Sailing through the sea of telecommunications hasn't exactly been a smooth ride for the last twelve months. While consumers and residential customers continue to demand high-speed Internet connections, the list of companies providing such services seems to be dwindling. In fact, many promising companies such as Northpoint and Rhythms NetConnections Inc. recently left thousands of customers who depended on wired forms of broadband stranded with no Internet access at all. Imagine walking into your office one day and having to do business over a dial-up modem connection with no other alternative for the DSL connection you had become so dependent on for high-speed access.

The good news for these marooned Internet surfers was that many Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and other telecommunications providers realized early on that they could not make any money selling DSL services using the local telephone company's copper local loop. Instead, they performed their due diligence and discovered an attractive new technology that uses the airwaves to transmit information from antenna to antenna using high-speed radio frequencies-no wires required.

They discovered broadband wireless Internet connectivity that uses microwave antennas to beam information to and from high-speed access points. The interesting thing is that the technology was not really new. The same technology has been used for many years to carry long distance voice traffic over long stretches of land using point-to-point microwave towers. In fact before fiber optic cable was available, the majority of all long distance voice and data traffic was carried over these types of wireless links.

How did wireless make it into the local loop from the long distance implementations? In the early 90's, as hundreds of thousands of customers discovered the Internet via their corporate local area network connections, many workers wanted to enjoy the same connectivity speeds as they had at the office. Unfortunately, they soon learned that trying to work from home was limited to slow dial-up modem connections and frequently was a very frustrating experience. An extra phone line was needed and modem banks had a nasty problem of constantly bumping people off-line during the middle of important work sessions or giving people a busy signal when they tried to connect.

The holy grail of the ISP world soon became very clear-find a way to deliver fast Internet connections that would speed up the last mile of connections. Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technology appeared and seemed to be the answer to the last mile dilemma. DSL promised to deliver extremely fast speeds over the same phone lines that carried voice traffic to every residential and business location. Unfortunately, a major obstacle stood in the way. The last mile of copper that connected these locations to the Internet was owned and controlled by the local telephone company that had no real interest in changing their business model from voice to carrying high-speed data.

Eventually, when the traffic jam noise level became loud enough, the Government finally did their part by passing the Telecom Act of 1996, which supposedly would force the Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs) to open up their networks and allow Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs) to resell their telecommunications services over the RBOC's local loops. However, long steeped in their monopolistic ways, the RBOCs quickly charged exorbitant prices for CLECs to collocate their DSL hardware in the RBOC's Central Offices (CO). If the CLECs were lucky enough to get their equipment co-located, the RBOCs then did everything within their power to bog down the provisioning process and make timely customer service a nearly impossible task. As a result, the promise of DSL and high-speed connections seemed to fade away, and one-by-one DSL providers filed for bankruptcy.

Hundreds of thousands of customers showed up to work one day only to find their Internet connections disconnected and no one available to take their customer support calls. Luckily for them, a quite grassroots' network of broadband wireless connections had been launched and had grown quickly across the United States.

Many smaller ISPs couldn't make any money reselling DSL services to their customers. Even worse, the cable system operators weren't required by the Government to give other providers access the their cable networks, the only other form of wired access that reached large amounts of potential customers. Left with no broadband options, hundreds of ISPs began searching for an alternative technology and a more cost effective way to deliver high-speed connections to their customer base.

The only other alternative was digging up the streets and installing their own wiring to every residential or business customer in town. However, this option was not very attractive based on the capital required to deploy a wired network. Even worse, all of the capital had to be spent up front with the hope that enough customers would eventually sign up to make their business model profitable and provide investors with a return on investment.

Fortunately, another type of technology was making inroads on corporate campuses across America-Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs). Engineers had designed WLANs to enable corporate users to gain access to their network connections from virtually anywhere on the corporate campus. The technology was based on 802.11 Spread Spectrum standards that effectively delivered connections with speeds of 1, 2 or 11 Megabits per second.

Engineers deployed access points across a corporate campus that allowed users to maintain a connection to corporate network with a small antenna that plugged into the side of their laptop. Corporate network managers loved the technology because it meant no more pulling miles of wiring through walls, floors and ceilings to connect each user to a workstation. Once they had the access points and laptop antennas installed, managing users became a much easier and more attractive proposition.

The wireless concept intrigued ISPs for the same reason. They could finally build a network that didn't require working with the local telephone company or investing large amounts of money to dig up the streets and install their own wired network.

Another positive factor was that the wireless spectrum required to carry the broadband wireless signal was free to the public. The FCC designated frequencies at 2. 4 and 5.8 GHz for public use and required no licensing fees. This made the spectrum very attractive.

In addition, the hardware needed to broadcast and receive broadband wireless signals through the airwaves was maturing from years of use in the point-to-point long distance backhaul business. All the ISPs had to do was reengineer the system to work in a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) point-to-multipoint environment.

To do this, they took an indoor access point, attached some additional wiring to it, and ran the wiring to an outside-the-building antenna. By adding an amplifier, they learned that they could increase the range from several hundred feet to several miles. Being able to reach customers located miles away from the ISP's point of presence opened many, many doors for ISPs and their customer base.

