BroadbandOne has a rather unique business model. The company offers what it calls fixed wireless access “as a service” to providers, with an emphasis on Tier Two and Three markets. Telecompetitor talked with BroadbandOne CEO Eric Watko about the offering, which is designed for business customers.
For a monthly fee, service providers get equipment and connectivity, including the use of BroadbandOne’s spectrum if needed, Watko explained. “Depending on the partner capabilities, we can match licenses with the right equipment and right connectivity solution,” he said. “They can use any of our licensed spectrum if it makes sense.”
BroadbandOne doesn’t offer service directly to end users, but instead plans to work through service provider partners.
“In our initial model, we’re looking for regional partners,” Watko noted. The partners could be wireless, IT, or fiber companies.
“We look to them to have brand recognition and credibility in the market,” he added.
One of BroadbandOne’s first provider partners is California-based Etheric Networks.
Target Markets
The network underlying BroadbandOne’s offering covers parts of nine states.
Attractive markets for BroadbandOne are those in which Tier One operators have not deployed fiber ubiquitously. In those markets, businesses are likely to be looking for other options, either in search of better pricing or for redundancy.
Watko declined to name the manufacturers whose equipment BroadbandOne is using, but said the company uses equipment supporting four-nines reliability. He also noted that the company is involved in shaping equipment suppliers’ product roadmaps.
Also underlying the offering is a software platform developed by BroadbandOne.
28 GHz Spectrum
Some of the fixed wireless equipment that BroadbandOne offers can support speeds up to a gigabit per second over distances as great as three miles using spectrum in the 28 GHz band, Watko said. The company has held licenses for spectrum in that band for years.
The company noted in a press release that it could offer mobile service in the future. But Watko downplayed that option when we asked him about it.
The BroadbandOne 28 GHz network is 3GPP-compliant for flexible use, meaning the network could support mobile service, he explained. But he added that if BroadbandOne were to support mobile service, it would likely be to offload video and other traffic that uses a lot of capacity. As of now, though, the mobile industry is focused on deployments in the C-band and 2.5 GHz band.
