Next Generation Fixed Wireless Networks in Irvine
by Mark Carpenter, CEO, Centricity Communications

Irvine, CA, USA, March 1, 2007 — Irvine is one of the leading technology research and development areas in the U.S. Most all Irvine businesses access the Internet in some form, whether for email or web services access, and a number of these businesses manage a large percentage of their daily transactions online.

Irvine, like all other major cities planned and developed more than 10+ years ago, did not come pre-wired for high-speed broadband. Given the expected utilization at that time, pre-wiring the city would have had excessive cost and, more importantly, the early developers could not have foreseen the rapid growth and ultimate pervasiveness of the Internet from the mid 1990’s. Since the Internet boom, office buildings both small and large have been individually adding “last mile” T1/T3 (1.5Mbps to 40+Mbps), fiber optic (10Mbps to 1+Gbps), and other commercial Internet services to tenant offices.

However, these commercial Internet services have proven cost-prohibitive for many small to mid-size businesses. Businesses must pay to install the last mile, and then must pay a recurring local access fee to maintain that line in the ground. For those businesses that have not yet installed these commercial services, DSL technology was developed in the late 1990’s to deliver broadband Internet services over existing twisted-pair telephone lines as a lower cost alternative. While these business DSL services have filled the gap, they deliver shared bandwidth subject to peak usage times, provide limited upload speeds to reduce cost (i.e. not suitable for office servers or customer file sharing), and max at around 1.5Mbps to 3.0Mbps (uncompressed) limiting future bandwidth scalability.

In 2001, the IEEE and ETSI technology standards groups began working on commercial wireless broadband standards that could provide the last mile more cost-effectively, bypassing fixed line installations and access fees, while still providing the same level of commercial service. These groups drafted what became the 802.16 WiMAX™ standard, which builds upon technology from the well-known 802.11 WiFi standard used today at offices and hotspots throughout the world, but at a commercial class level with much further range (5-30 miles) at high bandwidth (1.5Mbps to 80Mbps).

There are fixed and mobile versions of the standard, both of which were only recently ratified by the IEEE. However, early adopters such as Intel, Alvarion, and others have been developing and shipping pre-WiMAX products based on the fixed standard draft version for the past couple years (note: the mobile standard, not covered here, trades range and bandwidth for city-wide broadband mobility but requires equipment interoperability, roaming agreements, and other factors that will take a couple more years to materialize). Since the fixed version only requires a point-to-point connection from the business location to a commercial network base station, these services are now being deployed by service providers throughout Irvine and other city areas.

Businesses are able to bypass traditional fixed line local access fees and pay only for the commercial Internet bandwidth, saving up to 30-50%. Furthermore, the fixed wireless antennas are small (approximately 1’ x 1’) and can be installed quickly, often in less than seven business days since no fixed wiring to the building is required. The fixed wireless receivers are IP-based with a standard RJ-45 Ethernet port, which means they can plug directly into an existing business’ network without any special routing or equipment, saving additional cost.

As Irvine businesses continue to grow, they are going to require additional Internet bandwidth and commercial level services in order to meet the increasing demands of their customers. With next generation fixed wireless networks, businesses can deliver these commercial class services at a cost-effective rate, and significantly increase their return on investment.

About the Author
Mark Carpenter is founder and CEO of Centricity Communications LLC, an Irvine Chamber Member and provider of fixed wireless point-to-point and Internet services for small to mid-sized businesses in Orange County, delivering commercial bandwidth from 1.5Mbps to 80Mbps. For more information about Centricity please visit www.centricitycomm.com or you can contact him directly at mark.carpenter@centricitycomm.com.