Exploiting IP

Many industry experts predict high-capacity Internet access and transport will be the new killer app for telecommunications. It will drive infrastructure growth and equipment upgrades. Users want to locate everything on the Internet, from billing to customer service, with Web-based browsers as the operating systems of choice. Open standards throughout networks will become mandatory. Wireless IP networks will transport remote office PBX traffic from voice over IP (VoIP) servers or VoIP cellular voice trunks as well as video or surveillance feeds from Web cameras, sharing IP networks on demand along with conventional data-file transfers.

But how is the wireless industry going to capitalize on these opportunities? More specifically, how are new wireless carriers, such as CLECs and ISPs, going to satisfy the demand for high-speed IP-based services? Especially when the dial-up/leased telco infrastructure only is based on 56kb/s modems, 128kb/s ISDN, multiple 64kb/s xDSL, or T1 leased lines?

With a new generation of products supporting open IP standards, such as fast Ethernet wireless bridges and routers now available, new wireless carriers have an opportunity to prove their viability in this growing market.

BUILD-OUT Data traffic is expected to outstrip voice traffic in the next few years. So, new networks should be provisioned to maximize data-traffic performance and connectivity. They should be designed for packet-based transport, and the emerging dominant packet transport protocol is IP.

Traditional multipoint architectures, as in the standard wireline approach with copper connections radiating out in a star formation from a single central office, offer the economic advantage of central provisioning. However, in a wireless data network, point-to-multipoint systems don't provide all of the bandwidth to all users all of the time. Bandwidth-on-demand may best serve small networks with undemanding users. New wireless carriers may be more satisfied with high-capacity, point-to-point mesh architectures for networks with demanding users. This "backbone everywhere" concept merges access and transport links. Carriers implement these networks using high-capacity wireless IP links with router or bridge access to the full backbone bandwidth for drop and insert at every node.

Because fiber reaches only 3% of large commercial buildings, many carriers have targeted business users for initial deployments. Wireless CLECs or ISPs can extend individual enterprise LANs into a virtual metropolitan enterprise WAN with minimum additional equipment using wireless IP links. They also can offer free e-mail transport and low-cost VoIP access through company PBXs. This application is even more compelling in international markets where satellite offices typically wait years for basic phone service.

Currently, there are more than 4,000 ISPs operating in the United States. Almost all are limited to conventional telco wireline access. At best, ISPs can provide ILEC T1 leased lines at an average cost of $500 to $1,000 per month, where available. Other users must make do with dial-up modem access at up to 56kb/s. New wireless CLECs can compete in the ISP market because most ISPs aren't able to meet their customers' needs for high-speed Internet access. Wireless IP access could become the technology that blurs the traditional boundary between the CLEC and the ISP, providing high-bandwidth access over long distances (up to 50 miles) and allowing carriers to own and control their networks for higher reliability.

STEPS TO SUCCESS The new wireless IP data market is not entirely dependent on large slices of spectrum. Wireless carriers can use existing industrial, scientific and medical bands at 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz, the new Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure bands at 5.3GHz and 5.7GHz, as well as existing licensed Part 101 bands for private fixed and common carrier users at 6GHz, 11GHz, 18GHz, 23GHz and 38GHz.

New 10BaseT (Ethernet) and 100BaseT (Fast Ethernet) radios can deliver enough throughput to satisfy even the most demanding Internet access or data application. Suppliers are developing high-speed wireless devices with 1000Mb bandwidth using high RF frequencies, such as 60GHz. With these devices, carriers can fully provision the backbone at every node in a mesh network using embedded bridges or routers to drop/insert IP packets of almost unlimited size for every user on demand simultaneously. These wireless Ethernet bridges and routers differ from existing PCS and cellular offerings because they are superior to landline technology.

In addition to Ethernet connectivity and high bandwidth, unlicensed spread-spectrum radios offer same-day provisioning because carriers don't have to wait for FCC licenses or for a LEC to supply leased lines.

High-capacity Internet access will drive high-tech industries. With the right solutions and products, you have the opportunity to prove your viability in this emerging market by meeting the demand for high-speed IP-based services.