The appetite of computer and telephony gear for bigger data pipes sometimes seems unquenchable. As with so many other aspects of electronic information systems, every advance in communication speed and bandwidth is gobbled up by more powerful and capable systems and software. Networks with the bandwidth and capacity to handle simultaneous voice and data -- along with video, teleconferencing, application data exchange, and other pipe hoggers -- are becoming more common.

At the same time, though, there's been a move to cut the cable and let users go mobile and wireless. Wireless connections tend to be narrowband, or, at best, slightly more capacious than a dial-up voice or data connection. So, do users wanting to move forward have to make a choice between broad bandwidth and wireless operation? No. Wireless broadband networking is ready to shoulder the load.

Wireless Broadband Network Scale

Wireless broadband networking encompasses several different application forms. For a single enclosed business site, it might take the form of a wireless LAN. Laptops equipped with wireless LAN cards can be moved anywhere within the site and retain full-speed network access.

Another form is fixed wireless service, such as a wireless xDSL connection for a home or office building. High-speed Internet access providers who want to bypass the wired service providers (telcos, cable companies) can literally go over their heads and provide high-speed, high-bandwidth service via fixed rooftop antennas.

The ultimate form of wireless broadband networking is mobile wireless service, which is not yet widely available. Many cities in the U.S. now have mobile data services available for advanced cell phones and PDAs, but the connection speed and bandwidth are not enough to support broadband access. Enhanced mobile wireless services that permit videoconferencing and similar high-bandwidth applications are on the horizon, while the pieces for true mobile broadband wireless are falling into place.

The Advantages of Wireless Networking

No one who's used a cell phone needs to be told the advantages of working wireless. But with the capabilities of broadband wireless networks, the possibilities go far beyond a simple voice or low-speed data link. Imagine being able to take a network workstation anywhere -- with no loss of connection speed and bandwidth. In a few years, users will be able to tap full-speed xDSL access anywhere, on the go.

Although the up-front costs of wireless networking, both at the service provider and corporate levels, are steep, there are long-term possibilities and payoffs beyond the basic notion of user mobility. For one thing, a complex, costly, and degradation-prone wiring infrastructure is no longer needed. The broadband wireless link can replace all point-to-point telephone and network cabling. At the CLEC and ITSP level, this permits providers to offer advanced services without using the local telephony infrastructure (and without the limitations of voice-grade copper).

At the corporate and enterprise level, the benefits are similar. Most existing business sites already have copious cabling, which might seem to reduce the value of a wireless solution. However, a site with an aging cable infrastructure that is starting to see significant maintenance and replacement costs, or one that is facing a wholesale upgrade to meet high-speed networking or converged voice and data needs, might be better served by a conversion to wireless. Similarly, the cost of fully cabling a new business site might be better applied to a wireless networking solution.

Once the investment has been made in wireless broadband, a host of other costs vanish. Installation, maintenance, and upgrade of cabling, jacks, hubs, routers, repeaters, and distributed telephony switches are no longer needed. Upgrades and changes can be made mostly at the wireless head end, with less frequent changes at each client system end.

The State of Wireless Broadband Networking

So far, wireless broadband networking for service providers has proven more popular outside the U.S., with the most significant installations in Europe and South America. U.S. providers have been held back by FCC regulations, but recent changes have allowed service providers to make efficient use of the LDMS and MMDS fixed wireless frequencies. The excellent telephony and networking infrastructure already present in the U.S. has also blunted the need for wireless solutions. Elsewhere, companies and information utilities have jumped on the wireless bandwagon, and for good reason.

In much of South America, the telephony and other information delivery infrastructures are outdated and cover only a fraction of the potential service areas. It's not surprising that users in Venezuela, Brazil, and other countries on the far side of the Canal Zone have leapfrogged the U.S., skipping wired telephony and backbone networking for broadband wireless solutions. The situation is similar in much of Europe, where wireless solutions bypass the limitations of outdated and overloaded wired telephony systems--and not incidentally, often bypass cumbersome tariffs and regulations that predate the touch-tone era.

Wireless broadband for voice and data is beginning to appear in the U.S., albeit slowly. Driven by the experience of freedom with cell phones, wireless PDAs, and the like on one hand, and the need for full network bandwidth on the other, expect high-bandwidth wireless networking, with fully merged telephony services, to be ubiquitous by the end of this decade.

Wireless broadband networking is not yet a universal solution. Many companies will be much better served, in the short run at least, by remaining with wired networking and telephony, whether converged or not. Companies that can make good use of employee and equipment mobility, or with sites where a costly cabling infrastructure upgrade or installation is planned, would be wise to investigate the wireless solutions available.

ADAPTIVE BROADBAND
Adaptive Broadband (Sunnyvale, CA -- 408-732-4000, www.adaptivebroadband.com) makes a complete line of high-speed wireless data products for everything from local network loops to IP-via-satellite connections. Their AB-Access point-to-multipoint system provides "cells" of wireless broadband access that can deliver up to 25 Mbps to each user, some 450 times the speed of conventional modem networks.

AT&T
AT&T's Wireless Group (Bridgewater, NJ -- 800-746-7846, www.att.com) is responsible for AT&T's Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) network, which was launched in March 1995. The CDPD network permits users with wireless data devices (such as a Palm Pilot V equipped with an OmniSky modem) to access e-mail, data services, and the Internet almost anywhere a cell phone works. Although the CDPD network is not truly broadband, it is one of the largest wireless data networks in operation so far--and gives a hint of what true broadband access will bring.