Alvarion Notches WiMAX Win in the US Heartland with Wisper

Midwest based Wisper chooses Alvarion to supply a dual spectrum WiMAX deployment in both 2.5 GHz and 3.65 GHz.

In what is the first dual-frequency deployment of WiMAX radios in the US that I have heard of, Minnesota-based Wisper chooses Alvarion to supply both a 2.5 GHz licensed spectrum solution and a 3.65 GHz lightly regulated spectrum solution. 

I thought this was interesting because Wisper, which obviously already owns licensed 2.5 GHz spectrum, intends to also deploy a 3.65 GHz solution.  This probably should be no surprise as I consider the two technologies in the US to be very compatible and able to serve different customer base segments.  In many ways, it is an ideal mix between serving the portion of a market that is predominately needful of a fixed broadband solution and those for whom mobility is more important. 

Wisper currently serves 21 towns from 18 tower locations and was incorporated in 2005.  Wisper intends its announced rollout to increase capacity up to 600 percent with a dual voice and data offering to its expected marketplace of about 550,000 residents in its Minnesota markets. 

Wisper is based in Melrose, Minnesota and is owned by diversiCOM, Inc.  It markets its product under the DBA Wisper High Speed Internet. 

I think this is an interesting mix of product and a very pragmatic one as well.  Sometimes we in the broadband wireless business become a bit too enamored of one technology, or spectrum range or business model.  At the end of the day, broadband wireless ISP services are just that: A service business.  Whatever tools are used to serve customers profitably for your given situation is the right tool. 

I am a big fan of the 3.65 GHz range, which I think has a lot of promise for independent operators.  It is good to see a company with licensed assets see value in this spectrum range as well. 

Tim Sanders
www.TheFinalMile.net

Wednesday, October 01, 2008 in Deployments  | Permalink |  Comments (0)

Azulstar picks Alvarion's 3.65 GHz WiMAX radios

Azulstar chooses Alvarion to provide a WiMAX 3.65 GHz solution for its networks in New Mexico and Western Michigan.

Azulstar opened its first WiMAX service this past week using the new Alvarion WiMAX 3.65 GHz radios in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and it is also opening service across most of Western Michigan and to markets it serves in New Mexico. 

Azulstar began service testing in February of this year.  The first communities to receive actual service will be Grand Rapids, Grand Haven, Ferrysburg, Sprint Lake and parts of Ottawa and Kent Counties.  In New Mexico service went up this week in Rio Rancho and Albuquerque with more towns to be added in the fall. 

The service called MetraMAX is positioned to serve residential, business, and governmental customers.  Price points for business customers with T1s comes in under $275 per month and residential service prices start for less than $40 per month.  Bundles include phone and Internet service.  Azulstar is offering up to 6 Mbps for residential customers and up to 100 Mbps of symmetric service for business customers. 

What the press release does not say is whether or not the 100 Mbps service is actually its 3.65 GHz product.  In fact, I doubt that it is.  While I am an avowed fan of using 3.65 GHz I do not believe it supports data rates that high.  Most likely Azulstar is using some type of Point-to-Point backhaul radio technology for links of that capacity. 

In any event, it is always welcome to see more 3.65 GHz deployments hit the field.  I think it is a very valuable tool for carriers who cannot afford or find licensed broadband spectrum. 

Tim Sanders
www.TheFinalMile.net
 

Monday, September 29, 2008 in Deployments  | Permalink |  Comments (0)

WiMAX Devices for the Car

Motorola announces trials of a new machine-to-machine WiMAX device for automobiles.

Motorola announced this week that it intended to begin trials of its new X24, a machine-to-machine (M2M) device for automobiles that would access WiMAX networks. The X24 mission is to provide automotive telemetry and low-cost broadband access.

What isn't completely clear from what I read is whether or not this device is intended to offer users broadband access in their cars or to be more of a diagnostic or auto health telemetry machine. My best guess is that since the device is characterized as an M2M service, it would be the latter. I imagine this would be a product much like OnStar is for the auto industry, but perhaps in a more automated fashion.

No one has said from what I have read whether or not this device would have VoIP capabilities. But I think this is an interesting application for WiMAX networks and clearly is heralding an era of open device delivery.

If Google for example is successful in building devices that search for available wireless networks, then those kinds of initiatives coupled with advanced M2M products really will usher in a new era of Telecom capability.

Tim Sanders
www.TheFinalMile.net

Monday, September 29, 2008 in Applications  | Permalink |  Comments (0)

T-Mobile Debuts Android - So will a WiMAX Device Soon Follow?

A new report suggests that Google will soon follow its T-Mobile Android handset debut with a Clearwire device in 2009.

A new report from ThinkPanmure LLC asserts that Google could produce an Android-based handset for use by Clearwire subscribers in 2009.  This report comes on the heels of recent favorable comments by Ben Wolff on the subject. 

