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Wireless Broadband as the Third Pipe: Will It Live Up to the Hype?
[June 30, 2005]

Wireless Broadband as the Third Pipe: Will It Live Up to the Hype?


By TED GLANZER
TMCnet Communications and Broadband Columnist

Those who have been waxing poetic on the U.S. Supreme Court’s Brand X decision are divided into two camps – positive and negative - regarding the effect the case will have on broadband service.

The high court held on Monday that cable companies are not obligated to provide open access of their lines to Internet service provider (ISP) competitors.

Those who view the decision as having a negative impact, including consumer advocacy groups and independent ISPs, argue that Brand X: (1) stifles broadband competition because many independent ISPs will go out of business by being priced out of the market; (2) creates a broadband duopoly for telcos and cable companies; (3) creates disincentives for cable providers and telcos to improve their quality of services; and (4) will ultimately result in higher prices for broadband service.



“Consumers have a right to better service, better quality and all the improvements that healthy competition brings to the marketplace,” said Robert K. Johnson, Consumers for Cable Choice executive director. “They’ll get those improvements if Congress acts to allow competitors to build their own networks, enter the market and compete with existing cable providers.”

Alternatively, there are those who tout the Supreme Court’s decision as a victory for broadband consumers (including, surprise, surprise - cable companies!) because Brand X: (1) provides incentives to companies that have built the broadband infrastructure to continue to invest in that venture; (2) will stimulate competition in the market by creating a climate promoting additional broadband “pipes” to connect to consumer businesses and homes; (3) will result in lower priced, higher quality services.


Included among the Brand X winners are companies that are developing mobile wireless broadband solutions in the U.S.

Indeed, many view mobile wireless broadband as the most viable alternative to DSL and cable broadband, particularly in light of the pending exit of ISPs from the market. Stated another way, it will be the third pipe necessary to spur competition, innovation and lower prices.

Jon Hambidge, IPWireless vice president of marketing, told TMCnet that the wireless service has a competitive edge because it provides low-cost broadband access at DSL speeds and portability without the necessity of a technician or additional hardware to gain access to messy lines.

The only problem is that it’s not available on high spectrums nationwide.

Several significant announcements released today and Wednesday, however, indicate that mobile wireless broadband isn’t as far off as people think.

Indeed, Nextel Communications announced in a prepared statement Wednesday that it will launch a wide-spread wireless broadband trial based on IPWireless’ UMTS TD CDMA mobile broadband solution.

This marks the first time a major U.S. mobile operator has selected the 3G standard to deliver wireless broadband services, Jon Hambidge, IPWireless vice president of marketing, told TMCnet.

During the trial, which will take place in Washington, D.C., and several neighboring municipalities, Nextel will test several subscriber services, including broadband access for laptops, desktops or PDAs, backhaul for enterprise campus and a wide range of multimedia services, the statement said.

Also, the wireless giant “will evaluate network performance and customer satisfaction under real world conditions,” the statement said.

The trial will take place sometime between July and September, will run for at least six months, and is limited to select Nextel customers. The trial will cover Washington D.C. and several neighboring municipalities located in Virginia and Maryland.

“The upcoming trial in the Washington D.C. area is an example of our commitment to evaluate the best available broadband options in order to ultimately deliver cutting-edge services for our customers,” said Barry West, Nextel’s chief technology officer in the statement. “Nextel has conducted lab testing of the IPWireless technology, and this trial will allow us to test the performance and economics offered by the TD-CDMA technology in our 2.5 GHz spectrum.”

Sprint and Motorola also joined the wireless party today by announcing that the two entered into an agreement to jointly test wireless broadband technology and equipment trials in 2005 and 2006, according to a prepared statement.

The joint venture is designed to “help substantiate next-generation wireless network infrastructure requirements and consumer products for future wireless interactive multimedia services,” the statement says.

Citizens Wireless will deploy a new mobile broadband network utilizing Flarion Technologies’ FLASH-OFDM® in three municipalities and neighboring areas located in southwestern Virginia. The first phase of the network service will begin in early fall.

“We’re pleased to provide our communities with a mobile broadband network that’s the first of its kind in Virginia,” said Gerald Gallimore, general manager of Citizens. “With FLASH-OFDM, our customers will be equipped with the world’s fastest mobile broadband network.”

The deployment will offer mobile broadband voice and data services to business and residential consumers, state universities, and local public safety organizations utilizing Citizens’ licensed 700 MHz, the statement said.

“Citizens is mobilizing its communities by building a broadband bridge between Southwest Virginia and the rest of the world,” said Michael Gallagher, president of Flarion Technologies, Inc., in a prepared statement. “Flarion is excited by the opportunity to deploy 700 MHz networks for wide-reaching services.”

Additional Comments

There are still some major issues facing mobile that need to be resolved, particularly with regard to spectrum access (yet another important issue for the FCC to tackle).

Regardless, Hambidge said that there has been a substantial escalation of activity over the last two years for a wide-spread mobile wireless rollout.

If it does, indeed, become the critical third pipe, then Brand X critics’ cries over the death of competition should be muted somewhat.

Also, the broadband landscape dominated by cable companies and, soon, telcos, will be significantly altered if mobile wireless delivers as advertised.

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Ted Glanzer is assistant editor for TMCnet. For more articles by Ted Glanzer, please visit:

http://www.tmcnet.com/tmcnet/columnists/columnist.aspx?id=100033&nm=Ted%20Gl
anzer

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