TowerStream has launched a wireless backhaul service in the five boroughs of New York City for enterprises and hot spot operators. At $325 per Mbps, TowerStream’s pricing is significantly lower than a wired T-1.
TowerStream, which currently provide T-1 and higher Internet access in Boston, plans to expand availability to more than 90% of the greater New York. Their Wi-Fi hot spot backhaul, typically the most expensive part of a Wi-Fi network, uses a fixed wireless network with point-to-multipoint technology from Aperto Networks, Proxim, Cisco Systems and others.
“We can offer our service for half the price of wireline T-1 and deliver next day service, because we are not beholden to the phone company,” said TowerStream CEO and co-founder Philip Urso. “Because we own our own network, we offer higher Quality Of Service than competitors, and back it up with an industry-leading guarantee through our Service Level Agreement.”
802 Planet reports, the foundation of TowerStream’s network is a “self-healing” wireless ring that connects towers with point-to-point unlicensed and licensed links. Each point on the ring serves as an Internet point of presence (POP) for a point-to-multipoint wireless network. If one of the POPs goes down, it automatically reroutes. Customers connect wirelessly using an eight-inch dish.
TowerStream uses proprietary 802.16-class base stations from Aperto Networks, (their WiMax standard 802.16 product, perhaps using Intel chips, will likely be used later). Towerstream’s clients include banks, insurance companies and Wi-Fi public access operators like Emenity, the commercial wireless network integrator that spun out of the pioneering NYCwireless early this year.
Terry Schmidt, Chief Technology Officer with Emenity, says, “We heard about TowerStream’s service and pricing from peers in other cities, and knew they would deliver a very cost-effective backbone. As a customer, we are extremely impressed by their throughput and the speed of service activation, as well as the economics. For example, TowerStream provisioned our Union Square site within one day.”
“We had honed the Wi-Fi access side of the solution very well during deployment of the NYCwireless network, says Schmidt. But we had to find a way to connect end user traffic to the Internet. TowerStream has this part of the solution — the metro network service for backhaul — at price points that really fit the business user and hot spot operator economics.”
In Boston, TowerStream has a multi-Gigabit self-healing wireless ring network. The network has redundant Internet Points of Presence and up to four diverse Tier One carriers. With primary antennas on seven of Boston’s highest points, TowerStream can reach subscribers up to 33 miles from the city center.
The United Way, Boston Housing Authority, the City of Boston, MIT Lincoln Labs, Bentley College and Berklee College of Music use Towerstream in Boston. TowerStream’s secure wireless access can also be used for wireless VPNs, streaming video and audio, disaster recovery and VoIP.
TowerStream was the first carrier selected to join the WiMAX Forum to assist leading vendors such as Intel, Fujitsu, Aperto Networks and Proxim in establishing industry compliance with international broadband wireless access standards and cross-vendor interoperability.
Some free community lan networks are attempting to use 802.11b bridges for the “last mile”. Demarc’s Reliawave 200mW AP ($469), an 11 Mbps point-to-multipoint wireless bridge and D-link’s DWL 1750 ($800), an outdoor, 200mW Router/Bridge, for example, might be used in conjunction with $100 client side Bridges like the Linksys WET-11. But using stock 802.11b can be problematic in the “last mile”. That’s because 802.11b “listens” before transmitting. When other radios are miles away, the client can’t “hear” them and transmits, resulting in interference and lower throughput. The solution is a polling mechanism, like the proprietary Karlnet. Unfortunately, that eliminates the advantage of standardized 802.11b gear since all the 802.11b client cards must be “flashed” with the firmware. A “polling” mechanism is included in the 802.16a standard.
The first implementations of 802.16a might be applied to replace T-1 backhaul for businesses. Later, as equipment gets cheaper, individual 802.16a clients will connect to a neighborhood tower using small window-mounted, panel antennas rather than DSL or cable modems.
The 802.16a spec features narrower channel spacing (and more channels) than 802.11a although it can use the same 5 GHz frequency band. Narrower 6 Mhz channels (and more COFDM carriers) result in better range and reception (all things being the equal). COFDM resists multi-path and includes higher bit rates than “last mile” CDMA competitors such as cellular-based EV-DO or “4G” systems by Navini and Flarion.
Many 802.16a vendors are likely to offer a central tower with six, +12db to +15db antennas covering 60 degrees each for $20,000 or so. Client gear might cost $200-$500 in a year or two. Costs are likely to drop as vendor competition increases. Each 802.16a section might handle 1,000 subscribers, making a 5,000 subscriber wireless ISP economically feasible.
In a year or so, one-piece Access Points like Pronto or FatPort may include a $200, 802.16a card, eliminating the need for DSL or cable modem backhaul. That’s probably what CoMeta has always planned on. Getting the box down to $500 doesn’t seem onerous but cellular buy-in (and tower locations for 802.16a) could be trickier.
It may be too late. Both Sprint and AT&T Wireless (AWS) divulged their 3G deployment plans last week. Cellular companies have lost the licensed MMDS band - prime real estate for “mobilized 4G”.
Sprint and Nextel have 2/3rd of the MMDS spectrum in the United States while T-Mobile is investing in Flarion, the leader in 802.20. Will the remaining cellular companies upgrade to “3G”, go with “4G” or invest in CoMeta’s $500 box with Wi-Fi roaming?
Unless Cometa, cellular companies and telephone companies come up with a plan - and fast - it may already be too late.
The “mobilized” 802.16e standard, will get reduced to a PC-Card or CompactFlash in 2005-6. That could give 802.11b a run for its money. An “access point” could be blocks away and do VoIP. Although it’s just speculation, perhaps scanning beams (like Vivato’s), and mobility (built into 802.16e), could be combined to provide practical, cellular-like range in the unlicensed 5 GHz band.
Qwest and SBC have a plan. Satellite television. Mobilized 802.16e might be hung from poles. Cable operators will follow. The impact on cellular is hard to predict.
Perhaps NYC Wireless will be the ultimate victor. The new AT&T.
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