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http://www.maravedis-bwa.com/Issues/5.4/Ashai_readmore.htmlhttp://www.maravedis-bwa.com/Issues/Issue-v5-4.htmlنص المقابلة :
In Focus: Libya Telecom & Technology By Basharat Ashai, Market Analyst, APAC & MEA
Contact the author at basharat@maravedis-bwa.com “I believed in the WiMAX dream since 2003. Now in 2009 I see a stable WiMAX network capable of being a great commercial product.”
- Mahmoud Alteir
Company Overview:
Libya Telecom & Technology (LTT) was established in 1997 as a Private Libyan Company. LTT is Libya's largest Internet service provider (ISP), offering both dial-up and broadband Internet to customers Libya-wide. In 2004, LTT was acquired by the General Post and Telecommunication Company. LTT provides DSL, FTTH and WiMAX services, and had 50,000 DSL customers as of Q2 2009. It started its DSL services five years ago. It currently covers more than 18 cities with WiMAX in Libya.
When did you launch your commercial WiMAX network in Libya?
We launched our commercial WiMAX network on February 15th, 2009, and started WiMAX network trials January 12th, 2007.
In which frequency band do you operate?
We operate in the 2.5 GHz band with access to 50 MHz TDD spectrum. We received our license through a beauty contest in mid-2007, the only company to be awarded the spectrum. We also have access to 50MHz TDD spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band.
Any plans to acquire additional spectrum?
We are planning to acquire 50 MHz more from the national spectrum regulator, which we expect obtain by the end of this year.
Why did you select WiMAX?
There are many places in Libya that cannot be covered using DSL, so we decided to go with WIMAX. We received lot of support from Libyan Government to build our WiMAX network, and are quite happy with the way things are progressing; we have already earned back a quarter of our total investment.
How many WiMAX subscribers do you expect to reach by the end of 2009?
By the end of 2009 we are expecting to reach 50,000 WiMAX subscribers. We are currently growing at a rate of more than 200 WiMAX subscribers per day, and by the end of 2011 we are expecting to reach 300,000.
Please tell us about your WiMAX equipment suppliers.
Our WiMAX base stations are provided by three vendors: Alcatel-Lucent, Huawei and ZTE. On the CPE side our vendors include Alcatel-Lucent (Quanta OEM-USB Dongle), Huawei (USB Dongle and CPE Modem), ZTE (USB Dongle and CPE Modem), ZYXEL (CPE Modem) and Seimens.
Each company has their own access gateways deployed. Our AAA server is provided by Alcatel-Lucent, and was customized with cooperation from Huawei and ZTE as well. Our CSN and billing solution has been developed in-house.
What kind of services do you offer over your WiMAX network to residential customers?
We provide HSI and are currently providing VoIP service free of cost to select WiMAX customers on a trial basis. We will start commercial VoIP as a standalone service in October 2009.
What kind of applications are you planning to provide over your WiMAX network in the future?
We are quite interested in providing VPN services to enterprise customers. For residential subscribers we are considering launching IPTV over WiMAX.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Our biggest challenge has been indoor coverage.
Have you tried femtocells to address this challenge?
We have yet to find a workable business model using femtocells, but we are looking at deploying picocells to cover large buildings.
How many POPs do you cover in Libya?
We cover around 4 million people with WiMAX, which is about 65% of the total population.
When do you expect LTE to be deployed in Libya?
We expect LTE to become a reliable technology worldwide in 2011. I believed in the WiMAX dream since 2003. Now in 2009 I see a stable WiMAX network capable of being a great commercial product. We are always open to embracing a new technology if it meets our requirements and for now, WiMAX is covering our requirements very well. We do not expect LTE to be deployed in Libya any time soon because of the lack of available spectrum. It is expected that the 700 MHz band will be available in Libya in the future, and we will seek a license and deploy LTE in this band when the time comes.
Full details of the interview including WiMAX subscriber numbers, subscriber split (residential and enterprise), ARPU, total base stations/CPEs deployed (with breakdown by vendor and standard type) and more can be found in www.4GCounts.com
For more information you can contact the author at basharat@maravedis-bwa.com Copyright © 2009 by Maravedis Inc. All Rights Reserved.
No reproduction without consent.
