On the Horizon The Global Wireless Web

Verizon recently announced plans to roll out its new wireless BroadbandAccess service in 14 American cities, with more to follow.


Verizon's high-speed offering is a wide-area wireless data service based on Qualcomm's (Nasdaq: QCOM - news) CDMA (news - web sites) and Evolution Data Optimized (EV-DO) technologies. Does this mean that we are on the verge of realizing a global broadband boom that will render today's hodgepodge of wire-line and wireless services obsolete?


"Right now EV-DO is more of a complementary service than anything else, but over the long term it may become a replacer technology for classic remote-access services," said IDC research manager for wireless business network services Keith Waryas.


"It essentially adds a new weapon to the cellular arsenal that will allow wireless operators to complete with the wireline guys, who already hold a very strong position inside the enterprise," Waryas told NewsFactor. "But I don't think it will do away with the multiple technologies that are already out there."


Not Really Broadband


Verizon's BroadbandAccess service may qualify as high-speed but is not really broadband because the uplink side still only runs at 60 Kbit/sec.


"To be considered broadband, wireline speeds must be a minimum of 256 Kbit/sec on the uplink," observed Gartner research vice president Phillip Redman. "This should also be the minimum requirement on the wireless side, which is why we call EV-DO high-speed but not broadband."


There is no truly broadband wireless service available today, Redman told NewsFactor. "To the average consumer surfing the Internet that's not such a big deal, but to the business user uploading a PowerPoint presentation, it is a consideration."


Verizon's EV-DO offering is directed toward mobile users and it is priced relatively low on a cost-per-bit rate basis, notes Redman. "It is cost-effective when compared to Wi-Fi, which only equals three to four days of hot spot service for the same price. But EV-DO still needs to come down to average in the US$50-per-month range."


Complementing Wireline


Because wireless spectrum is scarce, at least for now, the technology always will be a step behind wireline, believes Lucent (NYSE: LU - news) Mobility Solutions Group director Ed Chao.


But EV-DO can replace some of the technology in some cases, especially in certain rural applications where it does not make economic sense for cable systems to upgrade, Chao told NewsFactor. "In Third World countries where the copper embedded base isn't there, then wireless could become a viable alternative to getting broadband access."


Verizon will be employing EV-DO to hit the spots where there is a strong need initially, notes Chao. "Certainly the litmus test will be relative to how today's deployments go."


Remote Access Package


With Verizon's Broadband Access, enterprises will get a complete remote access package under corporate-wide plans that help to reduce cost and complexity, notes Redman. However, the Gartner analyst remains skeptical about the use of 1x EV-DO technology, because next-generation 1x EV-DV (evolution data and voice) seems a better offering for a fully loaded network.


"With EV-DO, you can either run voice or data, but not both at the same time," Redman said. "If you get a phone call, the download will get interrupted by the voice call automatically."


On the other hand, "with EV-DO there's also a soft handoff to 1x RTT when you leave EV-DO coverage so you don't lose your connection," Redman added.





The Nirvana Point

Where previously, remote access was based on the island model -- when you get to specific location, you log in -- EV-DO makes the footprint accessible from anywhere, Waryas said. "The value is that you can still access it when sitting at the customer's office taking an order, or out in the field collecting data."

Cellular operators may hope to take the hot-spot model and extrapolate from it, but they always will have a bandwidth constraint on their networks, observes Waryas. "Only when you start weaving in all these access technologies together do you get to the nirvana point."

Enterprises looking for the real deal may have to wait a while longer.

"Although it's a long way off, there is a wideband CDMA technology called high-speed uplink packet access (HSUPA) that will create megabit uplink speeds by the 2009 to 2010 time frame," said Redman. "As for Mobile WiMax, it will be four to five years before it is available anywhere."

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