From Wired..
Wireless ISPs Go Multipoint
by Clauda Graziano
September 29, 1998
In the race to deliver bigger, better
bandwidth, telcos are using standard
telephone lines, fiber optics, and
satellite-based systems. But given the
setup costs of these high-tech systems,
the resulting services can also be
expensive.
Winstar Communications and Teligent are
two companies now hoping to convince
customers that the easiest -- and cheapest
-- path to more bandwidth is using radio
and wireless transmissions. Unlike
point-to-point service, limited to one-to-one
transmissions, these systems can send
out one transmission to multiple receivers,
making bandwidth a cheaper commodity.
Moreover, the systems promise hefty
T3-quality connections at speeds rivaling
those in the wired realm.
"We're delivering 45 megabits per second
[connections], which is a huge increase
over T1 lines, which give you 1.5 megabits
per second," said Sheldon Fisher, senior
director of business development at
Hughes Network Systems, supplier of
Winstar's radio and antenna gear.
The point-to-multipoint systems use a
centrally located radio that can receive
voice, video, and data, and then transmit it
to the receiving antenna, located on the
customer's roof. In addition to the
cost-benefit of having multiple antennae
pick up each transmission, the technology
is expected to be easier to install and
maintain than existing point-to-point
wireless services.
Small businesses in the Los Angeles area
will get a taste of point-to-multipoint
wireless Internet access later this week
when Teligent rolls out its first commercial
service offering there. The price of the
service has yet to be announced, although
company officials claim it will be
comparable to those offered by major telco
carriers. By the end of 1999, Teligent
expects to offer its service in 74 cities
around the nation, including Boston, San
Diego, Seattle, and Miami.
Likewise, Winstar is testing its
point-to-multipoint service now in
Washington, DC and expects to begin
rolling out commercial service there and in
at least 10 other cities by the end of this
year. In addition to high-speed Internet
access, customers will get video
conferencing and LAN-to-LAN connectivity
"To get this kind of bandwidth, businesses
typically have to install fiber" at the building
site, said Jonh Nitzke, senior analyst at
Forrester Research in Cambridge,
Massachusetts. "But fiber is only an option
if your building is on a fiber route," he said.
"You have to dig dirt to get it." The cost of
bringing fiber to a building can run into the
hundreds of thousands of dollars, too rich
for the blood of many smaller-sized
companies, Nitzke said.
By comparison, the cost of equipping a
building with a 12-inch microwave
antennae and radio is about $4,000,
according to Winstar.
Hughes' Fisher estimates there are
between 700,000 and 1 million commercial
office buildings nationwide. Of those, only
about 50,000 are wired with fiber-optic
cabling. But telco carriers aren't the first to
offer point-to-multipoint wireless access to
the Internet. At least one ISP, San
Francisco-based SlipNet, already offers
point-to-multipoint wireless networking to
small businesses in Silicon Valley.
Teligent uses the 24-GHz portion of the
microwave spectrum, and Winstar
transmits in the 38-GHz range. Because
each customer isn't purchasing its own
radio as in point-to-point communications,
costs are drastically reduced. The
hub-and-spoke model also means ISPs
can potentially serve more subscribers,
which could mean lower costs all around.
"Point-to-multipoint will take precedence
over point-to-point as radio technology gets
cheaper," said Dave Hughes, a wireless
field-test investigator for the National
Science Foundation. Hughes said radio
modems are now under development at
the Tucson Amateur Packet Radio
Corporation that should cost less than
$500, making wireless Internet access
affordable to home markets.
"Wireless technology is moving way past
big institutions using it to connect their
campuses," he said. |
