Report: AT&T pulling plug on Pahrump, Nevada WiMAX by year end

A few years back, AT&T rolled out an early market test deployment of WiMAX in Pahrump, Nevada. Now an AT&T customer there tells me AT&T will stop offering the service effective Dec. 31 and has opted instead for DSL and is deploying remote DSLAMs around the town about 60 miles from Las Vegas.

Apparently there wasn't enough bandwidth to handle the demand. "We had it for about two years, and the longer we had it, the slower it got," the AT&T customer reports, noting he generally got 384 Kbs to 768 Kbs downloads on WiMAX. He's now on AT&T's 6 Mbs DSL plan, so while the switch to DSL cost $5 a month more, it was a no brainer.

What's notable about this development is AT&T's new technology chief John Donovan said only four months ago that the big telco viewed WiMAX as a less costly alternative to replacing aging copper plant and installing remote DSLAMs in order to provide DSL, particularly in less densely populated areas.

I sent an email to AT&T spokesman Michael Coe Dec. 10 asking why WiMAX was scrapped in favor of DSL in Pahrump but received no reply, so readers will have to draw their own conclusions. AT&T has also deployed WiMAX in Alaska offering sub 1 Mbs throughput speed and in parts of the former Bellsouth territory AT&T acquired at the end of 2006.

If AT&T's version of WiMAX can't provide more than 1 Mbs, it is already essentially obsolete and calls into question AT&T's expectations that it will serve as lower cost broadband option compared to DSL.

Fairpoint chooses WiMAX where DSL fails

Fairpoint Communications, the successor to Verizon in much of New England, has opted to deploy fixed terrestrial broadband to make up the shortcomings of underpowered DSL. Fairpoint has selected WiMAX technology based on equipment provided by Nortel Networks Corp. and Airspan Networks that will provide throughput of 1 to 3 Mbs.

4G wireless broadband seen as potential game changing technology

Fourth generation (referred to as 4G or LTE--Long Term Evolution) wireless service expected to be deployed between 2010 and 2012 has the potential to be a game changer for IP-based advanced telecommunications services. The GSM Association (GSMA) predicts the technology will be able to provide 100 Mbps broadband connections, rivaling the throughput of fiber optic wireline services such as Verizon's FiOS, according to a report published this week in mobile news. The big questions of course are whether and when it can.

Blair Levin, an analyst with Stifel Nicolaus and a reportedly a rumored Federal Communications Commission nominee in an Obama administration, apparently thinks 4G will alter the playing field in broadband, telling this week's CoBank Communications Industry Executive Forum in Colorado that it has the potential to dramatically expand the cannibalization of wireline-based connections. That means people will not only ditch their voice landlines as they have in droves over the past few years, but also their cable and DSL-based broadband services since 4G's speeds will surpass these and at least approximate the 50Mbs throughput of pure fiber plays offered by Verizon, SureWest Communications and others.

But once again, 4G's broadband capabilities remain speculative and no one yet knows if 4G can really deliver on its potential and whether its costs can support a business model allowing it be be widely offered in the same footprint currently covered by existing 3G wireless services, which in some areas without wireline-based services is the sole terrestrial broadband option. Additionally, 4G must overcome the high latency that can render 3G connections decidedly less than snappy.

Meanwhile, the Sprint and Clearwire predict with expected regulatory approval by year end, their WiMAX rollout will leapfrog 3G and offer a technologically superior alternative with better range. Longer range translates into fewer transmission towers and lower latency. Not only does WiMAX's longer range make it more suitable for less densely populated areas, it also reduces the need for fiber backhaul -- less widely available outside of metro areas -- since there will be fewer transmission sites to feed.

Looking ahead over the next several years, it appears likely the U.S. wireless broadband market will bifurcate with 4G/LTE-based systems run by the big telcos like AT&T and Verizon dominating in metro areas and WiMAX and WiMAX players such as Sprint/Clearwire taking control at the fringes and outside of metro areas.

AT&T sees WiMAX as solution for less densely populated areas of U.S.

As AT&T's copper plant has been neglected outside of metro area cores, there has been much speculation about the big telco's future plans for it. Particularly since much of it is too deteriorated and unreliable to support weak Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) signals that degrade quickly over distance. In addition, AT&T has not been upgrading its copper plant to support its fiber/copper hybrid Project Lightspeed/U-Verse IPTV/voice/data bundled service outside of the limited metro areas where it's deploying U-Verse.

