New Version Provides Side-By-Side Vendor and Technology Comparison and Models VoIP, VOD and IPTV Services.
Cornwall on Hudson, NY – September 29, 2008 – WiMAX 20/20, LLC (www.wimax2020.com), a leader in WiMAX™ broadband wireless consulting, today announced availability of Version 2.0 of their WiROI™ Business Case Tool. Since the initial launch of the WiROI Tool last year, it has been used by network operators and equipment manufacturers around the world to develop comprehensive business cases, understand their financial requirements, and build a detailed 10 year income statement to gain funding from demanding financiers. Guided by customer feedback from over 25 deployed WiMAX projects, the upgrades to the WiROI Tool include an expanded dashboard-style Graphical User Interface (GUI), side-by-side vendor and technology comparison capabilities and enhancements, and the ability to model services such as VoIP, VOD and IPTV.
“The challenge of securing financing in the current environment requires operators to use a tool like WiROI to build a bankable business case and get funded. The new GUI with its improved analysis features and its capability to model advanced services, enhances an operators ability to analyze their business and show the full financial potential of their deployment plan.” says Randall Schwartz, Principal at WiMAX 20/20, LLC.
The WiROI Business Case Tool was the first to provide network operators and equipment manufacturers with a comprehensive analysis of the capital and operational expenses for deploying a WiMAX network. Developed through extensive industry experience with actual network deployments on 5 continents, the WiROI Tool has the flexibility to accurately model a variety of deployment plans and service offerings. The WiROI Tool allows network operators to customize a business case analysis for their target market and has been used in both developing and developed markets, in small and large multi-city deployments, for rural, urban, and combination networks. Equipment manufacturers have also used WiROI as a marketing tool to show the tangible financial value-added benefits of using their equipment in an operator’s deployment plans.
“We have been using the WiROI Tool for several months as a critical piece of our business case analysis process,” said Magnus Johansson, Director of Broadband of Digicel in Jamaica. ”With WiROI, we’ve gained confidence in the financial outputs and operational modeling of our planned WiMAX networks and have analyzed various deployment scenarios with ease.”
“We find the sensitivity analysis capability of the WiROI Tool particularly unique and useful,” explained Berge Ayvazian, Chief Strategy Officer at the Yankee Group. “The WiROI Tool offers the ability to accurately model a WiMAX network and allows the user to visualize the financial impact of a variety of parameters and should be viewed as an invaluable tool to anyone deploying or designing a WiMAX network.”
“As an equipment vendor, we have found WiROI an effective tool to clearly demonstrate the potential return on investment for various WiMAX deployment scenarios,” said Kevin Suitor, VP of Marketing at Redline Communications. “Using the WiROI Tool, we are able to model a Redline-based access network and compare it with a traditional implementation. The tool has allowed us to clearly articulate the benefits of our technology not only to our customers, but also to our channel partners.”
The WiROI Business Case Tool accepts a wide range of market data, technical parameters, and financial and service planning inputs that can be tailored to a particular geography. The new WiROI 2.0 Tool now allows an operator to do side-by-side comparisons of up to five vendors in the access and core network, providing in depth analysis of the capital expense requirements. The WiROI Tool can simulate a WiMAX network deployment and operation using a variety of service plans and produces a detailed 10 year income statement, financial output graphs, and key financial metrics.
The WiROI Business Case Tool supports over 280 input variables, allowing operators to customize the model for their own particular market deployment, services strategy, and financial constraints. The assumption inputs for a model cover all critical aspects that an operator must consider, including Market Data, Access Network Systems Parameters, Financials, Network Deployment and Operating Expenses, Service Assumptions, Marketing Assumptions, and Customer Premise Equipment.
The WiROI Tool can produce real-time sensitivity analysis based on certain input parameters for a particular deployment. The WiROI dashboard-style GUI incorporates animated selectors, sliders and buttons, allowing the user to vary key input parameters and visualize the output immediately in a variety of animated financial output charts. Network operators and equipment manufacturers can quickly and easily visualize and understand the critical issues that could affect their deployment or development plans. The tool includes the ability to estimate the number of cell sites and various options for selecting a WiMAX network infrastructure required to support specific coverage and capacity requirements. The user can also select from a variety of core networks, access networks, base stations, and backhaul options. The WiROI Tool provides answers to a variety of “what if” scenarios to help identify the most important variables influencing specific WiMAX business plans. In conjunction with consulting services from WiMAX 20/20, the new WiROI 2.0 Business Case Analysis Tool can be a critical component for an operator planning a network deployment, an equipment manufacturer demonstrating product benefits, or an investor interested in evaluating a network investment.
A free online demonstration of the WiROI Business Case Tool can be test driven at the WiMAX 20/20 website www.wimax2020.com. The WiROI Tool will be featured at WiMAX World 2008 during the “Business Planning Workshop: Latin America and the Caribbean” on Tuesday, September 30th starting at 3:00PM.
About WiMAX 20/20, LLC
WiMAX 20/20 is an independent market research and consulting company focused solely on the emerging broadband wireless market. The principals have been engaged in the WiMAX industry since its inception and have gained a thorough understanding of the technical, business and product issues surrounding the development of WiMAX devices, equipments, networks, and services. For more information please visit www.wimax2020.com.
WiROI is a trademark of Wireless 20/20, LLC. WiMAX Forum is a registered trademark and WiMAX is a trademark of the WiMAX Forum®.