The G1 phone from T-Mobile

With some early favorable reviews of the T-Mobile offering based on the Android platform, customer acceptance and anticipation could be strong.  The analyst believes that Clearwire is already working with several vendors to develop Android-based handsets.  And don't forget that with Clearwire's open network architecture, other third party companies could be working on handsets based upon Android already.

The first Android device on T-Mobile will sell for $179.  And early reviews I read, while somewhat mixed on device aesthetics, sort of raved a bit about the functionality.  So what will the first Clearwire Android phones look like? Clearwire has said that it may not widely deploy mobile VoIP before 2010 due to the time it will take to re-install its network to mobile WiMAX, so the first devices may be more data driven. 

I think the dedicated devices could be the most interesting. 

Tim Sanders
www.TheFinalMile.net

Thursday, September 25, 2008 in Applications  | Permalink |  Comments (0)

Clearwire Sounds Off on Android and More

In a wide-ranging interview conducted at CTIA last week, Clearwire CEO Ben Wolff revealed the company's thoughts on using Google's mobile wireless platform Android and much more.

Unstrung conducted an interesting interview with Clearwire's CEO Ben Wolff at CTIA where they discussed Android and other topics.  What was the result? Well, Clearwire plans to do something with Android, but can't say just what yet. 

To some extent Clearwire is in the same boat the rest of us are.  They are being told devices (which are still in the design phase) are due for the middle of 2009.  As Wolff said, "I'll believe it when I see it."

Still Wolff was impressed with the Android demo phone he had seen and Clearwire and Google have already incorporated some click-through calling from Google Maps for the San Francisco bay area. 

Clearwire also thinks its merger of assets with Sprint to get regulatory approval by the end of the year.  In the meantime Clearwire is waiting on the deal to close before moving forward with more Mobile WiMAX deployments.  But why wait---in a word funding.  Clearwire clearly needs the cash that the deal and new investment will bring in to pull off new deployments.  Despite a short-term funding crunch as regards new cities expansion, Clearwire has been building relays and is up to 2,500 of them already. 

The interview covered lots of other interesting ground.  Check it out. 

Tim Sanders
www.TheFinalMile.net

Tuesday, September 16, 2008 in Applications  | Permalink |  Comments (1)

Spectrum Brokerage Could Offer New Source of WiMAX Compatible Spectrum

Florida startup Spectrum Bridge Inc. intends to offer brokerage services for buyers and sellers of spectrum, potentially offering WiMAX carriers a new source of licensed spectrum.

The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) covered the launch of a new spectrum brokerage in Florida called Spectrum Bridge, Inc. This firm claims it already has inventory of spectrum worth $250 million for sale or lease.

There is plenty of spectrum licenses being bought and sold between existing carriers, primarily major carriers. But for smaller companies especially it has been difficult and expensive to acquire WiMAX compatible spectrum for operations. This start-up if successful could be a great source of spectrum. The company believes that buyers and sellers mostly just don't know what is out there. And many major carriers have been reluctant to offer their licenses for sale or lease, preferring instead to warehouse their licensed frequencies for future use.

Others have tried this before, most notably Cantor Fitzgerald, but what seems to set this startup apart are two things: Strong connections to FCC players and a substantial existing inventory (according to company claims) of spectrum right out of the gate.

An interesting move.

Tim Sanders
www.TheFinalMile.net
 

Monday, September 08, 2008 in Business  | Permalink |  Comments (0)

Intel Capital Funds Multimedia Messaging Company's WiMAX Initiative

Intel Capital invests $3 million into Aicent to help speed the development of roaming multimedia messaging over WiMAX networks.

In a bit of a surprising move, Intel Capital has chosen to invest $3 million into Aicent, a company focused on delivering multimedia messaging services to cellular companies. What is special about Aicent is that its network enables customers to retrieve messages effectively while roaming.

Clearly, roaming functionality is a hallmark of what Intel wants to promote about WiMAX. And this move clearly is seen as a plan to make sure this technology works well with WiMAX.

Intel has previously invested in several companies focused upon producing WiMAX systems, including vendors Motorola, Nokia-Siemens as well as carriers such as Unwired Australia and of course, Clearwire Corporation.

Moves like this could help ensure that the technology hits the ground running in terms of functionality when truly mobile WiMAX technology starts showing up at scale.

It won't be much longer.

Tim Sanders
www.TheFinalMile.net
 

Monday, September 08, 2008 in Applications  | Permalink |  Comments (0)

Indian WiMAX Spectrum Winners Allowed to Deliver Voice Services

India's Department of Telecommunications agrees to allow WiMAX spectrum winners to deliver voice services---for a price

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in India recently decided to allow its WiMAX spectrum winners to offer voice services after all.  But the catch is that the price will be higher. 

