Help yourself

Software will not climb the side of a building, install an antenna and point it in the right direction to grab fixed broadband wireless high-speed data signals.

That's something that fixed wireless providers like Sprint understand all too well in their battle with DSL and cable wireline providers. Software, however, can help configure a computer to take advantage of those high-speed signals once they're in the subscriber's residence. That's why Sprint and BroadJump are working together on a self-installation package.

“There's no question that we have a physical thing that we're putting on the outside of the house that's different than DSL or cable,” said Evan Conway, Sprint Wireless' broadband marketing assistant vice president, who compared the fixed broadband wireless installation process to direct broadcast satellite.

“I don't think it's dramatically different than hooking up a satellite dish for TV services, and there's no question lots of people are doing that themselves,” Conway added.

Sprint won't ask subscribers to climb on their roofs. On the other hand, expert installation takes time and costs money and, frankly, puts wireless behind the competitive 8-ball with cable and DSL when it comes to provisioning.

“We allocate between two and four hours for an install,” said Conway. “We do the antenna on the outside of the house, run a coaxial cable inside the house to the computer, to a broadband router or modem. From that point forward, this Sprint BroadJump disk is given to the person and it just walks you through.”

BroadJump has cut its teeth on easing high-speed data service installation pains. It worked deals with wireline cable providers AOL Time Warner and AT&T Broadband, as well as DSL delivery specialists SBC Communications and Sprint. The DSL relationship is a key reason BroadJump now works with Sprint's wireless arm.

The move from wireline to wireless was seamless for the software provisioning firm, although it did require some mental and physical adjustments, said Matt Tormollen, BroadJump's vice president of marketing.

“The main difference that we saw is almost, in some sense, procedural in that they almost always do technician-based installs because of the RF work that occurs in terms of positioning the antenna on the house and its line-of-sight to the towers,” Tormollen said.

Other than that, Tormollen says he is impressed with the take-up Sprint's getting for its service.

“It seems as though they've moved very quickly with their deployments into the regions where we're deploying with them,” he said.

Which can have a reverse effect if the installation costs more than the $40 to $50 monthly subscription fee can recoup — especially because standard installation costs the subscriber nothing.

“We do offer an alternative. For 99 bucks, we'll do it soup-to-nuts, and you're up and running before we leave,” Conway said. “But the standard [free] install is the one that almost everybody does.”

Conway and Tormollen believe the BroadJump software will accelerate some of the process and cut costs.

It's a strategy that BroadJump has seen work in other markets with other types of providers, according to Tormollen.

“It's all the same. Our business model is to do it on a per-subscriber license. The value proposition has been the same across all media. If anything, we were surprised with the similarity of the fixed wireless market to the other markets we've gone after.”