Think about this scenario. You're doing digital video editing (and, from what I've read, no cinematic production is anything but digital video editing) and you need to get your big... really big video files to another location so they can look at them, or perhaps do something like add Computer Generated Imagery (CGI). There's no fiber to the building you're shooting in, or maybe there is fiber but the time it takes to activate it is way too long, or if it's active, the price is obscene (transfer priced by the bit).
Years ago I did an background interview with a very small Wireless ISP that was operating in the Los Angeles area providing quick-install, fast Internet access for the television and movie industry that at that time was starting to rely on being able to transmit digital video instead of courier'ing film from production to studio for approval, special effects, etc. He was gleeful because it was a "stealth" market and other than the pretty-clueless telcos trying to sell fiber service, he (claimed to) have the market to himself.
In this market - the Century City area of Los Angeles, Towerstream Broadband Wireless Internet Access service is now an option. In a press release this morning, Towerstream announced an expansion of their service area in Los Angeles. Buried in the annoucement is this startling nugget... a real game changer that may well tip the balance in favor of BWIA instead of fiber:
All of Towerstream’s Los Angeles customers have a range of bandwidth options to choose from, including T1, T3, 100 and 1000 Mbps connections...
Did you catch it? 1000 Mbps connections? I guess that's marketing at work, saying 1000 Mbps instead of 1 Gbps.
Think about the implications... Just being able to "order up" a 1 Gbps Internet connection. That's as fast as a lot of internal Local Area Network systems can go... and this is a connection to the Internet at that speed!
I suspect that Towerstream is being a bit "generous" with its coverage claims given that they'll only be able to provide 1 Gbps connections within a mile or so of each Point of Presence where they operate, but still... that's a lot of real estate where 1 Gbps Internet Access is suddenly available.
This is a game changer; Kudos to Towerstream!
By Steve Stroh
This article is Copyright © 2007 by Steve Stroh
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