WiMAX Television Commercial (1 update)

 

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(Update 1)

This is an AT&T (at&t? Wish they'd make up their mind about capitalization) / Alascom (ALASCOM? ditto.) television commercial for regular, revenue WiMAX service for the Juneau, Alaska area.

A blue box shown in one of the scenes is apparently the WiMAX access device. Given that Alvarion was named as the equipment vendor (Alvarion Press Release, AT&T Press Release), it's likely that's a BreezeMax Si Customer Premise Equipment (CPE), likely operating in the 2.3 GHz Wireless Communications Service (WCS) spectrum, of which AT&T, then AT&T Wireless, then Cingular, now (again!) AT&T owns extensive licenses for, obtained for an "earlier project in fixed wireless".

Interestingly, the AT&T Alascom WiMAX service wasn't given a product name, but in a tip to that "earlier project in fixed wireless", they could call it Project Angel (the topic of my very first Wireless Data Developments column in Boardwatch Magazine)... in 1997! Yes, a full decade later, and (many!) tens of billions of dollars in R&D, testing, deployments, shutting down deployments, and corporate shuffling, AT&T is finally delivering something like the Broadband Wireless Internet Access services they promised a decade ago.

Unlike Project Angel, the AT&T announcement doesn't offer any hints about voice services. But per the Alvarion description, the Alvarion Si CPE device supports ... 10/100 Base-T for IP data, 802.11b/g for WiFi hotspots, 1 or 2 POTS (RJ11) ports for voice services and battery back up. POTS is Plain Old (conventional analog) Telephone Service. So the capability is there for AT&T to provide "Voice Over WiMAX".

Apparently this is the first of a number of such deployments in Alaska. From the AT&T Press Release:

• The Juneau service launch is the first in a planned statewide initiative to expand the reach of broadband Internet services in communities throughout Alaska by using advanced WiMAX technology.
• Alaska has played a key role in AT&T's overall efforts to develop wireless broadband technologies, with initial deployments of WiMAX-based technology in Aniak, Delta Junction and Petersburg paving the way for today's expanded deployment plans.
• AT&T Alascom plans to expand service availability in Juneau later this year and roll out the service in additional Alaskan communities in 2008. Details on expanded rollout plans will be announced later this year.

By Steve Stroh

This article is Copyright © 2007 by Steve Stroh. Excerpts and links are expressly permitted (and encouraged).