The spectrum was free. The equipment to deploy wireless network was readily available from any computer store or distributor. However, the most attractive thing about building wireless networks from an ISP's perspective, was that it gave the operator total control of the network all the way to the customer's premises. Instead of depending on another carrier to provision circuits, which might take several months, the ISPs could have a wireless circuit provisioned in several days.

Once a circuit was installed, the ISP could provide much better technical support and better customer service because they managed the entire network. If an event impacted the network, the ISP did not have to depend on another carrier to fix the problem.

Owning the network also made ISPs much more comfortable offering guaranteed service level agreements. Since no other parties are involved in the provisioning, network management, billing or customer support, ISPs could deliver a guaranteed quality of service. They could also manage the network's performance and increase bandwidth whenever necessary.

Broadband wireless was also very flexible. It could reach many places that a wired circuit could not. For example, many businesses operate in locations where there are no wired connections at all. Many construction companies sign up for wireless access because there are no phone lines at all when a construction site is first developed. They simply set up a fixed antenna on their construction trailer and point the antenna at a nearby broadband wireless cell site, and instantly, they can begin communicating with the rest of the world.

Even in developed business parks or neighborhoods, many customers still do not have a broadband option at all. "When we moved to this neighborhood two years ago, we moved into a brand new neighborhood," said Kevin Shaver, a Gilbert, Arizona resident. "I thought for sure we would be able to get either a DSL or a cable modem connection. I spent a lot of time surfing the Internet hunting for information, and I really wanted a high-speed connection. However, when I called up the local telephone company, they told me that, 'you may be in a brand new neighborhood, but you're located on top of telecommunications infrastructure that was installed 30 years ago to support a rural farm community.' " Many residents like Mr. Shaver have no alternative but a dial-up modem or a very expensive T-1 connection, which usually cost more than a $1,000 month.

While there is a pent-up demand from residential customers for high-speed Internet connections, there is an even louder cry for bandwidth relief from small business owners. Many business owners cannot afford the cost of a T-1 connection, but still crave high-speed connections. Wireless ISPs like Renaissance Networks, based out of Tempe, AZ, have recognized this segment of the market and developed a service and pricing plan that is hard for small business customers to pass up.

"Our target customer is a business that has between 1 to 20 people and spend several hundred dollars per month on telecommunications services," said David Levin, Renaissance Network's Director of Sales. "Most of our customers want a 1.5 Mbps connection, but can't justify the cost of buying a wired circuit from the local telephone company. However, most don't need a full 1.5 Mbps and are very excited to learn that we can offer them a symmetrical 512 Kbps connection for a little over $130."

Like many wireless ISPs, Renaissance Networks did their homework before launching its broadband wireless network. At the Company's headquarters, a giant map hangs on the wall that details where every single Telco Central Office is located in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Each CO has a circle that shows where DSL hits its 18,000 foot distance limitation. In addition, the map also highlights where high-speed cable modem service is available. The result is a clear picture of where no other broadband service is available, except expensive T-1 circuits.

"We know exactly where the holes are in our competition's broadband coverage," Levin continued. "We simply build out our wireless points-of-presence where there is no other high-speed services available. This makes selling broadband wireless connections a very easy business. We are the only broadband alternative available and if we can save a small business owner several hundred of dollars per month, it is an easy sell."

What if a company needs a higher speed connection that 1.5 Mbps? The 2.4 and 5.8 GHz spectrum can generally provide speeds up to 10 Mbps at a range of around 10 miles. If a customer needs a higher speed connection, they can turn to another slice of unlicensed spectrum in the 60 GHz band.

While the distance a signal can travel in the upper wireless bands is limited to around a half of mile, at 60 GHz an operator can usually deliver a wireless connection in the gigabit per second range. As a result, this technology is very popular and is usually utilized to connect buildings that are close to, but not connected to fiber optic local loops. Once again, using wireless connections to connect to customers to fiber optic backbone network is much more cost effective than a wired connection and can save a building owner more than five figures per month in telecommunications local loop access charges.

To get a good perspective on where the broadband wireless marketplace is headed, here are some statistics from the Broadband Wireless 2001 Census Report published by the Broadband Wirelesss Alliance. In the year 2000, research showed that there were approximately 723 markets launched and providing high-speed wireless Internet connections to customers. By the end of 2001, the number of markets had increased to more than 1,966 markets, a 270% increase over 2000, and included service to every state in the U.S.

Broadband Wireless technology has been on the shelves for many years and is viewed by many as a very dependable and robust access technology. Though its use in the local loop is fairly new, research shows that ISPs and customers alike agree that this technology is the perfect solution for solving the last mile local loop congestion problem. As more and more ISPs discover the attractive value proposition of broadband wireless technology and their customers drive demand by spreading word of their positive experience with this technology, the Broadband Wireless industry will continue its meteoric growth, and within several years may be able to boast similar customer installation levels as its wired broadband counterparts.

About the Author
Robert Hoskins is Marketing Director of the Broadband Wireless Alliance
and Editor of the Broadband Wireless Exchange Magazine. He may be reached with questions or comments via email at robert.hoskins@frontpagepr.com