It hasn’t taken long for OPEL the dog to get a few fleas. All those finickity technical experts pointing out the improbability of trying to operate a wireless broadband service using the unlicensed radio spectrum in competition to garage door openers.

Then there is Unwired/Austar apparently not wanting to play “catch” with mangy OPEL by making their spectrum and technology available – ex poste, poste haste (Opel bid waves a different standard - www.australianit.news.com).

But at last the poor dog gets a bone. Vodafone and Optus are reportedly exploring a joint venture sharing the spectrum they both have which, coincidentally, allows them to provide 3G services at a frequency much more suited to wide-area rural coverage.

"We are looking at a number of options, including another network sharing deal and going to 900MHz," Vodafone Australia chief Russell Hewitt said.

This covers about 55 per cent of the population, but the company would not aim to extend 3G everywhere, Mr Hewitt said.

"We are not entering the 98 per cent coverage game."
Telcos mull a 3G joint venture (www.australianit.news.com.au)

Strange. Though it is the right technology fit, Mr Hewitt has ruled out rural coverage under the venture – a little too quickly I thought.

Ditching the WiMAX idea and using the government funds to build a 3G network in competition to Telstra’s NextG™ allows them to provide both mobile voice and fixed/mobile data services. It’s the logical solution.

Logical, but not what they were given the money for, which is probably why there is absolutely no mention of the “O” word in this story. It’s outrageous enough that OPEL was given money to replicate ADSL technology in outer metropolitan areas and major regional cities. Seeing taxpayer dollars subsidising a commercial JV of 3G in the bush would be unconscionable. But, let’s keep watching.