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WiMAX Expanding Broadband Competition in Rural America
06 Nov, 2008
Open Range Communications of Denver, Colorado recently received a $267 million broadband loan from the USDA’s RUS program for the build out of broadband in 500 rural communities. The loan proceeds were held up until the FCC acted on a request from Open Range’s spectrum partner, Globalstar. Globalstar asked the FCC to allow them to offer Ancillary Terrestrial Component (ATC) services over their existing spectrum holdings. The FCC granted that request, clearing the way for Globalstar and Open Range to offer WiMAX services in those identified rural communities. “We expect our partner [Open Range] to initially deploy infrastructure in more than 500 rural communities with the ability to expand the relationship over the next six years to additional markets covering 50 million people or about 15% of the U.S. population,'' said Jay Monroe, CEO and Chairman of Globalstar in a company statement.
WiMAX continues to empower a variety of telecompetitors in both urban and rural markets. The FCC’s recent approval of the Clearwire-Sprint XOHM venture opens the door to a true national WiMAX provider, with the capability to compete against both wireline and wireless broadband providers. Companies like DigitalBridge and Azulstar are doing the same in smaller and rural markets. Fairpoint also recently announced it intends to use WiMAX in some Northeastern rural markets. In its relatively short life, WiMAX is providing significant competitive fuel for the marketplace.
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googleOpen Range Approved for $267 Million RUS Broadband Loan
26 Mar, 2008
Open Range Communications, a Denver, Co. based wireless provider, has been approved for a $267 million RUS broadband loan. Open Range intends to use the proceeds to deploy broadband service to 518 rural communities in 17 states. The project is intended to cover more than 6 million people and serve more than 447,000 households within five years. Open Range intends to use WiMAX technology for the deployments.
Read local reaction to Open Range's plans.
Open Range to Launch Nationwide Broadband Wireless
22 Oct, 2007Open Range, a Colorado based broadband wireless service provider, announced its plans to launch a nationwide broadband wireless network targeting rural America. As a result of a Rural Utilities Service rural broadband loan of $268 million, Open Range intends to utilize WiMAX technology to serve over 500 rural communities, serving over 6 million potential subscribers. Open Range intends to offer a $40/month wireless broadband product, branded as Simply Easier, offering download speeds of 1.5 Mbps.
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Telecompetitor is a leading industry blog covering the telecom competitive landscape. We provide insight, analysis, and commentary on the issues and implications of the evolving telecom competitive landscape.
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Should Telephone Service be Free?
12 Oct, 2008
Comcast announced a new promotion last week that offers 12 months of free basic cable service for new customers who also sign up for an additional service. Customers who don’t want an additional service can get Comcast’s basic service of about 20 -30 channels for $10/month. The promotion is tied to the digital TV transition of February 2009 and entices potential customers to avoid the transition “hassle” by getting “free” cable service. “The simple fact is that basic cable is the easiest path through the digital transition and now consumers can get it for free,” said Derek Harrar, General Manager and Senior Vice President, Video Services for Comcast in a company statement. This move is similar to strategies pursued by other video service providers, who are hoping to leverage the digital TV transition for new subscriber additions.
But is this strategy a leading indicator for the future? Should basic core services like basic cable and basic telephone service be offered for free, used as a “carrot” to entice customers to buy “more important” services like broadband? Maybe a very basic phone service, with no LD, access to landline 911, and maybe outgoing service only (to avoid telemarketers) should be a free component of a bundled offering. Such a wireline service may appeal to a customer who previously cut the cord for wireless only, but also needs broadband. There is a growing portion of the population who find the value of traditional wireline phone service elsewhere – either through wireless or broadband/IP services. But, if they could get the security of landline 911, and an extra dial tone in their home as a free value add for subscribing to broadband (or video from a telco’s perspective), maybe a telco’s bundled offering may look more attractive than a comparable cable offering. I realize this idea is not appealing to the hundreds of ILECs who are a part of the current access/settlement system (in fact, it couldn’t work in the context of today’s regulatory structure), but I wonder whether it’s inevitable. In this possible future scenario, the current settlement system adapts to broadband as the underlying service, as opposed to voice.
This scenario cuts both ways. From a cable company’s perspective, a growing portion of the population is turning to the Internet as a source for their video content, and no longer see value in paying for a broad package of video as a part of a traditional subscription pay-TV service. But, if they could receive basic TV (which includes local broadcast affiliates) as a free value add for buying broadband, maybe the cable bundle is more attractive. In a true IP/broadband world, very basic phone and video service is relatively easy to deliver, and has little impact on bandwidth and network performance. Maybe the digital transition is opening the door to a future where free basic services are a regular component of a bundled offering. Thoughts?