AT&T's new technology chief John Donovan is making AT&T's view of the future its aged copper cable plant in these regions more clear in a published interview with USA Today: It's a costly, obsolete albatross -- a legacy of the analog era of plain old telephone service (POTS).

Now that AT&T defines itself more as a wireless than wireline carrier, wireless is naturally viewed as the logical copper cable replacement strategy. At the top of the list, USA Today quotes Donovan as saying, is WiMAX, which AT&T apparently sees as a longer range and more robust solution for both fixed and mobile voice and data services outside of densely populated areas. In the latter, the telco will likely deploy its planned 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) cellular service that is expected to provide far faster Internet connections than its current 3G system that itself isn't universally deployed in AT&T's 22-state territory.

Donovan told the newspaper WiMAX appears particularly well suited to rural areas of the U.S. where it's becoming prohibitively expensive to maintain copper.

Reports last year suggested Ma Bell planned to ramp up her WiMAX deployments starting earlier this year after initial rollouts in the Fairbanks, Alaska area and parts of the former Bellsouth territory AT&T acquired at the end of 2006.

Telecompetitor speculates that AT&T's interest in WiMAX as a replacement for copper cable represents the start of a "coordinated rural market divestiture strategy."

AT&T seeks regulatory roadblocks to wider broadband access

AT&T is notorious for incomplete wireline infrastructure in its 22-state service area. That produces sprawling broadband black holes that belie its motto of "Your World Delivered."

Now the big telco wants the Federal Communications Commission to block a joint venture between Sprint and Clearwire that would deploy WiMAX wireless broadband that could fill in many of AT&T's broadband black holes. AT&T's current strategy seems to have the perverse goal of preserving as many of its digital dark spots as possible for as long as possible. In some areas, AT&T is already under competitive pressure from Verizon Wireless Broadband, which has been harvesting customers who can't get wireline broadband from Ma Bell. Since it would likely offer faster thoughput speeds, the Sprint/Clearwire WiMAX venture would present an even greater threat to AT&T's dark territorial hegemony.

Big WiMAX deal could have sufficient backhaul due to cableco involvement

Less than a week after an Unstrung analysis noted the launch of Sprint's Xohm WiMAX was delayed due to insufficient backhaul over 1970's era copper-based T-1 lines that also threatens future 4G rollouts, The Wall Street Journal reports Sprint, WiMAX player Clearwire, Web portal Google, and chip maker Intel and big cable companies Comcast and Time Warner Cable have joined forces to create a WiMAX protocol-based wireless voice and broadband network.

The offering, which could provide downloads of 5Mbs on a par with current cable Internet service, isn't likely to encounter backhaul problems since it involves both wireless and wireline players -- the latter being Comcast and Time Warner Cable. Both companies are likely to be able to provide adequate backhaul. But some observers aren't so sure. One notes there are doubts that the cableco partners can provide adequate backhaul capacity without upgrading their infrastructures. Additionally, Google told Unstrung it won't be making available its proprietary fiber to serve as backhaul for the new Clearwire venture. According to Unstrung, for now Clearwire intends to rely primarily on its proprietary microwave network for backhaul.

If the WiMAX technology works as expected and this service is rolled out quickly, in addition to mobile customers it could sign on fixed residential and small business customers located in areas not served by the cable companies or those stuck in the many telco broadband black holes where DSL wasn't deployed in the past several years and where infrastructure for Internet Protocol-based advanced bundled services has yet to be built.

A report released May 7 by the UK-based Juniper Research supports this analysis. Report author Howard Wilcox predicts WiMAX "will be an attractive offer" in areas where there are no wired networks, and in areas where the existing DSL speed is suboptimal, (i.e. 1.5Mbs or less). "WiMAX will solve the broadband access problem for users located at the fringes of DSL coverage," Wilcox wrote.

Slovenian WiMAX tests could bode well for U.S. wireless broadband players

For WISPs considering using WiMAX technology to serve areas with rugged or heavily forested terrain, recent testing of WiMAX in Slovenia indicates the protocol can work well provided it's transmitted on a relatively low frequency.

cellular-news reports WiMAX developer Telsima conducted tests there earlier this year and claims to have successfully demonstrated a 50km (30mile) connection with 6 Mbps throughput using a 3 MHz channel under near line of sight conditions in the 450 MHz frequency band.

"Compared to higher frequency systems, the Sub-GHz solutions are technically and economically suited for covering large areas where the foliage is dense and the terrain does not allow for line of sight communications between the subscriber station and base station. We are very optimistic in our sub-GHz solution's capability to address the needs of high coverage, low density markets with high modulation rate capacity," the publication quoted Wolfgang Mack, chief marketing officer of Telsima, as saying.

