WISPs TEAM TO CLEAR THE AIR

Hoping to tame the “Wild West” image of unlicensed wireless operators, California wireless ISP NextWeb has proposed that a spectrum coordination group it successfully assembled with other WISPs in the Bay Area become an industry model for dealing with management and interference problems in the unlicensed spectrum bands.

NextWeb CEO Graham Barnes presented an overview of the Broadband Access Network Coordination (BANC) group at last week's Wireless Communications Association International technical symposium and business expo in San Jose.

Increasing usage of license-exempt spectrum and equipment — largely involving the 2.4 GHz and 5.3 GHz to 5.8 GHz ISM/U-NII bands — is a direct reflection of the broadband fixed wireless industry's growth and success, he said. However, this intensified activity also increases the likelihood of interference between WISPs, especially smaller operators that fail to conduct frequency analysis before setting up their networks.

“The FCC doesn't regulate our unlicensed spectrum usage, and we like the flexibility these bands offer,” Barnes said. “But it's better for the providers to cooperate than have some kind of ‘Wild West’ approach.”

NextWeb started BANC with 10 other fixed wireless network operators in the Bay Area/Silicon Valley market. Barnes said the effort also responded to the shortcomings of current network gear.

“The products for unlicensed frequencies haven't caught up with vendor marketing,” he said. “We're excited about the future of these products, which will be better, but unfortunately, there is some interference now, and we're dealing with it.”

BANC was constructed as a neutral body in which the engineers coordinate spectrum management. Though the idea of an ad hoc group of service providers managing the available spectrum in a market could be rife with competitive conflicts, BANC suffers no such problems because most WISPs are too busy competing against telcos and cable TV companies to lash out at each other.

“It's rare for us to compete against the other [WISPs],” said David Williams, vice president of marketing and business development at NextWeb. “Revenue is the main thing all of us are concerned with, and we have to ensure spectrum interference doesn't hurt our revenue potential.”

Williams also said BANC is just one element of NextWeb's broad spectrum management program. The company, which serves about 1000 enterprise customers in California, also conducts spectrum analysis of a market before it installs equipment.

NextWeb plans to form BANC groups in each of the major markets it serves, including Orange County and Long Beach areas in Southern California.

“We are trying to evangelize the idea, and set up BANC in a way that could be replicated for the industry and for ourselves as we expand into new markets,” he said. “We have to do things that continue to increase investor confidence in this market.”