PBA inks agreement with OzEmail

Personal Broadband Australia (PBA) and Australian ISP OzEmail have signed a wholesale distribution agreement that would see OzEmail sell its wireless iBurst service.

John Filmer, marketing director at PBA, told CRN that OzEmail had been chosen because they were 'pre-eminent in their field as an ISP'.

Filmer said the company had announced a range of channel partners over the past three months. 'We're presently in negotiation with another seven or eight channel partners, and we'll be progressively announcing the new relationships as they firm up,' Filmer said. 'I think we'll end up having 15 to 20 channel partners.'

In addition to selling to ultimate end users, these channel partners might also sell through another network of resellers themselves, according to Filmer.

He was also upbeat about the opportunities for broadband in Australia. 'Broadband generally will be an increasing uptake,' Filmer said, using the examples of rich content and access to virtual private networks as potential drivers for growth.

Trevor Duff, managing director at OzEmail, said in a statement that the company believed a significant number of Australians would be connecting to the internet wirelessly over the next five years.
'It will bridge the gap between broadband haves and have-nots, and bring true wholesale competition,' Duff said. 'Customers on the move and those previously unable to connect to broadband due to unavailability of DSL or cable in their neighbourhoods will no longer be disadvantaged.'

The companies plan to work together to deliver the iBurst service to 'Australia's broadband-deprived residents and those who want high-bandwidth internet connectivity when they are away from the home or office', they announced in a statement.

Jim Cooney, CEO at PBA, said OzEmail had been an original iBurst Consortium partner, and had been heavily involved in the pre-commercial trial.

According to a statement from the companies, the iBurst system was driven by 'smart antenna technology', designed to provide users with 'mobility at broadband data transfer speeds as they travel through PBA's carrier-grade, IP-based wireless, data network'.