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To: DaveMG who wrote (3590)	6/2/1998 7:57:00 PM
From: Dragonfly	Respond to of 10852

Why won't the wireless co's be able to piggyback on their existing infrastructure to deliver data? From the partial cost picture I have, the wireless guys have built infrastructure to sell minutes, not bytes. Since flat rate pricing is the dominant paradigm for the broadband data segment, they will have trouble competing. However, there are people working on new wireless systems within urban areas that are competitive on price, though at this point theyare more hassle to install than a DSS dish. (I'm expecting Cyberstar/Skybridge will be easy to install.) Another way to look at the conclusions we seem to be coming to is this: There's gonna be a lot of people slicing up this pie, but given some inherent advantages, Satellite service probably has a guaranteed niche. Dragonfly

To: DaveMG who wrote (3590)	6/2/1998 8:50:00 PM
From: Bernard Levy	Respond to of 10852

Dave: Regarding fixed broadband wireless, the LMDS equipment which is being rolled out by Nortel and LU allows the delivery of 40 mb/sec downstream to an individual customer (or company), which is about the capacity of a T3. The LMDS licenses recently auctioned by the FCC (1.3Ghz bandwidth in the 28 GHz band) provide a total capacity of 2 Gb/sec per cell (with an approximate radius of 2km). WCII in the 38 GHZ band has already an impressive list of business customers, as well as 750MHz of bandwidth in all major markets. Rollout is much cheaper than wireless by satellite, but line of sight requirements create significant problems. Similarly, TGNT has 400Mhz of bandwidth nationwide in the 24GHz band, but is at an earlier stage of its rollout. As I have tried to indicate earlier on this thread, data by satellite is not a slam dunk, and will have significant competition. Of course satellites have also some advantages for multicasting and for customers with geographically distributed operations. Best regards, Bernard Levy

To: DaveMG who wrote (3590)	6/2/1998 9:28:00 PM
From: JMD	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 10852

DaveMG, first, I not knowing enough about the techie side of this stuff other than to impress the living bejeesus out of others even more technically challenged than I at cocktail parties. With that disclaimer, here's what I know about using non-satellite wireless to approach the last mile problem. The 'answer' is called wireless local loop (WLL)and my other favorite stock, Qualcomm, aka the Mighty Q, is pushing the hell out of WLL systems. Seems that they make an enormous amount of sense in certain environments primarily because the infrastructure can be deployed pronto without the time consuming and expensive need to dig trenches, lay cable, etc. Huge advantages without a doubt. However, WLL systems cannot begin to deliver the amount of bandwidth that wired systems, particularly fiber optic and cable, can handle without breaking in to a sweat. Thus, if you want to throw a phone system up in India, e.g., WLL can have people yakking and surfing the net at modest speeds effectively putting them into the 21st Century overnight, and light years ahead of where they are now. But that almost certainly won't get the job done in major metropolitan areas of the U.S. for example, or at least that's my take. Welcome corrective commentary. Rocket Scientist (nice handle) welcome to SI--we occasionally wander off the reservation and get a little nasty, but good humor and civility usually return in short order. Look forward to your posts. Bernard, isn't LMDS hindered by line of sight AND deflection during rain storms? Hasn't that company CVUS been hammered trying to deploy it in New York? Agree that it's potential is awesome, please bring me up to speed as I kind of dropped out--maybe prematurely. Mike Doyle