Vyyo Finds Fixed Wireless Solution is Resonating in Licensed Frequencies

June 21, 2006:  Broadband solutions provider Vyyo has gained greater traction with its DOCSIS-based fixed-wireless platform through recent deployments over licensed spectrum, including one in which carrier Arcadian Networks is using air waves at 700 MHz to deliver a robust service into remote areas.

New York-based Arcadian is licensed to operate in the 700 MHz frequency range in 20 U.S. states. The carrier inked a deal with Vyyo in April that gives Arcadian exclusive rights to certain Vyyo products and allows Vyyo to pursue fixed-wireless deployments using licensed spectrum in Arcadian’s covered territory. The deal is an important win for Vyyo, which gambled on building equipment for the 700 MHz spectrum two years ago.

Vyyo has previously deployed its solution to extend the reach of broadband providers to rural and sparsely populated areas over other licensed and unlicensed tiers. But by using licensed 700 MHz spectrum, Arcadian can go beyond the QoS and bandwidth limitations of Wi-Fi-based broadband transmission technologies. The company is aggressively targeting utilities and other industries with dispersed assets that need to monitor mission-critical information in real-time.

“There are certain inherent characteristics of licensed frequency where you get security features and so forth that in essence enable us to do things beyond what you’re able to do in a Wi-Fi environment,” says Walt Ungerer, VP corporate communications, Vyyo. “In essence, where we are today in our solution is where Wi-MAX would love to be two or three years down the road.”

Arcadian’s new anchor tenant on the platform is Great River Energy, a generation and transmission co-op that has remote assets in Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Dakotas. The carrier is deploying the Vyyo solution across a 52,000-square-mile area to support Great River’s network requirements.

Ungerer says Arcadian’s 700 MHz spectrum generally requires half the total base stations called for at other frequencies, so Vyyo will be able to cover the entire region with only about 70 base stations that can each monitor and maintain communication with up to 8,000 customer premises equipment devices.

Ungerer notes that with the ability to perform QoS at the packet level, and because Great River only plans to monitor about 1,000 remote assets, the network will have an abundance of capacity to bring on additional subtenants to offset Great River’s costs.

“Once the network has been deployed, it opens up a very attractive opportunity for other industries with remote assets within that covered territory,” he says. “In essence that first tenant is the anchor tenant for the network, and then you can add additional tenants.”

Ungerer says Arcadian will work with Great River to bring on additional subtenants and sees opportunities with public safety organizations, water companies and service providers seeking to supply wireless broadband access to remote communities.

With its low-cost infrastructure requirements, fixed wireless has become a leading platform for extending high-speed Internet access to rural and remote locations. But the economics of reaching these places is still challenging, Ungerer says.

In the case of another customer, Teton Wireless serving parts of Idaho and Montana, Vyyo was able to scale back its technology to make the solution more economical for the service provider. Teton originally got into wireless services by offering point-to-multipoint analog video over its own licensed 2.5 GHz spectrum. Eventually the company sought to take advantage of its investment in licensed frequency to offer a superior fixed-wireless broadband solution compared to other service providers in the region operating over unlicensed spectrum.

“Our deal was we’re a small company without deep pockets, so we went with Vyyo because it’s a proven technology that’s in use with a large customer base, and it’s DOCSIS-based so we can buy an off-the-shelf modem,” says Tom Carey, director of engineering, Teton Wireless. DOCSIS (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications) is the broadband distribution technology used by the cable industry and has been adapted for use in fixed wireless by several vendors.

Teton began employing Vyyo’s IP broadband hub and data modems in 2003 and recently passed its 9,000th subscriber. Teton utilizes its wireless broadband service to reach unserved and underserved communities across more than a 15,000-square-mile footprint.

“We overbuild DSL and cable in about 40 percent of our market, and about 60 percent are customers that telcos and cable companies were not reaching,” says Donna Nims, director of marketing, Teton Wireless. “Those 60 percent probably have no other options other than expensive and not very well performing solutions.”

Nims says people in Idaho and Montana are eager to get high-speed Internet access and that Teton has had a continuous backlog of about 500 pending orders since it launched the service three years ago.

“Just because you live in Blackfoot, Idaho, or Victor, Montana, doesn’t mean that you don’t have the same requirements for broadband that you would need in San Francisco or New York City, and the demand is just as great in the rural markets,” she says.