GI remains bullish on digital MMDS >BY SHIRA LEVINE, New Media Editor

Dismissing criticism of digital multichannel multipoint distribution service technology's capabilities, General Instrument announced last week that it intends to provide digital wireless systems to CS Wireless Systems and People's Choice TV Corp.

Under terms of a proposed contract, GI's NextLevel Broadband Networks Group would provide the MMDS operators with about $240 million in equipment over three years, including 600,000 DWT-1000 digital set-top boxes, MPEG 2 compression equipment, conditional access control equipment, satellite receiving and transcoding devices and other headend products. GI also would provide systems integration services.

If the deal goes through, it will be the first deployment of GI's digital MMDS technology. The company's solution uses the full 200 MHz spectrum to deliver 200 channels of video at 64 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) transmission and 300 channels at 256 QAM.

The woes of CAI Wireless have given digital MMDS a bad rap, said Glenn Altchek, manager of digital wireless business development for the Broadband Networks Group.

"I don't believe that CAI has a flawed technology," Altchek said. "I believe that the expectations set by the telcos couldn't be met.

Even digital wireless cable can't reach more than 60% of the market in areas where there are trees, hills and tall buildings, Altchek said. Pacific Telesis is getting good coverage from its MMDS system in Southern California, where the towers beam the signal down from a mountain into a valley, he noted.

"There are many places in the United States where you can get good coverage, but you'll never get 100%," he said. "Bell Atlantic and Nynex are telcos, and they're not used to less than 100% coverage.

While he admits that the much-publicized Bell Atlantic/Nynex retreat from wireless cable has hurt the industry, Altchek believes that MMDS companies will proceed with their digital plans over the course of the next year.

CS Wireless and People's Choice TV have 15.1 million line-of-sight homes. CS Wireless is owned by a partnership of Heartland Wireless Communications, CAI Wireless and, ironically, Bell Atlantic and Nynex, although a Bell Atlantic spokesman said the two telcos combined have a 5% stake in the company.

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