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Mobile in Minute papers
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700 MHz Stealth WiMAX Spectrum?
Google is in, could be a worldwide WiMAX spectrum soon?
December 3, 2007 was the deadline for filing for the FCC’s January 24,
2008 auction of 700 MHz spectrum. 1,099 licenses will be auctioned with
five licenses offered for any space in the US and Puerto Rico. Last week,
Google announced it would bid on the “C” block or the single nation-wide
license. It is unclear if any players will be known before the FCC announces who the qualified bidders are on December 28,
2008.
While Wall Street might be focused like a laser beam on “C” block bidders,
the real industry “tea leaves” might lie in who is bidding on the other
1,098 licenses. Over 700 licenses are offered in the “B” block or 12 MHz
for Cellular Market Areas with larger geographic licenses for Economic
Areas and Regional Economic Area Groups.
Clearwire and Sprint took almost a decade to compile the spectrum warehouses
they now have. It is not clear if or who might be acquiring a comparable
spectrum war chest from this and previous 700 MHz auctions (2002 and 2003).
Keep in mind that, aside from Seattle, Clearwire offers no services in
any major metropolitan center, yet they are clearly the darling of the
pre-WiMAX and WiMAX industry.
Is a US 700 MHz WiMAX darling on the near horizon? If so, who is it? Google
has been mentioned. A wireless start up known as Open Range has received
approval on a $600 million federal loan which could possibly be applied
toward the 700 MHz auction. Keep in mind that the minimum opening bid for
CMAs in cities like Salt Lake City start at $1 million, ergo, $600 million
could buy a lot of spectrum outside of Manhattan.
WiMAX vendors would be wise to be able to move toward this trend at short
notice. Vendors who have achieved a good deal of success by focusing on
second tier service providers include Metaswitch (has outsold Lucent and
Nortel by about 100:1 in terms of successful installations) and Calix (ditto
as opposed to competing big name fiber PON gear). So, vendor community,
if you missed the Sprint Nextel deal, my advice is to focus on the 700
MHz play which might be where the industry really goes…
Frank Ohrtman
WMX Systems
Frank Ohrtman has
almost 20 years experience in VoIP and wireless applications. He is the
president of WMX Systems, LLC, a Denver, Colorado-based consulting and systems
integration firm. Mr. Ohrtman learned to perform in-depth research and write
succinct analyses during his years as a Navy Intelligence Officer (1981-1991)
during which he specialized in electronic intelligence and electronic warfare.
He is a veteran of U.S. Navy actions in Lebanon (awarded Navy Expeditionary
Medal), Grenada, Libya (awarded Joint Service Commendation Medal), and the Gulf
War (awarded National Defense Service Medal).
His telecommunications
career began with selling VoIP gateway switches for Netrix Corporation to long
distance bypass carriers. He went on to promote softswitch solutions for Lucent
Technologies (Qwest Account Manager) and Vsys (Western Region Sales Manager).
His consulting clients include national governments and tier one telephone
companies.
Mr. Ohrtman is a Gerson Lehrman Group Scholar
(http://www.glgcouncils.com) and serves as Dean of WiMAX for Applied Learning
Solutions (http://www.e-als.com). He is a regular blogger and contributor to
WiMAX.com (http://www.wimax.com) and annual presenter at WiMAX World
(http://www.wimaxworld.com) as well as local Cisco Users Groups. Mr. Ohrtman
serves as an advisor to Bush Telecommunications Pty Ltd and the Rural Broadband
Consortium of Australia.
Mr. Ohrtman holds a Master of Science degree in
Telecommunications from Colorado University College of Engineering (master's
thesis: "Softswitch As Class 4 Replacement-A Disruptive Technology"), a Master
of Arts degree in International Relations from Boston University and a Bachelor
of Arts, Political Science, from University of Iowa
Frank may be reached
at Frank@MindCommerce.com |
Frank Ohrtman is author of:
WiMax and the
700 MHz Auction:
Peril or Opportunity for the Service
Provider?
This 150-page presentation was developed through years of experience
with WiMAX implementation and operation coupled with analysis of the potential
for 700 MHz. Frank Ohrtman is one of the very few consultants to shepherd
successful, incumbent telephone companies through WiMAX deployments. He brings a
depth of knowledge and insight that is rare and exceptionally timely for this
auction. Among other insights, Frank has a profound vision for the broadband
wireless applications that justify investment and will provide a compelling
business case. |
WiMAX in the Enterprise: Access, Applications and
Affordability
This publication
evaluates the deployment of a WiMAX network for an enterprise in terms of the
author's unique analysis methodology of the "Three A's of WiMAX deployment",
which are: Access, Affordability and Applications. Access refers to how an
enterprise employee might access the Internet or corporate intranet. Internet
skills are critical in the job market of 2007 and will be even more so in 2020.
Affordability means bringing wireless broadband internet/intranet access to all
employees may be surprisingly affordable. Compared to the telephone company's
T1, the cost per megabit per employee for WiMAX services is very competitive. In
terms of Applications, wireless broadband access and mobile computing come
together via WiMAX to offer the enterprise a range of applications limited only
by the imagination of enterprise leadership. This publication explores how WiMAX
will change enterprise telecommunications in terms of access, applications and
affordability. This matrix ultimately points to WiMAX holding a $36.4 billion
market in US enterprises telecommunications services by
2013. |
WiMAX Market and Business Assessment: Access, Affordability, and Applications
for Education
This is a very unique report as it focuses on the three A's
(Access, Affordability, and Applications) when considering a WiMAX deployment.
The author leverages his real-world experience of deploying a large scale WiMAX
system for a major metropolitan educational institution to instruct others about
the many opportunities for WiMAX in education. Not only is this a valuable
resource for those seeking business drivers for WiMAX, his method of evaluating
using the 3A's can be used for any purpose to evaluate deployment issues and
options. |
MIMO has the potential to transform WiMAX and other broadband
wireless solutions to realize their true potential. Ultimately, emerging antenna
technologies contribute to the erosion of incumbent landline market share and
boost WiMAX and other broadband wireless access in the market place. This
publication addresses the role and importance of antenna technology, including
MIMO, to transform broadband wireless communications.
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