Wireless broadband targets home, home-office user

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By Carlton Vogt

(IDG) -- Broadband2wireless (BB2W) this week launched a wireless broadband service that charges a flat fee of $49.95 a month and allows users to access the Internet at speeds of as much as 1.5Mbps.

With an initial launch in Boston, and future access planned in the New York City and Los Angeles areas, the company is focusing on markets currently underserved by either cable or DSL access.

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According to Paul Adams, chairman and CEO, the Boston-based company offers provisioning in as little as 24 hours for its Airora product aimed at home and small office/home office (SOHO) users. If the user's location is within the service area, the company ships a user-installable wireless modem. The modem costs $99 for those on a one-year plan and $249 for those who choose month-by-month service.

BB2W currently uses the license-free spectrum at 2.4GHz, but plans to migrate later to 5.8GHz. The company also plans to upgrade its current 1.5Mbps service to 54Mbps, according to Adams. PricewaterhouseCoopers designed the back-office Operations Support System, which incorporates a Web-based customer pre-qualification system that allows customers and service provider partners to determine the availability of Airora in a particular location.

The BB2W network is based on technologies such as frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) in the 2.4GHz range and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) in the 5.8GHz range. A point-to-multipoint network architecture enables radio transmissions between base stations (hubs), multiple network radios, and customers antennae.

Adams points to testimonials from former Northpoint customers who faced delays of four to six weeks in getting DSL service from other providers. BB2W, he says, was able to restore broadband service in less than a day.

Adams says the company has scaled back initial plans for broad, national coverage. "We were planning to conquer the world," he said. "But we've taken a more realistic approach." He still envisions a nationwide network with other providers across the country giving users the opportunity to "roam," as they do now with cellular phone service.

Currently, the company is operating only in Boston, which has no cable modem access and spotty DSL coverage, and is expanding its antenna coverage there. Network construction is also underway in Florida, New York City, and the Los Angeles area, specifically Beverly Hills and Santa Monica.

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Microsoft, Starbucks look for wireless jolt
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Singapore to auction 5 fixed wireless broadband licenses
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