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Technology Stocks : The New Qualcomm - a S&P500 company -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bux who wrote (3928)	12/3/1999 10:03:00 PM
From: Bux	Respond to of 13582

Here's ATT's short term solution to their TDMA network problems. I wonder what their long-term fix is? AT&T Asks More Of Its Wireless Network (12/02/99, 7:07 p.m. ET) By CHUCK MOOZAKIS, InternetWeek AT&T is taking steps to improve the reception quality of its wireless network. The carrier next week will announce plans to tap ScoreBoard's ScoreBoard network performance application to keep better tabs on its nationwide wireless infrastructure, so as to optimize availability and performance. ScoreBoard measures cell-site footprints, service areas within those footprints, and frequency assignments--all with an eye toward identifying the bandwidth-choking interference that cell sites receive from adjoining sites. By taking steps to limit inter-cell interference, AT&T--the nation's largest wireless provider, with 11.4 million subscribers--can maximize the bandwidth devoted to moving traffic, said Eric Jensen, ScoreBoard's CEO. In addition to monitoring the cell sites themselves, ScoreBoard also monitors the strength of RF signals emanating from cell sites, as well as how calls are handed off among cell sites. AT&T will initially use ScoreBoard to measure its wireless voice network, but it will expand its deployment to monitor data traffic, as business demand for wireless Internet access accelerates, according to the company. Network optimization is a high priority for wireless carriers. A single cell site, including electronics and tower, can cost as much as $600,000 to build. With skyrocketing growth for wireless voice and data access predicted by market researchers, service providers want to get the most effective use out of their current networks. AT&T's adoption of ScoreBoard will translate into lower wireless services costs and better coverage, said Stanley Edwards, telecommunications manager for Rock-Tenn, an AT&T wireless customer. "I'm always interested in how AT&T can become more efficient," said Edwards. "Anything it can do to transport traffic--voice or data--more cost-effectively will make it better for us." ScoreBoard relies on Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and MapInfo's MapInfo mapping application to provide carriers with analytical and graphical reports on how cell sites are performing and where interference is highest. Performance data is collected by scanners installed in vehicles that drive through selected portions of a carrier's network. That data is then transmitted to ScoreBoard's data center at Herndon, Va. Processed data--which weds cell-site performance data to MapInfo's location application--is then accessed by users via a browser front-end. For now, ScoreBoard is targeting the app to carriers, but as enterprises boost their wireless use, Jensen said a corporate version could be developed within the next year.