WorldCom continues MMDS pursuit

WorldCom re-established its belief in the potential of its MMDS licenses last week, filing for regulatory permission from the FCC to offer fixed wireless services. It also assured the industry that it intends to be instrumental in moving the technology forward, despite its crumbled merger with Sprint.

WorldCom originally expected to file with the FCC in the spring. Despite the wait, the company was glad for the opportunity to prove its belief in fixed wireless.

"We want to show that we are committed to getting into the fixed wireless industry," said Kerry McKelvy, senior vice president of marketing for WorldCom's wireless solutions group. "We are letting the industry and market know that we are serious."

WorldCom is seeking permission to offer services in more than 60 markets but intends to submit additional applications for its remaining markets. The carrier must receive licensing authority in all of its 160 markets before it can launch commercial services.

WorldCom currently has trials in Boston, Dallas, Jackson, Miss., Baton Rouge, La., and Memphis. Memphis will go live with commercial offerings by the fourth quarter of this year, with others to follow early next year.

"We are using Memphis as the first market in order to learn what works well for us. Once we assess that, then we will prioritize the next markets to roll out," McKelvy said.

WorldCom is not alone in the drive toward commercial availability of fixed wireless services. In early May, Sprint launched its first broadband wireless market in Phoenix and a second seven weeks later in Tucson, Ariz.

While there has been some doubt about the future of fixed wireless after the proposed Sprint/WorldCom merger dissolved, recent activity has given the technology a boost.

"A lot of people are thirsting for high-speed data," said P. William Bane, a vice president at Mercer Management Consulting. "The logic has been that fixed wireless' time eventually will come."

While each of the major MMDS license holders has taken steps to further the fixed wireless market separately, they also have taken the opportunity to work together. A little more than a month ago, Nucentrix Broadband Networks, Sprint and WorldCom formed technical agreements on spectrum management issues to help speed the licensing process and market entry for carriers building broadband wireless networks across the frequencies all three use - the 2.1 GHz and 2.5 to 2.7 GHz bands. Although each service provider has its own strategy, forming such an alliance could help create a more nationwide broadband wireless presence.

Separately, Nucentrix completed its three-month fixed wireless trial in Austin, Texas, and is poised to launch a second trial. Nucentrix is the first service provider to commit to offering broadband wireless Internet access using Cisco Systems' solution based on vector orthogonal frequency division multiplexing, or VOFDM, technology. The company expects its second trial in Amarillo, Texas, to be completed by October.

Nucentrix will use the Cisco solution to roll out broadband wireless services trialed by WorldCom, though WorldCom has not committed to go commercial with it. WorldCom does intend to work with Cisco during its Memphis market rollout, McKelvy said.

Whether requesting regulatory approval to offer service or announcing a rollout of services, each fixed wireless player can help the industry better understand the potential of MMDS. "Deployments will help customers get a better sense that our solution and fixed wireless is real," said Troy Trenchard, director of marketing for Cisco's wireless access group.