While most wireless operators are in the midst of launching third-generation wireless data services using traditional base stations over licensed airwaves, an increasing number of smaller, independent companies have begun deploying high-speed wireless data services using unlicensed spectrum and both proprietary and standards-based technologies that could alter the 3G landscape.
Many industry analysts and wireless carriers have dismissed competition between wide area network-based 3G services and local area network services, citing distinctively different coverage areas from each network. Analysts have noted that wide area networks can cover several square miles with a single base station while a local area network access point generally covers less than 300 feet in most urban surroundings.
A recent report noted more than 700 traditional Wi-Fi access points would be required to cover the same area as one wide area network base station, adding that it would take 7 million Wi-Fi access points to provide the same coverage as a nationwide wide area network, which needs a minimum of 10,000 base stations.
However, the infrastructure differential could be offset by the relatively low cost of Wi-Fi access points. The Farpoint Group said it would be substantially cheaper (at least 87 percent cheaper) to deploy a Wi-Fi solution to get connected in a given area compared with deploying a traditional wide area network solution.
Despite the discrepancy in equipment costs, wide area network supporters note back-haul costs to deploy millions of local area network hot spots would prove prohibitive.
While the financial aspects of deploying a far-reaching local area network service are blurry, a number of companies recently announced wireless data networks with extensive coverage areas using Wi-Fi and other unlicensed spectrum-based technologies.
WiMax has emerged as one of the most prominent technologies, with a number of high-profile companies recently throwing their support behind the 802.16-based standard. WiMax supporters note the technology will have a range of up to 30 miles, a typical cell size of up to six miles and the ability to transfer data, voice and video at speeds up to 100 megabits per second.
Other technologies include those based on the 802.20 standard, which is dubbed a mobile wireless access system capable of data speeds in excess of one megabit per second at mobile speeds up to 150 miles per hour. These technologies are being supported by a number of high-profile wireless companies including ArrayComm Inc. and Flarion Technologies Inc. Flarion has gotten investments from Deutsche Telekom AG’s T-Mobile Venture Fund and has been linked as a possible 3G solution for Nextel Communications Inc.
Sarah Kim, wireless technology analyst at the Yankee Group, noted that while WiMax and 802.20 standards could prove promising for wide area coverage, these technologies may prove more suited to handle back haul for more traditional 802.11-based services.
Forrest Wheat, president, founder and chief executive officer of Wheat International Communications and its subsidiary Wheat Wireless Services, says he is able to provide nearly 30 miles of linear coverage using the 802.11b standard, which in public wireless local area network applications provides less than 300 feet of coverage.
Wheat said his TeleSea network, which covers thousands of miles of coastline along the United States and is geared toward shipping and fishing fleets, is able to provide such range without boosting the signal strength beyond government regulations due to the lack of obstacles encountered along its coastal coverage area, proprietary antenna technology and access nodes placed on towers up to 300 feet high.
“If you engineer the solution right you don’t need to boost the power,” Wheat noted.
The network, which uses about 40 nodes, added satellite-enhanced service last week geared toward vessels outside the 30-mile range of its land-based network.
The TeleSea network is limited by the curvature of the earth, Wheat said. “The horizon is about 12 miles at sea level,” Wheat said. “When we put the nodes up on towers that allows us to expand our horizon range.”
Despite such range for a technology that is often referred to as a local area network technology, Wheat claims he has seen 98 percent signal strength at a distance of 23.8 miles.
While Wheat’s TeleSea network seems to provide the best-case scenario for Wi-Fi range, Wheat noted his company has also turned its access nodes toward urban environments, providing a Wi-Fi backup and emergency network service during Super Bowl XXXVII this year in San Diego.
Wheat noted the service provided support for 64 wireless cameras spread throughout the event and transmitted 37 gigabytes of data during a 14-hour period. While the company does not have any specific plans to launch a dry-land service, Wheat said during the Super Bowl trial each access node was able to cover between four and five miles at tree level, which is similar to coverage provided by wide area network base stations.
Despite the advancements being made with unlicensed spectrum-based wide area solutions, traditional wireless carriers still claim Wi-Fi services complement their own next-generation plans. Most analysts expressed similar comments, though they note recent deals between carriers and Wi-Fi hot-spot providers hint to some trepidation on behalf of operators.
“The carriers must sense some form of a threat on the data side or they wouldn’t be partnering with companies like Wayport [Inc.],” explained the Yankee Group’s Kim “They might not be a direct threat, but they do have the potential to take revenue away from carriers.”
