Sprint Launches Wireless Broadband
pcworld.com
Sprint is pursuing more than one path to wireless broadband - DPR
Airborne broadband debuts in Arizona; nationwide
rollout scheduled.
by Tom Spring, PC World
May 8, 2000, 4:19 p.m. PT
Sprint has launched a high-speed wireless Internet
service that pits the long-distance phone company
directly against cable modems and Digital Subscriber
Line services.
Phoenix residents will be the first in the nation to get
the $39.95 monthly Sprint Broadband Direct service,
based on the broadband dark horse technology called
fixed wireless. Sprint expects to make its wireless
broadband network available to more than 60 percent
of the United States within two years.
Sprint representatives say the service is 36 times faster
than a dial-up connection. It will be available next in
Tucson, Arizona; San Francisco; San Jose, California;
and Colorado Springs, Colorado.
The service pipes data at an average rate of 1.5
megabits per second to a home or business. You'll
need a diamond-shaped two-way digital transceiver on
the side or roof of the building. The transceiver, about
half the size of a traditional satellite dish, must have
adequate line-of-site access to one of Sprint's
transmission towers, which must be within 35 miles.
A Cure for 'Broadband Envy'
Sprint aims to cure "broadband envy" experienced by
the teaming millions of Netizens who want high-speed
access but can't get it, says Tim Sutton, Sprint
Broadband Wireless Group president. Too often, cable
and DSL providers aren't available in a region.
"We are going to be the only game in town in a lot of
places," Sutton says.
Installation fees are waved for an introductory period,
but you must buy a transceiver dish and a wireless
modem. That costs $299 for a month-by-month plan, or
$99 if you sign a two-year contract.
Businesses are charged $90 monthly, which supports
five PCs. You can connect additional workstations for
$5 monthly.
EarthLink 5.0 comes with the service. Subscribers get
up to six e-mail addresses, home page server space,
and customer service through EarthLink.
Sprint Broadband Direct is "always on," meaning that if
your PC is on, it's online. The service supports
upstream data rates of 256 kilobits per second.
Sprint plans to offer voice products and services based
on Internet protocol technology in the months ahead,
but Sutton would not elaborate.
A Fixed Wireless Future?
Fixed wireless competes with cable modems and DSL.
None of the technologies is yet a clear market winner,
although fixed wireless adoption lags the other two.
Cable modems lead, but DSL's popularity is growing,
according to Yankee Group studies. Wireless access
runs a distant third, with no more than 40,000
subscribers in 1999.
Sprint's wireless service relies on radio transmission
signals to move Internet data instead of depending on
phone or cable lines. Weather can be an obstacle for
fixed wireless, which relies on an unobstructed
broadcast line between antennas and customer sites.
Sprint's wireless technologies are an important part of
the company's efforts to bypass the hard-wired
networks of its Baby Bell and cable rivals. Sprint is the
third-largest long-distance company in the United
States.
In March, AT&T unveiled its fixed wireless service,
called AT&T Digital Broadband, first available to homes
in the Fort Worth, Texas, area.
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