Wireless companies make pitch to utilities for uses of wireless last mile technology

Utility companies thinking of entering the Canadian telecommunications market should seriously consider using broadband wireless technologies as a potential solution to expanding their current infrastructure to reach more customers. That was the message given by three Canadian wireless equipment manufacturers at the recent United Telecom Council’s 2003 Canadian Utility Telecom Conference, which took place from March 5 to 7 in Ottawa. Representatives from Redline Communications Inc., DragonWave Inc. and Unique Broadband Systems Inc. told the session titled Wireless: Last Mile Solutions that wireless is close to being ready to take its place alongside fibre as a dominant method of transmitting data. During their presentations, the companies revealed plans for new products and explained how they could help utility companies operate in the telecom space. The emergence of faster, more spectrally efficient technologies are also on the horizon, which will give utilities a boost in breaking into telecom, the three companies said. Markham ON-based Redline has developed new equipment using OFDM technology based on the 802.16a standard, which is a significant step up from the popular 802.11a/b/g protocols. Equipment based on the 802.16 standard, originally designed to operate above the 11 GHz range, can also be used in systems operating between the 2 GHz and 11 GHz frequency ranges. Kevin Suitor, VP business development at Redline, told the session that the company will begin trials of this new product in May of this year. He hopes to be able to roll it out commercially a month later. OFDM 802.16a equipment can help solve significant deployment problems associated with traditional wireless technologies. Suitor stated that urban areas present many interference problems such as signal bouncing and fading. By using his company’s equipment, many of those problems can be solved, he told the conference session. Doug Shaddock, UBS’ director of marketing and sales, said there are several factors to consider before choosing a vendor and moving towards deployment. These include capacity, reliability, quality of service, security and costs. Shaddock noted that utility companies have an advantage through their existing infrastructure and client base. Utilities can use their points of presence to provide last mile access through a point-to-point architecture to commercial and government clients, for example. Using wireless technologies also significantly decreases service deployment times, he added. Session attendees also heard from DragonWave, which is already helping a utility company expand its network coverage through the use of wireless technologies. Ottawa-based DragonWave inked an agreement with Telecom Ottawa, the city’s broadband utility, last year under which the utility was able to expand its network (RoW Update, Dec. 16/02). The deployment of a radio network enabled the utility to roll out services to organizations in both rural and urban locations where deploying fibre was cost prohibitive. "The AirPair radios have enabled us to quickly extend our network to new customers without compromising on service performance or reliability," Telecom Ottawa’s executive VP Dave Dobbin said at the time. DragonWave’s president and CEO Jim Arsenault said that equipment operating in licensed spectrum bands is beginning to show lower costs, while offering near fibre data throughput rates. Future improvements will concentrate on even higher performance, he added. For more coverage on the recent United Telecom Council conference, please refer to the March 11 issue of Report on Wireless affiliate publication Network Letter.

Wireless companies make pitch to utilities for uses of wireless last mile technology

News | March 18, 2003

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