“No wires, no waiting” is the mantra of Air2Lan, a young wireless broadband company headed by industry leader and mainstay Jai Bhagat.
Bhagat, former chief executive officer of SkyTel Communications before it merged with WorldCom Inc., and several others formed the company last year in anticipation of the growing demand for high-speed Internet access from business and consumer users across the board, and in recognition of the lack of fiber and other wireline data technologies available to small- and medium-sized businesses.
According to Air2Lan, only 3 percent of the approximate 750,000 office buildings in the United States are connected with fiber, leaving a huge hole for companies like Air2Lan to fill.
“Where cellular was in 1983, we think we’re at that point on the adoption curve now (with wireless broadband),” said Bhagat, chairman and chief executive officer of Air2Lan.
The Jackson, Miss.-based company uses spectrum in the unlicensed 2.4 GHz and 5.7 GHz frequency bands to wirelessly deliver high-speed Internet access to businesses, multi-dwelling units, campuses, hotels and airports. The “no waiting” comes from Air2Lan’s belief that a customer should experience a limited amount of equipment installation to get the service up and running.
“We want to take an installation-free approach,” Bhagat said.
Other similar services such as digital subscriber line require professionals several hours to connect a user to the network. Getting on the Air2Lan network however, means mounting a small outside antenna on a building and having a PCMCIA card for a computer. The total cost to the consumer is around $250 and the antenna can be mounted by the customer.
Air2Lan also believes it has an advantage over wireless broadband providers that use licensed spectrum because it can install its antennas virtually anywhere. Licensed spectrum holders are limited by regulations designed to minimize radio-frequency interference. Air2Lan’s flexibility in antenna installation allows it to deploy a network faster, the company said.
Combining its technology with that of several other companies has allowed Air2Lan to develop and launch a number of different services, including Internet access, Web hosting and design, virtual private networks, firewall security and domain name service. The company has 191 customers in Jackson where the network became operational in May, and it hopes to be in approximately 51 markets during the next three to four years, Bhagat said. Service now is being deployed in Houston and New Orleans.
Customers can purchase anywhere from 256 kilobits to 2 Megabits and higher of bandwidth, depending on their needs. Pricing at the 256 kb level starts at around $180 per month, and 3 Mb can cost upwards of $1,000 per month.
The company recently signed a $13.5 million, three-year contract with infrastructure provider Wi-Lan Inc. for Wi-Lan to provide the foundation equipment for Air2Lan’s nationwide network.
