WCOM might be looking at a wireless market much different than what most think. It might be the fixed wireless market. Many small towns like the one in the article below are up-grading their telephony and receiving inexpensive loans from the government to do so. The catch is the tier 3 customers who are the customers that live outside of town must also be included in the upgrade. Hard wiring these home that are so far apart is to costly so a fixed WLL might be the answer. The product below can also provide ISDN speed which was just demonstrated at Cebit so decent Internet access to tier three can also be a part of the offering. The release below also affords that Pioneer Holdings is partially owned by MCI so I would think they aware of how the test is going. They recently held a conference call for investors of which I participated and the call was crystal clear. Users that were participating in the trial were on the CC and all were pleased with how the system was performing.
INTERDIGITAL'S B-CDMA™ WIRELESS LOCAL LOOP FIELD TRIAL WITH PIONEER OPERATING IN IOWA;
International Trials by Siemens and Samsung Continue
King of Prussia, PA, December 17, 1998 . . . InterDigital Communications Corporation (ASE: IDC) announced that its Broadband Code Division Multiple Access™ (B-CDMA™) wireless local loop field trial with Pioneer Holdings, LLC and North West Rural Electric Cooperative (NWREC) is now operating in Iowa. The field trial uses radio frequencies in the PCS spectrum to serve a select group of NWREC customers.
This is the first U.S. field trial of InterDigital's TrueLink™ product, a fixed wireless access product that utilizes B-CDMA technology. The Iowa field trial is part of the worldwide market roll-out of B-CDMA technology and products by members of the B-CDMA Alliance™, which includes InterDigital, Siemens AG, Samsung, and Alcatel. Siemens is conducting field trials of B-CDMA wireless local loop products and has successfully demonstrated ISDN rates with potential customers. B-CDMA technology field trial activity is underway in China with InterDigital partner Samsung.
B-CDMA technology is InterDigital's version of a wideband CDMA technology. Worldwide standards setting bodies are proposing the use of wideband CDMA technology as part of the standard for the next generation of wireless communications products in Europe, Japan and other countries. B-CDMA technology is designed to deliver high speed Internet access, fax and data service; video on demand and multimedia applications plus high quality basic telecommunications services. By delivering high speed broadband services, this technology could offer competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) and other service providers substantial new revenue opportunities with customers in urban and rural locations.
"This is a major milestone in the introduction of B-CDMA technology to the wireless industry. A system is now installed and operating in Iowa. This is an opportunity to showcase our technology in a market that is experiencing growth as operators look for cost competitive alternatives to traditional wireline telephone service. This field trial will demonstrate to CLECs and other service providers in the U.S. the capabilities of our B-CDMA technology in a wireless local loop application. Ultimately, B-CDMA systems will deliver advanced features like Internet access, fax and data at competitive prices," explained Joseph Gifford, Executive Vice President of InterDigital.
"We are enthusiastic about this trial, exhibiting a superb combination of InterDigital's state-of-the-art technology with the excellent service and reliability of Pioneer and NWREC." stated Mike Thompson, President of Pioneer Holdings.
Pioneer Holdings, LLC is a limited liability corporation which is jointly owned by MCI, Long Lines, Ltd., and Northwest Iowa Power Cooperative (NIPCO). Pioneer provides integrated "turnkey" communication services to local distributors, such as municipalities, utilities, rural electric companies, cable and independent telephone companies, private businesses and universities in 10 states across the country. Pioneer delivers an array of these services through an innovative packaging of networks and services offered by MCI, Long Lines and NIPCO. NIPCO is providing the towers for this field trial.
NWREC has a Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) license and seeks to provide bundled telecommunications services using wireless access.
InterDigital develops and markets wireless telecommunications systems using proprietary technologies for voice and data communications. InterDigital, in conjunction with Siemens AG, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. and Alcatel, is commercializing its new B-CDMA technology for use in wireless communication systems and products. InterDigital®, B-CDMA™, and UltraPhone® are among the trademarks of InterDigital Communications Corporation.
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