SAN FRANCISCO-More than 1,600 people converged on San Francisco last week to confirm what most attendees already knew-wireless broadband is going to be big.
The Second Annual Broadband World Wireless Forum 2000, produced by Shorecliff Communications Inc., brought together broadband wireless service providers, equipment manufacturers, consultants, analysts and press from approximately 24 countries.
The conference played out much like a two-day power course in Wireless Broadband 101. Many of the conference speakers, including industry leaders Dave Kimzey of Alcatel, Buddy Pickle of Teligent Inc. and Steve Hooper of Nextlink Communications Inc., outlined ways the industry needs to move forward to maximize its success.
Across the board, the focus fell heavily on quality of service, and several emphasized that in the end, all customers care about is how reliable their service is-not whether it’s provided wirelessly or by wireline.
“They should not see any difference between a wireline and wireless connection,” said Mike Meldahl, executive vice president of Montana Power/Touch America, during a panel discussion titled “Evaluating the 21st Century Carrier Model.”
Robert McCambridge, chief operating officer and president of Advanced Radio Telecom, and Kyle Mussman, chief operating officer of HighSpeed.com, also participated in the discussion, and all agreed Internet Protocol-not ATM-is going to be the most important user protocol.
“We see a common thread. Everything will be driven by IP. How economically can I provide the end product to the customer?” Meldahl said.
A survey of the opening session attendees taken in real-time by Alcatel confirmed this. Eighty-four percent said IP will be the most important user protocol, although when asked what the most important transport protocol would be, 50 percent said ATM and 43 percent said IP.
One issue that remains on the dividing line is whether wireless broadband service providers will need to offer more than just wireless broadband Internet access.
“There is no set answer that says you have to provide the full menu. There’s no reason you have to provide more than wireless broadband,” Meldahl said.
That is an idea quite contrary to the marketing strategies of companies like Nextlink and Winstar that believe in offering a range of communication services-from wireless broadband to digital subscriber line-to create the ultimate business communication services package.
Nextlink readily admits its wireless broadband service is mainly going to be used to fill out its fiber optic rings, and Winstar has said it’s not in the fixed wireless business, instead, the company “promotes business productivity.”
John Skoro, director of product marketing and broadband wireless access for Nortel Networks, continued the broadband crash course and offered Nortel’s view on what wireless broadband’s role will be in the future of networking.
Among other things, he believes 2000 will be the year wireless broadband will become more mainstream. The local multipoint distribution services markets are beginning to bud, he said, and deregulation and liberalization of the technology is rapidly progressing throughout the world, creating openings for new operators and competition.
Increased competition will be important in driving the equipment cost per subscriber down. The real-time Alcatel survey revealed nearly half of the participating attendees believed equipment cost per subscriber needs to be below $400 for the industry to succeed. Current costs are considerably higher.
Aging legacy networks also will contribute to the success of wireless broadband, facilitating new technology adoption rather than existing plant upgrades, Skoro said.
