Broadband Wireless Magazine says Cable One, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Washington Post, has selected Arcwave’s ARCXtend wireless plant extension throughout Cable One’s service areas. Cable One serves 700,000 residential subscribers in 17 states.
ARCXtend provides a wireless bridge for cable networks. It operates in the unlicensed 5 GHz frequency band and is designed to be a plug-and-play system that seamlessly integrates with a cable/fiber network. The system uses the 5.8 GHz band for downstream traffic and the 5.3 GHz band for upstream traffic.
The infrastructure of cable companies is often adjacent to its potential small-to-medium business customers. However, about 50 percent of that market can’t be reached due to zoning restrictions, right-of-way issues and the expense of adding fiber or coaxial cable, according to an estimate by Arcwave.
The radio utilizes the DOCSIS (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification) devised by Cable Labs and the SCTE (Society of Cable and Telecommunications Engineers), according to Chris Martin, VP of marketing at Arcwave. DOCSIS is a microwave line-of-sight technology and most of the links using the ARCXtend system cover less than a half of a mile’s distance.
“We’re the wireless providers to the cable industry,” Martin explained. “They’re less interested in how far you can go. They are more interested in modulation and cost.” Their wireless bridge is not a WiFi product. It uses the 5 GHz band and the DOCSIS cable modem protocol. Arcwave claims their network extension products are currently deployed by seven of the top 10 cable operators in the United States.
Arcwave is reportedly developing WiMAX-based products. They are one of a growing number of vendors that enable operators to extend their cable plant wirelessly. Others include Nortel Networks, VCom, and Wireless Bypass, among others.
Last Mile Communications uses wireless transceivers in lamp-posts for high-speed mobile broadband, and has established a strategic partnership with QinetiQ to commercialise the W-Direct technology. Their MagicBook technology enables mobile device customers to pre-select the information such as restaurant guides, hotel vacancies, cinema listings, local service stations, clubs, etc., without searching for it.
Cable plant can also be used to create “WiFi Zones”.
Charter Cable has forged a deal with RemotePipes to offer RemotePipes’ IP Roamer Wi-Fi service. The remote access is available to Charter’s residential and business high-speed customer base.
The IP Roamer client software is designed to enable users to enter a username and password in order to access multiple globally aggregated IP networks. Although exact terms of the deal were not disclosed, the companies said they plan to co-brand the service and share revenue.
Time/Warner’s Speed Zone, the first of many in the area, uses Airespace equipment at the San Antonio Rivercenter Courtyard. Visitors to San Antonio can remain connected via a standard Wi-Fi enabled laptop, PDA or other device (if they buy access).
Road Runner Speed Zones use 802.11b&g Wi-Fi with a Secure Sockets Layer and 128-bit encryption. Clients are prohibited from seeing each other on the network.
“We chose the Airespace platform for its unique ability to dynamically reconfigure itself to accommodate changes in user volumes and traffic patterns, ensuring that Road Runner Speed Zones can deliver consistent, secure and reliable Wi-Fi services, regardless of the amount of load place on the wireless network,” said Jeff Henry, Vice President of Marketing and New Product Development for Time Warner Cable-San Antonio.
WiFi switch vendor Airespace has added a solution for medium-sized offices. The Airespace 3500 can support a maximum of six lightweight access points covering up to 60,000 square feet and has features similar to those in the $10,000 Airespace 4000. It starts at $2,000.
“Wireless cable zones” might have broader appeal than “wireless bridges”. Cisco/Airespace could even send VoIP through “the zone” — with Nextel-Sprint spotting. Outdoors, unlicensed 2.4GHz WiFi might be replaced with licensed 2.5 GHz Mobile WiMax in a few years. Airespace and Cisco are both in the WiMax club.
No doubt, The Plan is already laid out. In Microsoft Project. On a PC. In the Comcast building in Philadelphia.
Related DailyWireless stories include; Regional Roaming Roundup, Time/Warner Cable Zones, Sprint/Nextel to Merge, Sprint-tel: Done Deal?, Sprint + Nextel = Cable?, WiFi Cable Phones, Sprint + Lucent for EV-DO, 4G Clouds in the United States, WiFi Vrs WiMax, Will 802.20 Challenge WiMax?, Sprint Plans National EV-DO Service, Cingular 3G Details and Cellular At The Races.
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