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Infrastructure Logic Pty Ltd (ISL)- CEO Interview
- Published June 12, 2014 2:15PM UTC
- Publisher Wholesale Investor
- Categories Executive Interviews
Market Opportunity
Infrastructure Logic (‘ISL’) is building and operating low-cost public WiFi networks to arbitrage the competitive tension that exist between large telco’s who have built high-cost 4G/3G mobile data networks and smaller mobile operators who purchase capacity on these networks to service their retail customers.
In the US, AT&T aggressively rolled out WiFi infrastructure to benefit customers with access to higher speeds but largely to realise a robust ROI from offloading traffic from their overloaded 4G/3G mobile networks to low-cost WiFi networks. This also relieves the pressure on their national 4G/3G network.
In the Australian market, the major Mobile Network Operators (MNO’s) are investing heavily in new 4G/3G capacity to match competitively match Telstra’s superiority in data reliability and speed. In late May 2014, Telstra announced plans for its own national roll-out of WiFi which is placing further pressure on the other major MNOs and Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) to find a competitive response.
ISL Opportunity
The arbitrage opportunity for ISL arises primarily from the growth in smaller telco operators who do not own networks – MVNOs, as well as MNOs that are experiencing capacity constraints in high traffic areas. For smaller operators, the ability to offload mobile traffic to a lower cost network translates to immediate bottom-line profits.
ISL installs small cell technologies, primarily WiFi networks in high-usage/ densely populated areas. It then charges MVNOs and MNOs fees to allow their customers to use the network per megabyte displaced from 4G/3G. End users enjoy significantly faster network speeds available over WiFi and will typically use more data.
The cost of building WiFi networks is relatively small however not all locations are equal in terms of traffic-density and usage. ISL therefore is moving quickly to secure favourable access rights and build out a portfolio of high-traffic locations across Australia and New Zealand.
Please listen to Mevan Jayatilleke , Managing Director.