Wireless broadband gained strength as a credible force in
local access technology on several fronts last week, most notably with announcement of a
$2-billion infrastructure expansion deal between WinStar Communications and Lucent
Technologies, Inc.
At the same time, the Federal Communications Commission's
Wireless Bureau said it had completed licensing of nearly all winners of last spring's
LMDS (local multipoint distribution service) auction, including top bidder WNP
Communications, which was in the process of completing a round of financing to cover costs
of initial buildouts.
And Comcast Corp., holder of licenses across the country in
the Wireless Communications Services spectrum tier, offered some clues about its plans
domestically as well as on the international front, where it intends to pursue wireless
broadband licenses at the 38 gigahertz level.
WinStar, which provides fixed point-to-point broadband
services to over 10,000 business customers in 27 U.S. cities, will be able to tap up to $2
billion in capital funding from Lucent as part of an expansion program targeting some 100
cities worldwide with point-to-multipoint as well as point-to-point services over the next
five years, officials said.
"WIth Lucent's network knowledge behind us, we're
positioned to be the first competitive carrier to create a nearly ubiquitous end-to-end
broadband network in the top 100 world markets," said William Rouhana, chairman and
CEO of WinStar.
The $2-billion funding agreement, to be tapped in $500
million increments and complemented by a $500-million capital reserve WinStar has already
amassed, calls for Lucent to be the integrator and primary equipment supplier, with
WinStar reserving final say in network design, Rouhana said.
Lucent will supply gear such as its new generation of
multiprotocol "AnyMedia" class 5 switches, digital loop carrier and IP (Internet
protocol) access systems, remote access concentrators and the 80-wavelength DWDM (dense
wavelength division multiplexing) "WaveStar" fiber optic system. The latter will
be used in linking wireless transmitter hubs at the regional level as well as central
offices across the U.S. and elsewhere.
Sources said Lucent has agreed to select "best of
breed" equipment in other areas, including the all-important radio technology to be
used in the new point-to-multipoint deployments, now slated to get underway commercially
by year's end following nearly a year of testing over a hub array in Washington, D.C.
WinStar has been using radio systems supplied by Northern
Telecom and Hughes Communications Inc., but has not said who its suppliers will be for the
nationwide rollout.
"We anticipate that, over time, Lucent's technology
will emerge as the leader for the over-the-air portion of the network, but, for now, we'll
probably use other suppliers," said a company source, who requested anonymity.
Point-to-multipoint remains a "major priority" in
WinStar's expansion program, he added.
WinStar, building gear to operate at both the 38 GHz tier
and the 28 GHz LMDS tier, where it holds licenses in a handful of markets, is moving just
behind Teligent Inc. in getting point-to-multipoint (PMP) technology into commercial
operation. Teligent, with licenses nationwide at 24 GHz, launched the first commercial PMP
two-way wireless broadband operation anywhere in Los Angeles last month.
LMDS operators, with less capital funding support than
WinStar and Teligent, have been slower to get going in their deployments of the new PMP
technology. Providers have generally positioned PMP technology to be used initially in
supplying broadband voice and data services to business markets, with residential markets
to follow once equipment costs reach consumer price points. Moreover, a slow licensing
process at the FCC has made it hard for many LMDS spectrum holders to move ahead.
WNP had to wait several months longer than anticipated to
get its LMDS licenses, but, with 1.15 GHz of spectrum to work with in 39 Basic Trading
Areas representing 41 percent of the U.S. population, WNP has a lot going for it,
including the flexibility to lease portions of its spectrum to other providers. So far,
the company has indicated it wants to be a primary supplier rather than seeking to resell
spectrum to bigger players.
"We're pursuing the buildout and hiring people,"
said WNP president Tom Jones. "Everything is on track."
At the FCC, the Wireless Bureau is "down to just a few
licenses" yet to be issued out of the 864 that were successfully auctioned in the A
(1.15 GHz) and B (150 MHz) blocks, said a commission source. There are 114 A-block and
eight B-block licenses that weren't bid on that the agency will reauction next year, the
source added.
Comcast, which initially showed interest in LMDS but backed
away from bidding, amassed much smaller blocks of spectrum in the earlier WCS auctions at
the 2.3 GHz tier.
The company picked up 10 MHz blocks covering about half the
country, which it now intends to use as a "wireless fill-in" to reach areas not
covered by cable for provision of high- speed data services, according to company sources.
At the same time, the company is moving to take advantage
of wireless broadband technology in Europe by taking a majority stake in Brussels-based
TeleSource Corp., a startup holding a test license at 38 GHz in Amsterdam and hoping to be
licensed there and in Germany by early next year.
"We expect that within the next few years governments
throughout Western Europe will allocate frequencies for broadband wireless, and TeleSource
intends to be a part of this significant growth," said Brian Gibbons, a senior
executive with Comcast International.
