June
8, 2000
Broadband networks for
converged data, voice, and video are spreading quickly. Right
behind their wired counterparts are wireless networks that combine big data
pipes with freedom from cabling and hard connections.
Networks
with the bandwidth and capacity to handle simultaneous voice and data -- along
with video, teleconferencing, application data exchange, and other congestors --
are becoming more common. At
the same time, though, there's been a move to cut the cable and let users go
mobile and wireless. Wireless connections tend to be narrowband, or, at best,
slightly more capacious than a dial-up voice or data connection. So, do users
wanting to move forward have to make a choice between broad bandwidth and
wireless operation? Not necessarily. Wireless broadband networking is poised
to make the bandwidth issue irrelevant.
Wireless Broadband
Network Scale.
Wireless broadband
networking encompasses several different application forms. For a single
enclosed business site, it might take the form of a wireless LAN. Laptops
equipped with wireless LAN cards can be moved anywhere within the site and
retain full-speed network access.
Another form is fixed
wireless service, such as a wireless xDSL connection for a home or office
building. High-speed Internet access providers who want to bypass the wired
service providers (Telcos, cable companies) can literally go over their heads
and provide high-speed, high-bandwidth service via fixed rooftop antennas.
The ultimate form of
wireless broadband networking is broadband mobile wireless service, which
is not yet widely available. Many cities in the U.S. now have mobile data
services available for advanced cell phones and PDAs, but the connection speed
and bandwidth are not enough to support broadband access. Enhanced mobile
wireless services that permit videoconferencing and similar high-bandwidth
applications are on the horizon, while the pieces for true mobile broadband
wireless are falling into place.
The Advantages of
Wireless Networking
No one who's used a cell
phone needs to be told the advantages of working wireless. But with the
capabilities of broadband wireless networks, the possibilities go far beyond a
simple voice or low-speed data link. Imagine being able to take a network
workstation anywhere -- with no loss of connection speed and bandwidth. In a few
years, users will be able to tap full-speed xDSL access anywhere, on the go.
Although the up-front
costs of wireless networking, both at the service provider and corporate levels,
are steep, there are long-term possibilities and payoffs beyond the basic notion
of user mobility. For one thing, a complex, costly, and degradation-prone
wiring infrastructure is no longer needed. The broadband wireless link can
replace all point-to-point telephone and network cabling. At the CLEC and ITSP
level, this permits providers to offer advanced services without using the local
telephony infrastructure (and without the limitations of voice-grade copper).
At the corporate and
enterprise level, the benefits are similar. Most existing business sites already
have copious cabling, which might seem to reduce the value of a wireless
solution. However, a site with an aging cable infrastructure that is starting
to see significant maintenance and replacement costs, or one that is facing a
wholesale upgrade to meet high-speed networking or converged voice and data
needs, might be better served by a conversion to wireless. Similarly, the
cost of fully cabling a new business site might be better applied to a wireless
networking solution.
Once the investment has
been made in wireless broadband, a host of other costs vanish. Installation,
maintenance, and upgrade of cabling, jacks, hubs, routers, repeaters, and
distributed telephony switches are no longer needed. Upgrades and changes can be
made mostly at the wireless head end, with less frequent changes at each client
system end.
The State of Wireless
Broadband Networking
So far, wireless broadband
networking for service providers has proven more popular outside the U.S., with
the most significant installations in Europe and South America. U.S.
providers have been held back by FCC regulations, but recent changes have
allowed service providers to make efficient use of the LDMS and MMDS fixed
wireless frequencies. The excellent telephony and networking infrastructure
already present in the U.S. has also blunted the need for wireless solutions.
Elsewhere, companies and information utilities have jumped on the wireless
bandwagon, and for good reason.
In much of South America,
the telephony and other information delivery infrastructures are outdated and
cover only a fraction of the potential service areas. It's not surprising that
users in Venezuela, Brazil, and other countries on the far side of the Canal
Zone have leapfrogged the U.S., skipping wired telephony and backbone networking
for broadband wireless solutions. The situation is similar in much of
Europe, where wireless solutions bypass the limitations of outdated and
overloaded wired telephony systems--and not incidentally, often bypass
cumbersome tariffs and regulations that predate the touch-tone era.
