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LEO in the sky with diamonds - high-speed wireless communications - Industry Trend or Event

Communications News, May, 1999 by Morris Edwards

From evolution to revolution: Will high-speed wireless soon be omnipresent?

This spring has seen a flurry of activity in wireless services, heralding a new era of plentiful bandwidth and high-speed mobile communications.

In some cases, the wireless services are designed to provide high-speed local access in densely populated urban centers and second-tier cities where it would be too costly or difficult to lay extra copper or fiber cable. In other instances, the wireless services are intended for the growing numbers of traveling executives, salesmen, and other "road warriors" anxious to have untethered, high-speed access to the Internet and corporate networks.

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Among the more significant developments:

* Cisco and Motorola announced plans to pool their resources and know-how and invest $1 billion over the next four years to develop the first wireless networks based on the Internet protocol (IP) platform.

* Microsoft formed an alliance with British Telecom to develop a new range of Internet and intranet services for mobile corporate users around the world to access e-mail, calendars, and personalized Web content via mobile phones, pagers, hand-held devices, and laptop computers. Trials will begin in the U.K. later this year, with services available in several countries by next year.

* British Telecom, in collaboration with NEC and Nortel Networks, began testing third-generation (3G) wireless communications services, using the universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), for high-speed Web browsing, videoconferencing, and an array of multimedia applications. UMTS promises data rates to 2 Mbps for stationary users, with seamless handover to pedestrians at 384 kbps and to travelers in cars and trains at 144 kbps.

* QUALCOMM teamed with Cisco Systems and US West Wireless to conduct trials of its IP-based high data rate (HDR) architecture which provides wireless Internet access at peak data rates in excess of 1.8 Mbps. QUALCOMM also settled its dispute with Ericsson over CDMA (code division multiple access) technology, and the two industry leaders agreed to support a single CDMA standard, paving the way for the expansion of global CDMA wireless communications.

* Hughes Electronics Corp. said it would invest an initial $1.4 billion into its Spaceway satellite system to provide on-demand network bandwidth for videoconferencing, multimedia, and other broadband applications beginning in the first quarter of 2002.

* PSINet unveiled plans to expand its InterSky wireless Internet access service to 11 U.S. cities by mid-1999 and to 50 cities in the U.S. and overseas by year's end. It will also increase speeds from the current 128 kbps to 512 kbps later this year and to 2 Mbps in 2000. InterSky, which uses digital microwave technology in the 2.4-GHz spread spectrum band, is intended as a high-speed alternative to local loop Internet access for small and medium-sized businesses in secondary metropolitan areas. Pricing starts at $395 per month.

CROWDED SKIES

Hughes says its Spaceway system will provide faster speeds than land-based networks and cost 20-30% less. Users will be able to receive files at speeds to 400 Mbps and send information back at 16 Mbps. For the initial U.S. network, Hughes will employ two geosynchronous satellites operating in the Ka-band with an in-orbit spare. The system will use onboard digital processing, packet switching, and spot-beam technology to offer single-hop connectivity throughout the service area.

Once the geosynchronous system is operational, Hughes will add low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellites to expand the system's reach worldwide and to offer additional interactive broadband services in high-traffic markets.

Though Hughes is the first to commit financially to such a project, a handful of other entrants is expected to follow suit. More than a dozen companies have already received licenses from the Federal Communications Commission to operate in the Ka-band. According to Michael T. Smith, chief executive of Hughes, the market for broadband data services will reach $50 billion by 2005 in the U.S. alone.

Lockheed Martin's telecommunications subsidiary plans to use a constellation of four (later nine) geosynchronous satellites operating in the Ka-band in its Astrolink network, with service starting in mid-2002. Users with a 65-cm dish can expect data rates to 416 kbps, rising to 2.1 Mbps with a 100-cm dish and 10.4 Mbps with a 1.8-m dish. Up to 100 gateways will connect Astrolink to terrestrial networks worldwide.

Wireless pioneer Craig McCaw is taking a different approach with his new venture, Teledesic LLC, based in Kirkland, Wash. He plans to use LEO satellites to create a global, broadband "Internet-in-the-sky" service. Because of the low orbits, the service will avoid the long signal delay normally experienced with satellite communications and make possible the use of small, low-power terminals and antennas. The laptop-size terminals will mount flat on a rooftop and connect inside to a local area network or PC.

Technology Industry

LEO in the sky with diamonds - high-speed wireless communications - Industry Trend or Event

Communications News, May, 1999 by Morris Edwards

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