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January 2001 Issue

Pulse: Fixed Wireless Start-up Targets Untapped Markets
By , Senior Editor

Raze Technology’s fixed wireless system may still be under development, but the Texas startup is betting its technology will soar in regions where broadband access currently is unavailable.

Raze is targeting the expanding broadband services markets with populations of 50,000 to 890,000 where cable modem and digital subscriber line (DSL) Internet access services aren’t offered.

"We’re pushing copper as far as the technology can go," says Nicholas Thomas, a company founder and senior vice president of sales and marketing. "We need solutions that don’t include digging up roads."

Raze’s technology is a fixed wireless broadband system that uses digital signal processing to provide voice and data services delivered over a wireless infrastructure to residential, small office home office (SOHO), and small- to mid-sized business customers.

What separates Raze’s technology from its competitors is that the company takes a whole, rather than piecemeal, approach to fixed wireless, says Paul Struhsaker, the company’s chief technology officer and vice president of engineering.

The technology consists of four elements.

The first is a management system that uses software and a server to control all information flowing to each subscriber. The network itself is comprised of a central office that deals with data concentration as well as voice compression and decompression. Equipment in a central office includes an access processor and asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) and Class 5 switches.

The central office connects to remote modems housed in pre-existing personal communication service (PCS) structures.

"We’ll reuse PCS towers," Struhsaker says. "It saves a lot of money."

The remote modems carry six active radios that separate into sectors that turn 360 degrees, allowing for 60 degrees a sector. Each remote modem can support about 3,000 subscribers.

Information is sent to households via a subscriber integrated access device (IAD) unit that is placed on the side of the house. Existing wiring in the home is used for telephone service, faxes and Internet access. Reliability is essential for broadband services.

"All those components in the access processor and remote modems are redundant and hot swappable so they are easy to maintain," Struhsaker says.

This combination allows for 99.999 percent availability of lifeline service that is capable of penetrating non-line-of-sight areas. Raze claims it can provide data rates starting at 30 Mbps and scaling to 155 Mbps per cell sector in later releases. The system operates 20 times faster than DSL.

In addition, the company has developed a number of algorithms using advanced digital signal processing techniques that will address multi-path distortions caused by buildings and trees. Raze’s system works in frequency bands that are not affected by the weather, the company says.

Raze plans initially to cooperate with competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) and independent telcos. The company is in discussions with several CLECs in the southwest who have shown an interest in the company’s technology.

"They make faster decisions," says John Festa, president and chief executive officer. "We can roll out into the incumbent market."

The demand for broadband has made the atmosphere ripe for fixed wireless, analysts say.

"Wireless broadband, particularly to the residence, is one of the broadband technologies we think is going to impact the market," says Matthew Davis, a senior analyst at the Yankee Group. "When you get out to rural areas, wireless technology is positioning itself to bridge that last 25 percent of customers who can’t get wireline broadband service."

Research shows that cable modem service is available to less than 44 percent of the total available market of U.S. households, while DSL is expected to serve only 24 percent of the market by the end of 2000, according to Festa. In addition, 50 percent of the United States won’t have access to a DSL or cable modem line in the next five years. Raze says that by 2003, the business market will account for 70 percent of revenues for fixed wireless broadband services.

Raze’s rollout plans include alpha testing this spring, beta testing in June and field trials in the fall of 2001. Product introduction is scheduled for mid-2001.

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