Wireless broadband for
voice and data is beginning to appear in the U.S., albeit slowly. Driven by
the experience of freedom with cell phones, wireless PDAs, and the like on one
hand, and the need for full network bandwidth on the other, expect
high-bandwidth wireless networking, with fully merged telephony services, to be
ubiquitous by the end of this decade.
Wireless broadband
networking is not yet a universal solution. Many companies will be much better
served, in the short run at least, by remaining with wired networking and
telephony, whether converged or not. Companies that can make good use of
employee and equipment mobility, or with sites where a costly cabling
infrastructure upgrade or installation is planned, would be wise to investigate
the wireless solutions available.
ADAPTIVE BROADBAND
Adaptive Broadband (Sunnyvale, CA -- 408-732-4000, http://www.adaptivebroadband.com/)
makes a complete line of high-speed wireless data products for everything from
local network loops to IP-via-satellite connections. Their AB-Access
point-to-multipoint system provides "cells" of wireless broadband
access that can deliver up to 25 Mbps to each user, some 450 times the speed
of conventional modem networks.
AT&T
AT&T's Wireless Group (Bridgewater, NJ -- 800-746-7846, http://www.att.com/)
is responsible for AT&T's Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) network,
which was launched in March 1995. The CDPD network permits users with wireless
data devices (such as a Palm Pilot V equipped with an OmniSky modem) to access
e-mail, data services, and the Internet almost anywhere a cell phone works.
Although the CDPD network is not truly broadband, it is one of the largest
wireless data networks in operation so far--and gives a hint of what true
broadband access will bring.
DARWIN NETWORKS
Darwin Networks (Louisville, KY -- 502-213-3600, http://www.darwin.net/)
is a national xDSL provider and ISP with a fixed wireless delivery option.
Their wireless Internet connectivity services are suited to users down to the
small office or apartment complex level.
ENDGATE
Endgate (Sunnyvale, CA -- 408-737-7300, http://www.endgate.com/)
makes a complete line of millimeter-wave wireless equipment, from headends and
antennas to plug-and-play wireless modems. Among other things, Endgate's systems
can be deployed as broadband wireless local loop networks and Internet access
systems in the 32-40 GHz range. Other Endgate systems can be used for
high-capacity point-to-point wireless connections to link sites or buildings
without a costly wired backbone.
NEXTLINK
NEXTLINK (Bellevue, WA -- 425-519-8900, http://www.nextlink.com/)
and Concentric Network Corporation (San Jose, CA -- 408-817-2800,
www.concentric.com) recently combined forces to build a broadband Internet
access service. The initial service will be provided by NEXTLINK's fiber
network, but broadband wireless service is scheduled to follow soon after. NEXTLINK,
which already holds fixed wireless licenses blanketing the 30 largest markets in
the U.S., is in a good position to become the premier wireless xDSL provider.
NOKIA
Nokia (Irving, TX -- 972-894-5000, http://www.nokia.com/)
is well-known for their cellular phones, but their High-Speed Access Products
division (www.nokia.com/ networks/) has an array of high-speed networking and
wireless data products that aim to bring multimedia access to mobile phones.
Although it's a subset of the wireless broadband concept, their EDGE
technology permits GSM networks to manage up to 400 Kbps data rates, which is
enough for videoconferencing on a properly equipped mobile phone or PDA.
Nokia's HSCSD (High
Speed Circuit Switched Data) technology is further away from implementation,
but promises to bring network speeds to mobile computing. Nokia also makes a
wireless LAN solution that permits laptops and other systems to connect to a
site network via a short-range RF link. The 2.4 GHz PC-Card network adapter
works with fixed transceiver units to provide up to 11 Mbps transfer rates.
SPIKE TECHNOLOGIES
Spike Technologies (Nashua, NH -- 603-594-8856, http://www.spke.com/)
is at the very forefront in wireless broadband networking. Their PRIZM
Broadband Delivery System uses MMDS frequencies (2.1-2.7 GHz) with a patented
frequency re-use technique that lets them greatly multiply the number of
channels and users per site. The system can carry high-bandwidth bi-directional
data (including IP network traffic) at up to 10 Mbps. Each PRIZM antenna site
can cover a 2,800 square mile area with user sites up to 30 miles away.
Their first installation
in Nashua, New Hampshire, originally experimental, has been joined by a system
in Merida, Venezuela, with a new installation in progress in Portland, Maine.
