Sprint's fixed wireless service overcomes last mile delivery limitations inherent to digital subscriber line distance restrictions and coax-bound high-speed cable services, cutting out the Bells' cable and copper monopolies.

by Patricia Fusco
of internetnews.com

Sprint Corp. Monday launched its high-speed Internet service in Phoenix, Arizona designed to deliver broadband access to users over a fixed wireless technology.

Utilizing a fixed wireless Multi-channel Multi-point Distribution System, commonly known as MMDS, Sprint (FON) can effectively offer broadband services to 85 percent of homes and small businesses in Phoenix.

Unlike mobile wireless, fixed wireless uses a stationary digital transceiver at the home or business receiving the service. The transceiver is pointed toward a radio transmission tower to send and receive a signal. The digital transceiver is a small, 13.5”x 13.5” diamond-shaped device, which is less than half the size of the common Direct Broadcast Satellite TV dish. The radio transmission tower can send and receive high-speed Internet data to customers that are up to 35 miles away

Wireless Whips the Wires
By taking to the airwaves, Sprint overcomes last mile delivery limitations inherent to digital subscriber line distance restrictions and coax-bound high-speed cable services. Because Sprint's fixed wireless systems operate over available radio spectrum, it is positioned to take on wired broadband services nationwide.

Tim Sutton, Sprint Broadband Wireless Group president, said Sprint shatters broadband service carriers stranglehold on the high-speed Internet access market segment.

"The local Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs) have had a 20-year monopoly on the copper wire running to homes and businesses," Sutton said. "AT&T and Time Warner (TWX) AOL (AOL) are building monopolies on cable routes. Only the wireless alternative will open competition, spark new services and break the duopoly's hold on local customers."

Sutton said that Sprint has a great opportunity to create a leadership position in the Internet broadband race.

"With fixed wireless, we're perfectly positioned to deliver broadband to the masses and help close the digital divide between the broadband haves and have nots," Sutton said. "Sprint may be able to reach customers in our markets quicker than the competition and reach more of them in a more cost-efficient manner."

MMDS
MMDS is not a new technology, but its utilization toward developing high-speed Internet services is relatively young. It has been used to transmit analog television signals for more than 30 years, but now MMDS has been digitized and adapted to transmit data and Internet traffic.

Sprint currently maintains radio spectrum licenses in 90 markets, which allows it to pass near to 30 million U.S. homes and 4 million businesses.

Sprint has chosen to roll out this system in Phoenix, Arizona, a city that is more sprawl than tall, where there is little rain, and few trees. Even if the system works in the desert will it work in dense, wet cities like Seattle, Chicago, or New York? That question will remain.

Furthermore, Phoenix is a city in a basin, which makes it relatively easy to situate antennas: they can be in the hills overlooking the city. Placing antennas won't be so easy in other cities.

Pricing and Product
Sprint's high-speed access program, dubbed Sprint Broadband Direct, operates at speeds comparable to DSL and cable modem services. Like conventional broadband services the Internet connection is always on, so users don't have to dial into a modem bank. The technology is not constrained by shared telephone lines to a home or coax cables.

Installation takes several hours and the basic $40 monthly home access charge includes standard services, like six e-mail addresses, personal Web page hosting for each e-mail address, and customer service through a strategic partnership between EarthLink, Inc. (ELNK) and Sprint.

Sprint provides fixed wireless access to small businesses for $90 a month, which includes setups for five workstations as well as full service ISP amenities. Additional workstations can be connected for $5 a month.

Installation fees have been initially waived during the program launch. Equipment costs vary with the term of service, ranging from $299 for the month-by-month home access or business programs, to $99 when subscribers elect to sign-up for a 2-year service agreement.

Sutton said that high-speed Internet services are just the first phase of its fixed network deployment.

"We're currently selling high-speed Internet service only, but next year we'll introduce a version of Sprint Integrated On-Demand Network (ION) that runs over the wireless network," Sutton said.

Sprint may also be quicker to market than wired broadband providers because fixed wireless, unlike phone lines and cable access, doesn't require digging up city streets to install new cable or replace outdated, legacy copper loops. Sprint's fixed wireless network consists of installing a transmission tower and deploying wireless modems at the customer's business or home.

Wireless transmitters are then mounted on towers to make the wireless connection. Many markets already have towers built and Sprint can make use of its networking agreements with more than 15,000 Sprint PCS towers across the nation, giving it a competitive edge over smaller fixed wireless ISPs.

Each transmitter reaches customers in a 35-mile radius, so every home and business with a line of sight to the transmitter should be able to get broadband access. By circumventing the local RBOC's infrastructure, Sprint can offer broadband in areas that can't get high-speed service through phone lines or cable wire line connections.

The merger between Sprint and MCI Worldcom — and the politics involved
Both Sprint and MCI WorldCom, Inc. are rolling out fixed wireless this year. MCI WorldCom (WCOM) owns 120 licensed markets in the U.S., when combined with Sprint's markets, the merged company could have a combined fixed wireless reach that covers about 66 percent, or two-thirds of all households in the U.S.

Sprint's Sutton said that a merged Sprint-WorldCom company could quickly rival AT&T (T) broadband services.

"We'll have the nation's biggest footprint in broadband wireless, and we'll have achieved it more quickly and inexpensively than the competition," Sutton said. "For example, AT&T has spent $120 billion to get their cable properties, which cover about 29 million households. We'll have over twice that, and will have spent collectively only about $2.5 billion."

"The merged company will be positioned financially and strategically to break the stranglehold that Regional Bell Operating Companies have held on the industry for a long time," Sutton added.

Because Sprint's fixed wireless has a potential to ubiquitously serve remote and rural populations, the company is could end the "Digital Divide" in the U.S.

In a speech to the National Press Club earlier this year, Bernie Ebbers, WorldCom chief executive officer, cited the importance of the combined company's ability to increase competition and overcoming local monopolistic barriers to broadband services.

Ebbers announced that, within the year after the merger closes, the new company would accelerate deployment of broadband wireless in rural and under-served areas in the Southeast, Southwest, Pacific Northwest and Great Plains states.

"It is the combination of the MCI WorldCom and Sprint assets that will enable us to do this," Ebbers said.

Sutton agreed that the combined assets of the two companies posed a compelling argument for regulatory approval of the deal.

"There will be no divestiture of UUNET nor Sprint PCS as a result of today's wireless product launch," Sutton said. "Together, Spring and WorldCom would have the largest broadband footprint in the world. It's a compelling argument for the merger in that consumers would benefit from the economy of scale the combined companies could deliver."

Sprint's press release adds, "The single biggest roadblock to achieving the promise of a digital future remains the bottleneck in the last mile. The merger of Sprint and MCI WorldCom represents the strongest alternative to the RBOC/AT&T stranglehold."

Even if federal regulators block the MCI WorldCom-Sprint merger, Sprint will have a large enough footprint to reach 30 percent of all U.S. households. By the end of 2000, the Sprint expects to have deployed fixed wireless services to between 10 and 15 cities. The next launch is scheduled for Tucson, Arizona.

Related Links
Wireless Rocks the Monopoly, Part Two

Wireless ISPs Are Here

Here's Sprint's sample network diagram.

Also note this white paper about Wireless LAN systems.

Sprint's MMDS white paper.

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