Although The Government professes that “interoperability” is a cornerstone of its communications policy, New York City’s new $500 million broadband wireless secure data network, one of the largest of its kind in the world, is doing its own thing.
The proprietry system, developed by IP Wireless (now Nextwave) will install about 400 cellular antennas covering 95 percent of the city, reports the NY Times. The network, known as Nycwin, was built by Northrop Grumman (pdf) and should be completed by summer’s end.
It supports the international 3GPP TD-CDMA standard (wikipedia) on the 2.5 Ghz band. It’s a CDMA standard (like Sprint and Verizon), but uses only one channel (TDD). It uses Wide channels (5 and 10 MHz), for higher data rates. No voice.
The idea is for city agencies to use hand-held devices and tablets to increase efficiency. The city says 53 different applications across 19 different city agencies are either in pilot deployment or are planned for this year. It will cover about 70 percent of the city’s 322-square-mile expanse.
Of course Sprint is expected to initiate Mobile WiMAX service in NYC later this year — with broadband interoperability and voice.
So, apparently, city workers will now need three devices to communicate – one 2-way radio (for dispatch), one Nycwin device (for broadband data), and one Nextel phone (for outside calls). NYC just couldn’t wait 6 months for Mobile WiMAX which might combine all those functions – more cheaply and effectively.
The feds plan similar systems in Oklahoma City, Tucson and Washington. I don’t mean to be snarky — I think NYC needs a dedicated broadband network — but you have to wonder how useful yet another incompatible system will be. What’s the plan, Roger?
The number of WiBro subscribers is South Korea is expected to increase from approximately 100,000 in 2007 to 250,000 in 2008 and to more than 2.5 million in 2011. The WiMAX Forum expects more than 133 million subscribers worldwide by 2012 while Clearwire forecasts nearly 20 million Mobile WiMAX customers by 2014, in a territory covering about 200 million U.S. citizens.
Sprint will commercially launch its first WiMAX market in September in Baltimore and turn up service in its two other trial markets, Chicago and Washington, D.C., before the end of the year, while NYC will follow in early 2009.
These things are judgment calls, of course. But New York City’s TD-CDMA system seems destined to be an island of incompatibility.
Why did New York chose an incompatible CDMA system for their emergency network? When bids were going out, a couple of years ago, Mobile WiMAX was still a work in progress. Lead contractor Northrop Grumman said only the UMTS TDD standard could support N=1 frequency reuse (a single frequency network). Fixed WiMAX needed 3×10 Mhz which wasn’t available.
But now mobile WiMAX (with COFDMA) also offers a single frequency network. Grumman also said CDMA penetrated better (although slower). The proof will come soon enough — Sprint’s nationwide Mobile WiMAX network and Gruman’s CDMA system will soon go head to head in the Big Apple.
The feds make a big deal about interoperability — but they don’t walk the talk. Washingon DC’s incompatible 700 Mhz safety nets include one using EVDO (Lucent’s safety network) and one using incompatible Flarion technology (WARN) using ten, 700 MHz towers for citywide coverage.
NYC has a comprehensive IT plan, called PlanIT (pdf), but New York City has their $500M, city-wide network (at 2.5 GHz using IP Wireless), while New York State has a $2B public safety network using 700 Mhz, Project 25 radios.
None of these wireless networks are interoperable.
Clearwire’s Mobile WiMAX coverage in Hillsboro (below) is beginning to extend into downtown Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington, across the Columbia River.
Clearwire’s [standardized] Mobile WiMAX network will be on some 300 cell towers in the region and span more than 400 square miles when it becomes operational later this year.
It didn’t cost taxpayers one dime.
