Wireless broadband operators talk architecture: LMDS gets taste of ATM vs. IP contest

The wireless world has entered the fray of the IP vs. ATM battle, as broadband wireless data services such as local multipoint distribution service emerge.

Broadband wireless players with services available today primarily use asynchronous transfer mode. They must because voice over IP isn't ready for the marketplace yet, said Hamid Akhavan, vice president of engineering for Teligent.

ATM will accommodate future changes in the market, he said. While most of today's traffic is voice, data will likely surpass voice in the future. ATM will allow "us to transition from voice to data in the future without any major penalties," Akhavan said.

Teligent is not run by "technology zealots," though, and the company is open to changing its strategy if more efficient technologies emerge, he said. For now, IP would be suitable only for a company that is solely data-oriented and has a large amount of bandwidth, he said.

But operators that haven't launched and are still considering their network architectures may ultimately outrun existing operators by waiting for IP to mature, some say. IP-based networks may allow new operators to better compete against incumbents, said Matt Desch, president of Nortel Networks. "If you can do voice over IP, then voice over the network becomes almost free," he said. So a new player such as an LMDS operator might attract customers with a low-cost data service and offer voice for less than entrenched operators, displacing the existing operator.

Today's operators are interested in a total end-to-end IP solution, which Nortel can deliver, Desch said. Nortel is currently working with operators that hope to be the first to build that end-to-end IP network, he said.

Other companies are emerging to develop total IP wireless broadband solutions. Ensemble hopes to serve a very specific segment of the market with its wireless broadband solution. While some LMDS operators are targeting high data users, Ensemble will address lower data needs, while still allowing those needs to scale up.

Fiber connects about 5% of businesses to data, and existing LMDS operators might serve another 10%, which leaves 85% of the market, said Carlton O'Neal, vice president of marketing and sales for Ensemble. Ensemble's idea is to "give broadband access to everyone," he said.

Ensemble is developing all components of an LMDS system, including radios, media access control and the network. The system will consist of a base station with an array of antennas distributed in a cellular fashion throughout a city. End users will have an antenna and a customer interface unit that will connect to systems such as LANs, PBXs, PCs or telephones.

IP is an essential part of Ensemble's network because it can lower costs, O'Neal said. It also is a logical solution. "You take traffic as given and leave it in its most native mode. You don't do any unnecessary packaging," he said. He also believes that IP is more flexible than ATM.

Ultimately, the decision to choose ATM or IP is a difficult one. "It's a technology risk no matter what," said Rob Norcross, vice president of Mercer Management Consulting. In an LMDS system, though, if an operator switches technologies, its RF equipment would not be affected.

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