IP: Wireless last-mile woes

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
>
> [Note:  This is a pretty good 'state of the union' with respect to the 
> status of broadband wireless access today.  In my opinion, the 2G NLOS 
> systems aren't going to change this picture a bit.  There is something 
> much more fundamentally broken then just the equipment! DLH]
>
> Today's focus: Wireless last-mile woes
>
> By Joanie Wexler
>
> I find the lack of progress in the broadband wireless access
> service market distressing. There's a whole lot of interesting
> engineering activity going on at the technology and equipment
> level, as evidenced by last week's Wireless Communications
> Association 8th Technology Symposium, held in San Jose, Calif.
> At this event, it became apparent that there is no shortage of
> second-generation, non-line-of-sight (NLOS) broadband wireless
> access (BWA) suppliers, all touting innovative approaches to
> solving transmission interference/multipath and throughput
> issues.
>
> But from the perspective of those of us further down the food
> chain - the would-be consumers of commercial BWA services - I
> have to ask, with a nod to the late Wendy's founder Dave
> Thomas, "Where's the beef?" For all the activity going on,
> services are scarce and are getting scarcer, as some service
> providers are putting new customer deployments "on hold."
>
> OK, first and foremost: What actually is available?  There is a
> smattering of BWA services here and there in a variety of
> spectra, some licensed, others not. But in terms of anything
> approaching nationwide status in this country, you've basically
> got first-generation Multipoint Multichannel Distribution
> Service (MMDS) offerings from WorldCom (13 markets) and Sprint
> (14 markets). MMDS runs in the 2.5GHz licensed band. The other
> primary license holder for 2.5GHz spectrum is Nucentrix
> Broadband Networks, which holds licenses in Texas, Oklahoma and
> the Midwest, but is currently serving two small markets in
> Texas only.
>
> At this juncture, it's most important that you know about
> WorldCom's MMDS services, primarily because they are the only
> one of the three signing on new customers. In addition,
> WorldCom MMDS services are aimed at businesses rather than
> consumers with some choices in speed and service-level
> agreements (SLA) for certain service components. The carrier's
> business services range in price from $200 to $600 per month,
> says Joe Brooks, VP of sales and market development for
> WorldCom Broadband Solutions.
>
> Brooks says the company offers service-level agreements in
> terms of installation time (10 business days; if you have to
> wait longer, you get a week's free service for each business
> day of delay), mean time to respond (two hours) and mean time
> to repair (four hours).
>
> The WorldCom service also offers three speed choices: 1) 384K
> bit/sec symmetric; 2) 512K bit/sec upstream and 768K bit/sec
> downstream; and 512K bit/sec upstream and 1M bit/sec
> downstream. Users can burst to 10% above their contracted
> speeds if network bandwidth is available. Brooks indicated that
> WorldCom will spend 2002 populating its existing service
> markets with customers and will "wait for 2G" NLOS technology
> before deploying a consumer service. Brooks says WorldCom is
> not testing any 2G equipment yet, because "what's out there is
> not very scalable."
>
> For its part, Sprint has deployed consumer services in 14
> markets (50,000 customers); Detroit also has "business" MMDS
> services. The company announced in September it would cease to
> sign on new customers until 2G technology becomes available.
> Sprint VP of fixed wireless Cameron Rejali says the company has
> no timeline in place for deploying 2G, but that it is testing
> equipment with IP Wireless and other equipment makers.
>
> I've heard that Nucentrix, like Sprint, has indicated it is not
> signing up new customers at this juncture. Its service was
> based on equipment from Cisco, who abruptly exited the BWA
> market recently.
>
> _______________________________________________________________
> To contact Joanie Wexler:
>
> Joanie Wexler is an independent networking technology
> writer/editor in Campbell, Calif. She can be reached at
> mailto:joanie () jwexler com.
> _____________________________________________
> RELATED EDITORIAL LINKS
>
> WorldCom MMDS
> http://www1.worldcom.com/us/products/access/broadband/wireless/
>
> Sprint Broadband Direct
> http://www.sprintbroadbanddirect.com/
>
> Nucentrix Broadband Networks
> http://www.nucentrix.com/welcome/go_index.html

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