This sector will be one to watch over the next 18 months as rollouts ramp. The key to the following article is that 100 cities will be offering this service by the end of 2001. CAMP is a major supplier of the transceiver and will be a major player in the growth of this sector. Look for momentum to build here. Also, remember, overseas markets have little to no cable(phone, cable, fiber) infrastructure.
techweb.com
MCI WorldCom Launches Fixed-Wireless Trials
(03/07/00, 6:49 p.m. ET) By Mary Mosquera, TechWeb News
MCI WorldCom launched trials Tuesday of its fixed wireless high-speed data service that can be an alternative for areas not served by cable or telephone broadband providers.
"Our fixed-wireless strategy makes perfect sense in markets where customers have little, if any, choice for high-speed connectivity," said John Stupka, president of MCI WorldCom's wireless division.
Wireless companies are in heated competition to supply new advanced services over new pathways. The Federal Communications Commission is encouraging wireless companies to develop whatever routes are available to deliver high-speed Internet access to all Americans, including customers in rural and other areas under served by traditional carriers. The FCC is set to auction off a series of little-used radio spectrum for advanced wireless technologies.
MCI WorldCom, based in Clinton, Miss., has started trial operations using radio spectrum similar to those designated for one of the newer advanced technologies called multichannel multipoint distribution service, or MMDS, and capable of serving a 35-mile radius in Jackson, Miss., Baton Rouge, La., and Memphis, Tenn. MCI WorldCom said it will roll out commercial MMDS service later this year after the FCC approves its spectrum license.
AT&T is also developing similar fixed-wireless broadband, but using a different chunk of spectrum, local multipoint distribution service, or LMDS, said Carl Garland, wireless analyst at Current Analysis in Sterling, Va. "Fixed wireless is being pitched as a cheaper way of getting to remote areas. It could also make a play in suburbs where there are not too many tall buildings," he said.
"AT&T and MCI WorldCom are looking at fixed-wireless markets as virgin ground and ripe for the picking," Garland said. Of the regional Bells, only SBC is aggressively going into rural areas.
MCI WorldCom's merger with Sprint, with its significant wireless assets, will accelerate deployment of high-speed access to rural and other under served areas, Stupka said.
"As we test and build out our MMDS platform in larger cities, our service market trials will be hosted in smaller cities where we have existing wireless assets," Stupka said.
Distance is a factor in being able to receive high-speed Internet access. Wireline DSL technology runs out of steam when it is more than 18,000 feet from a central office, Garland said. And not all cable, especially in under served areas, has been upgraded to deliver broadband yet. Fixed wireless has a 35-mile radius. "With fixed wireless, you don't have to be near a phone jack to get high-speed Internet. You just have to put a receiver card in your PC or laptop," Garland said.
The trials in Jackson, Baton Rouge, and Memphis include residential and small-business customers and schools, using the carrier's WarpOne and Warp310 wireless broadband services. WarpOne for business also provides Web-hosting services with bandwidth as fast as digital subscriber line, or DSL, the designated technology of the regional Bell phone companies. Warp310 offers residential customers wireless high-speed connection at 310 kilobits per second, about five times faster than 56K dial-up modem. It is aimed at apartment complexes that can be served via a wireless local area network and soon will be available to entire neighborhoods. At $39.95 a month, it comes in under most high-speed services considering there is no cost of a wire to the home.
MCI WorldCom will start field tests in larger markets within weeks. And by late 2001 the merged MCI WorldCom and Sprint will offer its broadband fixed-wireless service to customers in more than 100 cities. |
