Pentanet Limited is pleased to provide a business update on two key expansion areas as it continues to actively progress new revenue opportunities in both the telecommunications and cloud gaming markets. This includes the planned upgrade and expansion of the Company’s fixed wireless network with innovative mesh network technology through neXus, and initiatives to capitalise on the strong user demand for GeForce NOW Powered by Pentanet cloud-based game streaming service.
Pentanet Managing Director, Mr Stephen Cornish, said the Company continues to see and experience considerable potential across multiple new revenue opportunities.
“The success of our initial registration phase for our neXus technology demonstrates that we have strong indicative demand for this product, and enough critical mass to launch with dense mesh network coverage in key areas,” Mr Cornish said.
“The true strength of neXus is the mesh wireless technology, which allows us to extend our current wireless network wider than ever before – each neXus enabled premises can add 20-25 additional end users to the network and continue the coverage, including users who were unable to connect previously due to line of sight constraints back to macro towers. We also get greater baked in redundancy, with the neXus mesh network expanding to other premises that already have line of sight.
“Cloud gaming is now finally here in Australia in a big way, and Pentanet is a clear market leader in this new gaming segment. We’ve jumped from 20,000 Beta Play testers to over 92,000 active members in less than four months. We continue to see this segment growing and are looking to introduce more varied price plans to capture additional value, in common with other streaming cloud services.”
neXus
More than 7,200 registrations for neXus have been received to date, providing confidence that the demand for Perth’s first gigabit enabled mesh network will continue to accelerate.
The initial campaign phase for neXus, named ‘Operation neXus’, was launched in December 2021 and continues to generate registrations from the community that will form the foundation for building scale once the service launches. Targeted to tech early adopters, high-bandwidth households and gamers, the campaign called for the audience to ‘Join Operation Nexus’ by completing a registration for neXus at their premises. The intel gathered during this phase continues to guide the strategically targeted infrastructure rollout based on areas of high demand and existing
connectivity, and maximising the initial mesh network created.
The pre-registration phase for neXus will therefore play a crucial role in guiding the next-generation network’s deployment to build scale rapidly across Perth. The deployed neXus network distribution points (‘Meshy Bois’) not only provide multiple points of connection to create a resilient high performance mesh network, they also extend network coverage to neighbouring areas that previously had weak or no coverage due to a lack of line of sight.
[email protected] +61 8 9466 2672
Unit 2, 8 Corbusier Place, Balcatta WA 6021
ABN: 29 617 506 279
The registrations received provide Pentanet with a theoretical network capacity of 168,000 potential neXus subscribers. The theoretical capacity is calculated by mapping the location of registrations as initial distribution points, and then determining the number of premises that can then be served by that distribution point. It represents a simulated network capacity that will ultimately be dependent on the number of distribution points installed. Each Meshy Boi added to the network enables 20-25 more subscribers depending on existing network density. The interest received to date will provide the Company with a fundamental channel for sales generation and organic subscriber growth.
With the receipt of the initial neXus registrations across the Perth metropolitan area, the Company has identified the first areas for targeted infrastructure rollout, with services expected to start coming online in Q4FY22.
GeForce NOW Cloud Gaming
In October 2021, Pentanet unleashed the full force of GeForce NOW Powered by Pentanet, NVIDIA’s premiere cloud based game streaming service, in Australia and have since seen the interest in the platform grow exponentially from over 20,000 Beta Players testing the service to over 92,000 active members.
Pentanet continues to make advancements within the new cloud gaming market nationally and as the Company continues to demonstrate the technology to market, Pentanet’s revenue growth strategy envisages the introduction of attractive new mid-tier market price plans to convert more active members to paid subscribers.
Across Australia, 92,000+ gamers actively play GeForce NOW Powered by Pentanet. Each gamer completed an internet health check during service sign-up to determine their service suitability for the GFN platform. The data captured during this activity includes connection speed, ISP satisfaction, and location, formulating detailed geographical information of the GeForce NOW audience. This data can be used to determine demand and theoretically plan the rollout of a national neXus network.
The Company believes that leveraging the different data sources will support the ambition to expand the Pentanet telecommunications network more strategically, unlocking and assisting future growth opportunities.
Cloud.GG
Pentanet has acquired a 13.4% stake in CANOPUS Networks (CANOPUS) for $4m in cash and has executed a Memorandum of Understanding to enter a strategic partnership.
The agreement includes a commitment for CANOPUS to invest $1.5M in the co-development of Pentanet Ltd’s unique gamified telecommunications and gaming loyalty platform, Cloud.GG, using CANOPUS’ FlowPulse analytics technology.
CANOPUS is a market leader in providing deep application-aware network visibility using Artificial Intelligence and Programmable Networking. It combines Programmable Networks with Machine Learning to enable deep visibility into network traffic, in real time, at terabit scale, and for low cost.
The partnership aligns with Pentanet’s strategy to create additional revenue-generating opportunities by further developing the Cloud.GG portal into a gamified network loyalty, rewards and incentive program to create Pentanet’s new telco meta currency.
