Wireless broadband Internet company Airband Communications is expanding its footprint in the four largest metropolitan markets in Texas; Austin, San Antonio, Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston.
Built on a Cisco powered IP backbone utilizing fixed wireless technologies, airBand has the capability to quickly deliver scalable services adjusting to the needs of businesses, whether large or small, with last mile local loops, as well as dedicated point-to-point services up to the OC-12 level.
Airband President and CEO Mark F. Spagnolo says one benefit WiMAX provides is that it eliminates the last-mile bandwidth bottleneck that companies sometimes experience when running a broadband line through their local telephone network.
AirBand bought the fixed wireless business of broadband ISP Accelacom, based in Baltimore recently, adding to AirBand’s growing infrastructure, which is centered on Texas.
AirBand says to serves 28 markets, though its web site currently lists only the Texas cities of Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston plus Phoenix, Arizona.
AirBand has deployed an IP ring backhaul solution in Texas, linking its existing points of presence using the Ceragon FiberAir (right) in licensed 28GHz spectrum, promising customers that they will have installation within 30 days and achieve ROI within a year.
AirBand will convert its 5.8GHz last mile technology, supplied by Axxcelera, to WiMAX, still using the Ceragon backhaul. Cisco-based Ceragon FibeAir Outdoor Units are used for short to medium haul applications. Axxcelera plans to certify its 5 GHz AB-Max platform during the next wave of certification.
AirBand says the combination enabled it to achieve profitability in Dallas in 19 months and in Phoenix in just over a year, four months ahead of schedule, with an average customer payback period of 13-14 months. Even with proprietary technology, AirBand says can outfit a building in a few hours for under $4,000, making it profitable even with only one tenant per building.
In other news,Wavesat and TI are teaming to launch a 5.8 GHz WiMAX Mini-PCI Reference Design. The WiMAX-compliant 5.8 GHz unlicensed gear will use Wavesat’s Evolutive WiMAX DM256 chip.
TI’s WiMAX products, including their 1GHz DSPs are used in Alvarion’s BreezeMAX 4Motion line which supports IEEE 802.16e Mobile WiMAX. It features scalable OFDM, smart antennas, MIMO, and dynamic bandwidth allocation.
