Vividwireless users are reporting download speeds of up to 36Mbps in the first six weeks of the network being live, making it the fastest ISP in Perth.
The network on average is reported to attain download speeds of 9.53 Mbps, a significant improvement on existing 3G mobile broadband that typically will see 1.5-3 Mbps download speeds, with some users reporting up to 36.78Mbps speeds on broadband discussion forum whirlpool.net.au.
VividWireless plan to launch in other major metropolitan areas, including Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, and Canberra in the next 12 months. VividWireless Chairman Ryan Stokes believed the national demand for a the company’s 4G WiMax service to be around 1.25 Million customers. With the service to launch initially in and around university campuses in the cities where it is deployed. This is seen as a response to student needs for fast broadband services, who are unable to take advantage of fixed line services due to renting apartments and frequently moving as a result of their lifestyle.
According to an itnews.com.au report, Vividwireless CEO Martin Mercer told the 4G conference in Sydney yesterday that the company would not be making any claims as to network speeds using lofty theoretical maximum numbers like other telco’s.
“There will be no advertising of peak speeds or “up to” speeds. We said we would not talk about speeds til customers tell us what speeds they are experiencing,” said Mercer in the report.
“We are providing a superior experience to ADSL2+,” added Mercer, with the ISP providing average results of 9.53mbps on the broadband speed testing website Speedtest.net.
Initial speeds however, may come down as more customers join the service, with a limited frequency spectrum to pack data into, as more people sign up to the service average speeds will come down, particularly during peak usage times. Vividwireless will likely counter this by upgrading their network to the ‘WiMAX 2’ specification during 2012, which allows up to 170Mbps theoretical download speeds and will improve scaling as more users come on board.
