Ali, was this the article you were referring to? Sounds good for Winstar doesn't it?
NEW YORK, Feb 24 (Reuter) - AT&T Corp , MCI
Communications Corp and Sprint Corp are
looking to wireless as a potent weapon to step around the
regional Bells to reach local telephone customers.
"Its another weapon in our arsenal to go after the local
telephone customer," Whitey Bluestein, MCI vice president for
wireless strategy and development, told Reuters.
Within a year long distance companies hope to be able to
link homes and office with the very same digital wireless
networks they are building to support mobile customers.
This will put additional pressure on regional Bells which
so far have held the trump card of owning the circuits which
connect local customers to the phone network, analysts say.
It will be particularly useful in suburbs and rural areas
where it may never be worthwhile to build new local lines as
MCI and others are doing in many urban areas.
"The local opportunities are huge for the long distance
companies and the Baby Bells are not willing accomplices," said
Jeffrey Kagan of consultancy Kagan Telecom.
The Wall Street Journal on Monday said that AT&T was
developing an electronic box for the home that would link local
calling customers into its wireless system.
The article said the box would cost $300 and be would allow
local calling for as little as $10 per month, less than half
the price local calling is currently.
AT&T declined to comment on the article, which a
spokeswoman said was "a speculative story."
However industry analysts said the story added little to
what was already known about AT&T's plans.
"Two years ago it was known that AT&T would use wireless as
one way of providing local calling and had hinted at a personal
base station approach," said industry analyst Mark Lowenstein
of the Yankee Group.
In fact GTE Corp already has over 150,000 customers
for a similar service called Tele-Go which was launched in
1994. It costs $5-$7 per month, on top of cellular and local
call charges and comes with a portable box, a cellular phone
and a battery charger.
MCI hopes offer wireless local calling without a box.
"We expect to have a network-based solution that won't
require the customer to spend $300 on a box," Bluestein said.
This would mean that software in the wireless network would
automatically detect whether the customer was at home, or
travelling within the local area and charge accordingly.
MCI does not own a wireless network itself, but its
far-reaching agreement with wireless wholesaler NextWave
Telecom Inc provides for both conventional mobile
communications and a wireless link to the home or office.
"We have already agreed on our network pricing and it is
very competitive with local telephone," Bluestein said.
All the big long distance companies have plans.
"We have been looking at wireless local loop for some time,
it is an important part of our strategy," a spokesman for
Sprint said, declining to give a time frame for its plans.
One critical element in the equation is that the system to
support the local calling is already being built into the
digital mobile phone systems built for Personal Communication
Services and digital cellular.
Analysts say local calling alone could not support the
entire cost of a wireless infrastructure. They say AT&T is
particularly well placed to support the extra traffic.
"They have at least 15 percent more capacity on their
wireless network than anyone else," Lowenstein said. |