These results if verified could entice U.S. wireless broadband players using WiMAX like Clearwire to move outside its existing metro markets and cater to customers living in less densely populated areas where telcos and cable companies don't offer wireline-based broadband.

It's a wanker, mate: Aussie WISP abandons WiMAX

Hervey Bay, Australia WISP Buzz Broadband has pulled the plug on WiMAX, panning it as a "miserable" technological failure at an international WiMAX conference last week in Bangkok.

Commsday.com quoted Buzz Broadband's CEO Garth Freeman as saying WiMAX's non-line of sight performance was “non-existent” beyond just 2 kilometres from the base station, is hard to receive indoors and is plagued with high latency.

Buzz Broadband will instead use an alternative wireless protocol based on the TD-CDMA cellular protocol with compression technology capable of throughput up to 38Mbps in the 3.5GHz spectrum. Buzz and other WISPs in Australia are targeting areas like Hervey Bay where about 80 percent of residents are unable to get ADSL because of the use of digital pairgain by incumbent telco Telstra and the exhaustion of existing DSL ports -- a dismal situation mirrored in much of the United States.

If the troubles down under with WiMAX spread, it could have implications in the northern hemisphere, where AT&T a year ago began trials of WiMAX in Ancorage, Alaska with a planned ramp up this year in its 22-state service area. They could also hit big WiMAX player Clearwire and could explain why the company has concentrated going head to head with wireline broadband providers in metro areas instead of targeting non-metro regions where WiMAX signals have to travel farther and can face more challenging terrain and dense foliage.

Airspan, Buzz Broadband's WiMAX equipment vendor, blamed the WISP for the problems, saying it elected to use lower cost equipment with less range and refused technical support.

Report: AT&T to ramp up fixed terrestrial WiMAX service in 2008

Last month, AT&T announced it began deploying fixed terrestrial wireless broadband service in Alaska as part of an initiative to test the service, which utilizes WiMAX protocol, in 22 areas of the United States. Eight of those became what the telco in August termed "active commercial deployments."

Quoting an industry source, Unstrung is reporting that Ma Bell will ramp up the service in the second quarter of next year, most likely in the southern U.S. where AT&T has preexisting licenses for using the 2.3 GHz band to provide the wireless broadband service as an alternative to DSL or cable.

Unstrung's analysis is taken in combination with the Alaskan rollout last month, this move into the lower 48 suggests AT&T might use the technology to provide better broadband coverage in areas where it has less wireline infrastructure.

Clearwire is missing market opportunity to fill in broadband black holes

A couple of weeks back, I blogged that the big WiMAX players like Clearwire aren't likely to fill in America's many broadband black holes where neither cable nor telco broadband is available.

Here's more evidence: The Tennessean.com reports today Clearwire is sticking to more populated areas of Nashville. There are more customers to be had there of course but there's also lots of broadband competition from the wireline telco and cable broadband providers. While there are fewer prospective subscribers outside the city limits, Clearwire shouldn't neglect these areas since they face little competition other than satellite Internet, which it can easily outperform from a price/performance standpoint.

Read this lamentation from one prospective Clearwire subscriber who like your blogger is situated on the dark side of the digital divide by only about a mile:

One group of people who may be disappointed with Clearwire is rural residents who don't have access to broadband through AT&T or Comcast. Clearwire is sticking mostly to major population centers in the Nashville area with its service.

George Reynolds hopes Clearwire gets to his house in west Nashville on the Cumberland River.

"Broadband is available on Charlotte (Avenue) and that's one mile from my house,'' he said, adding that he has been trying to get AT&T to give him broadband service for about three years.

AT&T rolls out WiMAX in Alaska -- could it be harbinger of broad-based fixed wireless expansion?

As part of its "commitment to broadband innovation," AT&T announced today it is deploying fixed terrestrial wireless broadband service in Alaska this year, starting in the Juneau area. Throughout the U.S, AT&T says it has deployed 22 fixed terrestrial wireless trials and "limited deployments" in U.S. communities to date, of which eight ended up as "active commercial deployments." According to AT&T's news release:

The new service uses WiMAX wireless technology, which enables delivery of broadband services to homes and small businesses with speeds that are similar to landline technologies such as DSL. With a range of up to several miles from a central tower, WiMAX technology is emerging as an alternative broadband solution for a range of locations where deployment of landline-based technologies is impractical or impossible.

