Wireless local loops forge ahead
 
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It has been a fruitful summer for fixed wireless. WorldCom recently announced it would seek licensing authority from the Federal Communications Commission to offer broadband fixed-wireless services in 60 markets across the U.S. using Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service. WorldCom has been running MMDS trials since March using equipment from Cisco and Motorola. MMDS operates in the 2 to 3 GHz band, delivers downstream speeds of about 10M bit/sec and transmits up to 30 miles between sites with no line-of-sight requirements.
Meanwhile, the IEEE Industry Standards and Technology Organization formed the Broadband Wireless Internet Forum (BWIF) with the aim of ensuring the adoption of a unified standard for the broadband wireless-access industry. Essentially, the group wants to ensure no one is left holding a Betamax. Members of BWIF said they plan to drive interoperable standards solutions based on Vector Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (VOFDM) technology, which is often used in conjunction with MMDS. With MMDS it is not necessary to have an unobstructed line of sight between antennas, therefore, signals bouncing off objects en route to their destination require reassembly at the receiving site. VOFDM handles this function. All of this wireless local-loop fanfare is interesting for a couple of reasons. First, wireless local loop technology is providing a broadband network service alternative for smaller sites that are more than 14,000 feet from their central offices and can't get DSL, have no wired infrastructure (think Alaskan pipeline), or just don't want cabling. Second, in the grand scheme of economics, broadband wireless access can only fuel the spirit of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 by enabling service providers to offer more alternatives without the time lags, rights-of-way negotiations, and infrastructure construction costs. Let me know what you think. Write to me at joanie@jwexler.com.RELATED LINKS
Joanie Wexler is an independent networking technology writer/editor in Campbell, Calif., who has spent most of her career analyzing trends and news in the computer networking industry. She welcomes your comments on the articles published in this newsletter, as well as your ideas for future article topics. Reach her at joanie@jwexler.com.
Network World Wireless archive
Past newsletters.
Network World Wireless Newsletter, 06/26/00 Opinion: I want wireless broadband, and I want it now!
Network World, 06/26/00 Opinion: Whhaazzuuhhp with Broadband Wireless?
Network World, 04/24/00 Archive of the Wireless in the Enterprise newsletter
