firm was aiming to be complementary to the major telco firms rather than compete with them.