Initial deployments of WiMAX technology in Alaska will be used to provide portable wireless broadband for home and business-based access, enabling users to plug in to the service at multiple home or work locations within the service's range. As mobile WiMAX technology advances, the company will evaluate options to enable additional roaming and mobility service options for customers.

While comparing throughput speeds to DSL, AT&T did not provide actual numbers. The company appears to be pricing the wireless service similarly to DSL, stating in the news release that monthly rates start at $19.95.

This announcement out of Alaska could have implications for the lower 48 states. While apparently the company is still working out the bugs, it appears probable AT&T could ramp up its fixed terrestrial wireless broadband in order to give it another alternative to offer broadband to residential customers. AT&T clearly needs another delivery option to bring broadband to residential and home office customers outside of the limited urban areas where it's deploying its new hybrid fiber and copper U-Verse broadband IPTV (Internet Protocol TV) infrastructure.

Weak DSL signals degrade once they travel more than 14,000 feet from an AT&T central office and the company has reportedly stopped installing additional remote terminals to boost DSL beyond the 14,000 foot limit. That means those who don't already get AT&T's DSL aren't likely to be offered it in the future.

Beyond the 14,000 foot DSL limit, I suspect AT&T is finding there's not as much demand as it would like for its repackaged satellite Internet service, WildBlue. That's hardly surprising given customers are locked into a one year contract for slow throughput, high latency, steep upfront costs and a poor overall value compared to other broadband technologies.

Big WiMAX players unlikely to fill in broadband black holes

There's more evidence the big wireless players making WiMAX plays aren't going to fill in broadband black holes that commonly exist outside of heavily populated regions.

Some observers have held out hope that wireless providers would provide the long awaited broadband solution to less urban areas that are underserved by the wireline telco/cable duopoly. Instead, the big guys like Clearwire are concentrating on serving mobile consumers in big metro areas shown by this announcement today that Clearwire Sprint Nextel have signed a letter of intent to jointly construct America’s first nationwide mobile WiMAX network.

The key word here is "mobile." In short, that doesn't mean residential consumers who remain mired in broadband black holes across much of America. Their wireless option for now is going to continue to remain among the 1,500 or so small wireless Internet service providers (WISPs) that provide fixed terrestrial service.

That is unless a high powered coalition is successful in demonstrating a prototype service called white space broadband that would deliver wireless broadband over unused portions of the television broadcast spectrum.

Feds betting big on WiMAX

Forbes magazine is reporting today that the Federal Communications Commission and some in Congress are betting heavily on WiMAX technology to provide a wireless broadband alternative to the telco/cable duopoly.

They aren't the only ones. Forbes reports Yahoo!, Google, eBay, Intel , Skype and satellite TV providers EchoStar and DirectTV also want a so-called broadband "third pipe" installed to break the telco/cable choke hold whose incomplete wireline systems fail to bridge the "last mile" to bring broadband to far too many residences.

The FCC wants to auction off television broadcast frequencies currently used by TV channels 52 to 69 that will become available in 2009 when TV broadcasters are required by the FCC to convert from analog to digital transmission.

Forbes reports there are concerns that telcos like AT&T and Verizon could buy up the frequencies not to use them, but to keep them off the market in order to protect their wireline-based systems, prompting consumer groups to advocate for auction rules that would disallow the practice.

The FCC is also reviewing a wireless broadband concept being advanced by a coalition comprised of Dell, EarthLink, Google, HP, Intel, Microsoft, and Philips Electronics. A prototype device has been submitted for FCC testing by the White Space Coalition that uses different transmission technology to beam ultra-fast wireless broadband via unused "white spaces" in the current analog TV broadcast spectrum. It could come on line as early as February 2009 if approved.

The next year or so will likely determine if wireless broadband can become a viable "third pipe" alternative beyond the current coffee shop and airport Wi-Fi connections and which -- if any -- of these wide area wireless broadband technologies will provide that sought after third pipe.

Clearwire in WiMAX alliance with satellite TV providers

This deal looks at bit sketchy at first glance. On one hand, it makes some sense inasmuch as many satellite TV subscribers live in areas where over the air TV broadcast reception is poor and there's no wireline broadband infrastructure from the telco/cable duopoly.

Many of these folks would likely prefer a fixed terrestrial wireless option that provides broadband faster and cheaper than satellite ISPs such as WildBlue and HughesNet.

On the other hand, however, there are few if any proven WiMAX deployments in these areas that have an established track record. I asked Clearwire how its service would overcome rugged terrain and tall trees which are often found in areas that lack wireline broadband. Tellingly, the company demurred, declining to respond to the inquiry.