BroadNet Gets 42 Broadband Wireless Licenses In Germany
August 30, 1999
MUNCHENGLADBACH, GERMANY, Newsbytes via NewsEdge Corporation : BroadNet, the wireless local loop company, has secured itsfirst batch of wireless licenses in Europe. The 42 licenses in Germany are expected to be followed by additional gains across the region.
For the time being, however, BroadNet - a division of ComCast - is now effectively the largest broadband wireless operator in Germany. The firm is now planning to tap Lucent Technologies for the hardware it needs to deploy its networks across Germany's 42 largest cities.
The firm says that it plans to roll out its broadband wireless Internet access service in Germany in the summer of 2000. Plans are also in hand for the company to bid for licenses in 18 other countries across Europe.
BroadNet says that it will be using Lucent's ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) technology for its German network. This will, the company says, allow it to offer high-speed access to the Internet to a variety of small to medium-sized firms.
A spokesperson for BroadNet's German operation told Newsbytes that precise details of service rollout and pricing on its broadband wireless service in Germany have not been decided.
Robert Condon, the firm's co-founder, however, outlined the company's strategy in Europe as bringing broadband services - including voice, data, ATM, frame relay, and Internet access - within reach of the smaller enterprise.
In a press statement, he said that the company particularly intends to target small to medium-sized enterprises and the home office markets.
"With Lucent we will help eliminate the bottleneck in the local loop and bring the information superhighway directly to the customer. The worldwide-wait is over," he said.
Lucent says it is will provide BroadNet with a complete network covering the design, building and deployment of a pan-European wireless broadband access network.
Eric van Amerongen, Lucent EMEA (Europe, Middle East & Africa) president, said that BroadNet's license acquisition in Germany is a major step forward in offering consumers choice in the local loop.
BroadNet's Web site is at broadnet.de . |
