Deliverance: the Unlicensed Marriage of Wi-Fi and WiMAX

To date, the history of broadband wireless infrastructure deployment has been, by and large, a disappointment to many who anticipated reaping the implied benefits. However, recent events within the wireless networking technical standards arena should give us all renewed hope that an emerging bridge-building technology will eventually help crossover the Internet access chasm that's commonly known as the digital divide.

In the United States, broadband fixed wireless pioneers like Teligent, Winstar and Nextlink (amongst others) all entered the market around the late-nineties and were greeted by jubilant media coverage, as they announced their planned deployments of cost-effective Local Multi-point Distribution System (LMDS) networks.

Community leaders in underserved markets also rejoiced upon hearing of this welcomed news. They openly voiced their high expectations that this innovative new technology could finally create some options for those areas otherwise lacking advanced telecom infrastructure, and thereby enable high-speed Internet access for their eager constituents.

For years, wireline carriers had rationalized the inherent high-cost of building out broadband capabilities in low-density communities as the primary barrier to market entry. Moreover, regulators and policymakers had studied this issue extensively, but without achieving a workable solution that would stimulate investment. In contrast, with the promise of LMDS service provider's lower operating cost and higher return on investment, deployment should be easier to justify -- compared with a wireline network infrastucture outlay.

In practice, however, that difference in economics apparently didn't prove to be a real motivator for the three largest LMDS providers to venture off the well-trodden path, and into awaiting under-served communities. Instead, they invested heavily in the already over-served top major metro market downtown business corridors. Regardless, all three companies eventually filled for bankruptcy.

Operating under the financial burden of huge fees for LMDS operating licenses (i.e. Winstar agreed to pay the Federal government $43.4 million for LMDS licenses, before it had a single customer), combined with equipment problems, antenna placement issues, and a lack of open technical standards, are all reportedly contributing reasons why their business model failed. Some smaller companies did acquire LMDS licenses in third and fourth-tier markets. But, many of these frequencies still remain underutilized, and in some instances they're totally unused by the current license holder.

Similarly, MCI WorldCom and Sprint invested heavily in licenses for yet another broadband wireless technology, Multi-channel Multi-point Distribution System (MMDS), which surfaced around the same time, but it too has failed to gain significant momentum within the marketplace.

Notwithstanding, the deployment of unlicensed Wi-Fi wireless LAN (WLAN) network applications has blossomed. Wi-Fi is short for wireless fidelity and is another name for the IEEE 802.11 standard. Originally conceived as a private in-building wireless broadband technology, Wi-Fi gained additional recognition when some inventive minds stretched the initial intent of the technology with the creation of open public "hot spots."

Hot spot is a term for a location that offers wireless public access to the Internet. Hot spots share their DSL, cable or T1 broadband connection via an Access Point that transmits a wireless signal to a receiver within a user's Wi-Fi-enabled device (i.e. notebook computer). Multiple users connect through a log-in page within their Internet Web browser. Coverage typically extends over a 100-300 foot radius of the access point. There are numerous companies now offering commercial (for-profit) hot spot services locally, regionally and in some cases nationally.

In parallel, several free Wi-Fi extended-range wireless community networks have quickly sprung up (mostly within major metro markets). However, some have encountered operational challenges and legal disputes, as the providers of lower-cost DSL and Cable Modem services chose to enforce their subscriber agreements. These "acceptable use" limitations typically require that consumer subscribers do not share their wireline broadband access (even if access is only offered to others for free). Business-class versions of these services are sometimes available, but with much higher prices. Besides, critics of the free service model say that coverage scalability beyond a few nodes is difficult to achieve.

One potential solution to this dilemma is being proposed by the WiMAX Forum, with the development of wireless Metropolitan Area Network (WMAN) technology that could provide a mesh network topology for Wi-Fi hot spots (it can also provide a wireless extension to cable and DSL). The IEEE 802.16 standard provides up to 31 miles (50 Kilometers) of linear service area range and enables connectivity without a direct line of sight to a base station. The technology also provides shared data rates up to 70Mbps, which, according to WiMax, is enough bandwidth to simultaneously support more than 60 businesses with T1-type connectivity and hundreds of homes.

Furthermore, according to Intel, estimates now show that ubiquitous WLAN access will be available at 42,000 sites worldwide -- and that more than 30 million notebooks will be equipped with the technology to connect to these WLANs. Clearly, realizing the raw potential of the union between WLAN and WMAN technology -- to liberate broadband Internet access from controlled captivity -- could be prolific.

How does this translate into arming confused municipal community leaders? A local small-business consortium, public sector entity, or public/private hybrid corporation could finance, build, and operate a 802.16-based wireless backbone infrastructure to link together Wi-Fi hot spot "islands" into an extensive community network "continent." This proven model is essentially an evolution of the "carrier's carrier" concept that's pervasive within traditional commercial telecom service provider inter-network hierarchies.

Only in this case, I envision that a federation of Wireless Co-Operatives (WiCoOp) could be formed as a non-profit entity to provide public Wi-Fi hot spot interconnection and aggregation services at the lowest possible cost in rural areas, or under-served inner-city areas. Furthermore, the federation could potentially also become an ISP to obtain Internet access via a Tier 1 carrier, it could contract with existing local ISPs, and/or it could function as an open gateway to a subscriber's preferred ISP.

Rural village and town leadership in search of planned project funding should consider applying for the new Rural Broadband Loan and Loan Guarantee Program, which is one potential source of assistance to help smaller American communities realize their infrastructure objective.

In summary, it would be a travesty for under-served communities if the debilatating rhetoric regarding unresolved spectrum usage, regulatory, or taxation issues stand in the way of achieving this vision. Therefore, we must ensure that the marriage of Wi-Fi and WiMAX will be consummated without any myopic public policy impediments; otherwise the resolution may very well disappoint those that need it the most -- just like its prior broadband wireless predecessors.