Previously, the DoT had set the broadband wireless price at 25 percent of the cost of a 3G mobile license based on a per MHz basis.  With voice being allowed the price will jump to at least 50 percent of the base cost of a 3G license.   Costs for a nationwide WiMAX with voice enabled would climb to approximately $230 million from $115 million. 

As might be expected the Indian 3G mobile community thinks allowing WiMAX to compete with both voice and data at a discount is patently unfair.  While WiMAX proponents argue that the price is still not low enough to enable affordable broadband data delivery. 

The spectrum in question includes 40 MHz at the 2.3 GHz frequency and another 40 MHz at 2.5 GHz.  Of the 2.5 GHz potion nationwide operators BSNL and MTNL already have 20 MHz set aside for them.  That leaves a total of 60 MHz up for auction to fall to three bidders who can each claim 20 MHz. 

For 3G dual 5 MHz channels between 1920 and 1980 MHz and another 5 MHz at 2110 to 2170 MHz is up for grabs. 

Tim Sanders
www.TheFinalMile.net

Thursday, September 04, 2008 in Business  | Permalink |  Comments (0)

Sprint Leads Telecom into the Age of Location-based Services

Sprint inks a number of partner agreements that will leverage the quantity and quality of location-based services that customers will be able to use in future.

Recognizing that a large portion of customers future use of broadband services in its Xohm broadband wireless division will come from the need to search for services locally, Sprint has aggressively expanded its ecosystem agreements with numerous third party partners.

The vision for the future of location-based search includes numerous devices such as laptops, mobile handheld devices, cameras, car navigation systems and much more. The notion of being able to perform quick searches and have software prioritize results based on where you are physically located is a powerful concept.

Searching for movie tickets would, for example, bring up results for the closest theatres---as would finding a gas station or a list of restaurants. And all of these results could include mapping, driving directions and even video showing the actual route.

Sprint's new partners, which one presumes will also carryover to the new Clearwire when that deal is concluded include Yelp, Inc., a site featuring reviews of businesses including restaurants.

Another partner uLocate Communications, Inc. is building the underlying primary platform for much of this partnering. And its platform will facilitate connections to business, places and favorite people.

Eventful Inc. ties events to local mapping to help people find things to do---whereas Topix LLC parses summaries of local news. And Navteq provides traffic and commuter updates.

Other partners such as Autodesk Inc., Openwave Systems, Inc. AccuWeather and even Google all offer numerous useful and potentially very lucrative capabilities to the next generation of mobile broadband.

I don't know about you, but I think this will be a very interesting time.

Tim Sanders
www.TheFinalMile.net
 

Thursday, August 28, 2008 in Applications  | Permalink |  Comments (0)

WiMAX Deployments are Occurring Across the US

Numerous carriers are deploying WiMAX technology around the US - and a lot of them are using the new 3.65 GHz WiMAX gear that is now available.

Clearwire is still considered the 800 pound gorilla on the US WiMAX scene. But Clearwire is by no means the only carrier that is deploying WiMAX to meet customer needs. In the realm of licensed spectrum carriers Digital Bridge Communications garnered the distinction of being the first US carrier to deploy a commercially ready mobile WiMAX service based on the 802.16e standard when it opened up Jackson Hole, Wyoming to customers in June.

But also exciting to me is to see so many carriers using WiMAX radios in the 3.65 GHz bands. The 3.65 GHz range has long held promise, especially because of its higher power allotment, the licensed nature of its spectrum and the very low cost of that license ($210). But it has been a band of frequencies in search of a radio solution because there was no gear that met the interference resistant contention protocol the FCC required for it.

But a vigorous lobby effort by WiMAX vendors and stakeholders resulted in FCC approval to use WiMAX in 25 MHz of the spectrum. And the race was on. Vendors could adapt their existing 802.16d fixed WiMAX gear being sold worldwide at 3.5 GHz easily to the US market. Redline won the race by being the first to get certified by the FCC in late 2007. Several other vendors have since joined them in offering radios for 3.65 GHz use.

Now companies like Pipeline Wireless LLC are launching in Boston with 3.65 GHz. Nth Air Inc. is lighting up San Jose and the Democratic National Convention in Denver. And NextPhase Wireless, Inc. intends to blanket Orange County, California with the same technology.

They are not alone. This spectrum is unique in many ways, but perhaps most powerfully so in that it is higher powered licensed spectrum, for very little money and WiMAX technology can be used for it. And the license requirements are so flexible it can be deployed almost as freely as unlicensed spectrum solutions.

I think this is a very important trend for the independent regional broadband wireless carrier.

Tim Sanders
www.TheFinalMile.net
 

Tuesday, August 26, 2008 in Deployments  | Permalink |  Comments (0)