Nextel Communications Inc.’s decision earlier this week to expand its wireless broadband network trial in the Raleigh, N.C., market may have proven well founded as network testing conducted by RBC Capital Markets indicated Flarion Technologies’ Flash-OFDM based technology is providing data speeds nearly three times faster than CDMA2000 1x EV-DO networks and equal to wireline-based broadband offerings.
RBC noted its testing produced average network speeds of around 950 kilobits per second and speeds in excess of 1 megabit per second 40 percent of the time at five locations in the network’s trial markets. The speeds were triple the 329 kbps average throughput similar testing produced using Verizon Wireless’ EV-DO network, approximately nine times faster than the 111 kbps produced using AT&T Wireless Services Inc.’s EDGE network and the 101 kbps using Sprint PCS’ 1x-based network.
RBC’s testing also produced average network latency of 45 milliseconds, which it said was comparable to the 10 to 30 milliseconds produced by digital subscriber line or cable modem broadband connections and superior to the 300- to 600-millisecond latency produced by EV-DO, EDGE and 1x networks.
“While many questions remain as to the commercial viability of wireless broadband service and the cost, scope and timeline of a potential buildout, we view our tests as tentative confirmation of [Nextel’s] potential to offer vastly superior bandwidth/latency performance vs. other wireless technologies and on par with cable-modem and Wi-Fi performance,” RBC noted in its report.
Nextel noted last week that it has no plans to expand the Flarion trial beyond its recently expanded footprint.
