NEW YORK-Concourse Communications Group L.L.C., Mineola, N.Y., is on a mission to turn the problem of poor reception inside public facilities into a business opportunity that will benefit wireless carriers and their customers.
Last week, Concourse announced a two-year strategic alliance with LGC Wireless of San Jose, Calif., to build and install wireless voice and data networks in major airports in the United States. LGC will provide its patented LGCell networking system, which provides uniformly reliable and clear reception by conducting cellular and personal communications services communications signals from base stations to and throughout terminals and corridors.
“The technological revolution in wireless … is driving a phenomenal increase in cellular, PCS and data usage, which in turn has made it imperative for carriers to maximize their network capacity,” said Richard DiGeronimo, co-founder and chief executive officer of Concourse.
“Because the users in airports subscribe to a variety of wireless operators’ services, it’s critical to have a solution that can economically provide service to all of them. Concourse has found the LGCell to be the best-in-class solution for those multicarrier environments.”
DiGeronimo also is co-founder and president of New York City-based New York Telecom Partners L.L.C., two-thirds owner of Concourse. SpectraSite Communications Inc. owns the other third.
“We are a real estate company with a technology overlay,” he said.
New York Telecom Partners has its offices in the World Trade Center, the biggest office complex in North America, according to Philip E. Deck, the McKinney, Texas-based chief technical officer of Concourse. In late May, Concourse announced a 25-year agreement to install its Commercial Wireless Access System, a multiple-carrier network, inside many of the properties owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, including portions of the World Trade Center; the terminals at the three major airports in the New York City metropolitan area; and two tunnels traversing the Hudson River. AT&T Wireless Services Inc., Verizon Wireless, Nextel Communications Inc. and VoiceStream Wireless have subscribed to this network.
“For voice communications, we want to be a carrier’s transport, an independent backbone. In the case of wireless data, our goal is to be a carrier’s carrier,” said Anne C. Gunther, Concourse’s vice president of business development, based in Coto De Caza, Calif.
In consultation with its carrier customers, Concourse looks for best-of-breed solutions for the underlay it provides, Deck said. Therefore, while Concourse likes the LGC Wireless solution for its effectiveness inside terminals, it also chose radiated cable supplied by Andrew Corp. to provide coverage inside tunnels. A third solution, he added, would be to provide fiber to the desk, an approach the company plans to take on floors above ground level in the World Trade Center.
DiGeronimo said Concourse will build its systems on a speculative basis, in public-private partnerships with government agencies and in partnerships with telecommunications carriers. Besides underground tunnels and mass transit systems, the company has its eye on strategically located airports in the hub-and-spoke system and on other “trophy office buildings,” he said.
“There also is a niche for the in-building office market, if done correctly in tandem with a [competitive local exchange carrier], to provide fixed wired and wireless,” DiGeronimo added.
“No one has really done the wireless local area network in the office yet. You control the pipe, and anyone can plug and play.”
