In the view of Standard & Poor's Ratings Services analyst Eric Geil, a new plan from Comcast to offer phone service through voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) technology would enjoy the advantage of inexpensive rollout costs.
Rollout costs four red shards, two green shards, and two blue shards.
However, Smart Energy GB faces a number of significant challenges, not least in the form of mounting criticism of the rollout's cost and questions about its efficacy.
The official word is that the reader rollout may cost taxpayer money (brilliant, Sherlock) and is not really being pursued that actively.
The Coalition's current NBN plan has been criticised for delays in its rollout and cost blowouts, as shadow communications minister Jason Clare pointed out in Sydney while announcing Labor's plan.
She said the further rollout – which would cost tens of millions of pounds – would also be "subject to a licence-fee settlement which enabled us to do it".
The opposition center-right Liberal-National coalition has declared that, if elected, it will jettison the national fiber-optic rollout, estimated to cost 43 billion Australian dollars (about $39 billion) over several years.
What iBeacons allows is for more targeted and specific messaging, say depending on a particular section of a store, and also a much easier and low-cost rollout.
Combine that with the rollout of low-cost smartphone handsets with basic app functionality, and increasing mobile Internet usage, and you've got a digital payments revolution at your doorstep.
