Broadband Wireless Internet Access (BWIA) / WiMAX Stories

WISP Displaces DSL

From Fractals of Change Blog
By Tom Evslin
July 29, 2007

In an email on another subject, online friend and wireless wizard Craig Plunkett mentioned that Fire Island Wireless, the wireless ISP (WISP) he runs, is starting to displace DSL. Tell me more, I asked.  He responded (decoder for non-nerds follow):

“Grabbing DSL customers is getting a little easier.  First, I think the DSLAM in the CO is maxed out, and VZ isn't adding any more ports.  Second, it's a marine environment, which means getting a clean pair all the way back to the CO is problematic, especially in the far western communities, which are about 3 miles from the CO as the crow flies.  We are price competitive on a yearly basis, with the exception of the CPE and installation cost.  But we have an affluent audience that demands connectivity and has to upload content ( lots of media and advertising folks).  Plus we can deliver higher bandwidth on both the up and download side. We don't do SLA's or provide public IPs (yet), but we get people online @ (1.5u/1.5d).

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Full story at:
http://blog.tomevslin.com/2007/07/wisp-displaces-.html.

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Universal Broadband

From inRich.com / Richmond (Virginia) Times-Dispatch - www.inrich.com

Monday, Jul 09, 2007 - 12:01 AM Updated: 09:05 AM

By JEFFREY KELLEY
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

last of two parts

Wired or wireless?

Once we find the answer to that question, Virginia localities that are underserved with high-speed Internet service may finally jump into the 21st century.

Here's the kicker: Broadband speed comes in many forms, and the answer is different for every town, city and county. Virginia's political and business leaders are learning as much as they can about high-speed Internet access -- who has it, who doesn't and how to make it affordable for all state residents.

"Broadband is important, not just to rural Virginia, but to every part of Virginia. It's similar to what interstates were when we used to have just two-lane and four-lane highways," said state Sen. William C. Wampler Jr., R-Bristol, a leading advocate for statewide high-speed Internet access. "It's as important as when we first brought electricity to the commonwealth."

Broadband access means more than faster Web surfing and quicker music downloads. It could save lives by allowing health-care providers to rapidly exchange medical records over long distances. It could enable more efficient distance learning so schools could offer more online classes. It can make possible more "teleworking," in which employees save time and gas by using their computers to work from home.

Wireless broadband -- transmitted and received from satellites, radio towers or cell phone carriers -- appears to be a key to opening up the state's most rural locales to high-speed Internet service. But it's not as fast as a wired connection from a cable-television provider or fiber-optic lines, which stream data through light.

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Full story at:
http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-07-09-0115.html

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