FCC Moves Could Promote WiMAX

FCC Moves Could Promote WiMAX

August 4, 2005

By Staff

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s plan to deregulate DSL could boost the prospects for WiMAX, the slowly evolving standard for wireless broadband, by forcing Congress to allocate enough frequencies to support the technology.

“The FCC ruling could make wireless broadband a bigger and much more crucial battleground than ever,” said Joe Nordgaard, managing director of Spectral Advantage, a wireless strategic consulting firm. “Congress has been lobbied for months now to free more frequencies for wireless broadband to the home. If competition is reduced on the DSL path, wireless access will gain significantly from a competitive standpoint.”

WiMAX promises to join cable and DSL as the third broadband connection to the American home. But technical and political considerations have conspired to slow the progress of the wireless technology.

After years on the drawing board, WiMAX has only recently begun to show signs of real life. A number of vendors and carriers have announced products, testing, or support for the standard in the last month, including Intel, Nokia, AT&T, BellSouth, Sprint, and Motorola.

On Monday, Vonage, the Voip market leader, announced an alliance with TowerStream, a carrier that is implementing an early version of WiMAX technology. The deal will allow Vonage to bypass equipment owned by its cable and telecommunications competitors and give it a stronger foothold among smaller businesses (see Vonage Signs WiMAX Deal).

Giving full control of DSL communications to the telecommunications carriers could focus more attention on WiMAX. In addition, issues relating to the availability of spectrum could find themselves on the political front burner.

“The outcome of the FCC’s decision could strengthen calls for the DTV [digital television] spectrum give-back to be auctioned in a manner that stimulates additional broadband competition,” said Mr. Nordgaard. “As such, this would argue for the spectrum to be sold in larger blocks with rules designed to stimulate competition into the home.”

The transition from analog to digital television has allowed the federal government to set aside spectrum that citizens could use for affordable wireless broadband. The issue of how this spectrum would be used is still being debated in Washington.

Many, including WiMAX proponents, believe that a sizable chunk should be set aside for wireless broadband. But not everyone is thrilled about the way wireless broadband is emerging.

“Wireless broadband will be provided by the same people who own DSL,” said Kenneth DeGraff, a policy analyst with Consumers Union. “It’s Verizon, BellSouth, and SBC. I don’t see these companies using their wireless arms to attempt to cannibalize their wireline businesses. The Sprint/Nextel merger is just one small way for us to chip away at the great wall of monopoly, but I don’t see broadband wireless as the answer.”