The Last Mile

If you think of the effort to provide broadband Internet service to Southwest Florida as a marathon (and it has been a long and arduous race that is still far from the finish line), the last mile is the killer. In the broadband arena, “the last mile” refers to the connection from your business to the service provider’s infrastructure — whether phone line, cable, or fiber optics. It’s the connection that causes the telecommunications companies to shudder and reach protectively for their wallets. It usually requires large outlays of cash for new equipment and digging of trenches to bring broadband capabilities to the end user.

The market has to be large enough and strong enough to justify those up-front expenditures. As a tier-III market (up to 750,000 population), Fort Myers/Naples hasn’t attracted much broadband attention from the big players. Only in the past two years has the market started to benefit from limited penetration of cable Internet hook-ups and digital subscriber line (DSL) technology.

The area is beginning to see another emerging technology, however, that may offer an alternative to cable and DSL: fixed wireless (to differentiate it from the mobile wireless technology you use for your cell phone). Fixed wireless, also called wireless local loop, skips right over the last mile problem and brings broadband Internet access through the air straight to your computer.

“The beauty of wireless is that you can bypass Sprint [the area’s primary phone company], and the service delays and install delays,” says Richard Williamson, president of Fort Myers-based DHR Networks, one of the first wireless providers in the area. “We control the system from end to end, so we are able to respond quickly and resolve issues. Very little of what we depend on is the local carrier.”

Unlike cable or DSL, wireless requires no digging, no massive infrastructure changes, and no big investment in central-office equipment. Data is transmitted over the unlicensed 2.4-GHz radio frequency through a network of transmitters mounted on towers and rooftops. The end user needs only a directional antenna and small radio receiver, about the size of a paperback book, to be in business.

“It is far, far easier to deploy as long as you can find a spot to put [the transmitter] up in the air,” says Williamson.

Nationwide, as in Southwest Florida, wireless holds a tiny fraction of the broadband market. Cable is estimated to have about 4 million subscribers, DSL about half of that, and wireless somewhat less than 200,000. That number, however, could grow to 1.5 million in the next three years, according to analysts. Forrester Research, a technology research and consulting firm, estimates that by 2005, wireless will hold about 9 percent of the market.

Cable was the first to gain a foothold in the local market. MediaOne offers one-way cable access to its coverage area in Lee and Collier counties, but has yet to announce when it will upgrade its service to two-way access — requiring another sizable investment in equipment. Until then, cable modem users must still depend on the phone lines for their Internet connection. So far, MediaOne is the only one of the area’s cable franchises offering Internet access and is available only in some residential areas. It was recently absorbed by Comcast, along with another of the area’s major cable providers, Adelphia. Comcast says its plans include offering Internet access to its Southwest Florida customers, but no word yet on when.

Somewhat more accessible to businesses is DSL. Sprint introduced DSL to Southwest Florida a year ago and has struggled to keep up with demand. Many customers have complained of long waits for installation, or just to find out if they are geographically disposed to installation (Users must be within three miles or so of a telephone central office for DSL to work properly.)

“A lot of people have had frustrations with DSL,” says DHR Networks’ Williamson. “Our customers have not experienced those frustrations.” His solution to the broadband dilemma, of course, is wireless.

He believes the local market is more than ready for it. “This market has been neglected for so long,” he says. As a tier-III communications market, he explains, “we don’t get the highest-quality equipment. There is less reliability. And the bigger giants aren’t going to focus here.”

That clears the air for wireless. “It’s something that’s going to pop up soon,” says Williamson. “Local telcos haven’t picked up on it for the most part. They are going DSL. But wireless is making most of the headlines now.”

“Our phone calls have tripled in the past two weeks,” DHR sales manager Tony Lanza says with a smile.

DHR, a privately held corporation, got its start about a year ago after its three owners — Richard and his father, Dick, and partner Hamilton Agnew — attended a major trade show for wireless communications focusing on that infamous last-mile connectivity. They came away buzzing with ideas. All three partners have long been part of the mobile wireless world. Since 1997 the Williamsons have owned Coastal Communications Group, which operates cellular phone stores in Fort Myers and Naples. Prior to that, the younger Williamson sold Nextel phone service in Michigan. Agnew owns PlanetRadio.com, formerly Mobile Radio Service, in Fort Myers.

DHR (for Dick, Hamilton, Richard) began placing transmitters around Fort Myers early last year — on towers and rooftops — and now has a seven-tower network covering 80 percent of Fort Myers, including nearly all the business district, says Williamson. Customers must be within about five to six miles of a transmitter for the service to work. Speed and reliability degrade if you get past that five miles, Williamson explains.

Transmission speeds reach up to 3 megabits per second, vastly faster than the 56 kilobits per second of a dial-up connection, and even slightly faster than DSL or cable.

The company launched service in June with several beta-test customers, then at the beginning of this year started actively selling its service. Williamson hopes to have 200 customers by mid-year. Among its bigger customers are Lenny’s/Thomasville Furniture, SouthWest Direct, Galloway Ford, and the law firm of GBCR&P.

It is expanding its service to Naples by mid-year and will continue to increase coverage in Lee County — adding another tower in Cape Coral, Fort Myers Beach, North Fort Myers, and east toward Billy Creek Commerce Center near I-75.

The major limitation for service is vegetation. The customer needs a clear line of sight to the closest tower. Thus, highly vegetated areas like Sanibel, for example, are difficult to service. “Trees are the tough part,” says Williamson.

Wherever possible, DHR co-locates its transmitters on existing towers or rooftops. “Where we have to, we build towers. But nobody wants to see more towers.” DHR has several long-term leases on rooftops. “People are starting to see the value in rooftops and starting to charge a lot of money,” he adds.

When a potential customer signs up for service, DHR’s first step is to do a site survey to make sure the customer is eligible for service. The customer must be within the appropriate distance of the nearest transmitter, and the line of sight must be clear.

The biggest questions most people have about wireless broadband are how reliable it is and how weather affects the service, notes Williamson. “In the 2.4-GHz band there is virtually no interference from weather,” he explains. “The height of the signal just doesn’t get affected by rain or clouds. We also have relatively short loops. The shorter the loop the more bandwidth and the more reliable it is.”

Adding to the reliability is the setup of the network. DHR’s system is designed around a self-healing SONET (synchronous optical network) ring, meaning if a break occurs in the line in one direction, the signal will reverse and go in the other direction.

Cost for wireless broadband service generally runs higher than either cable or DSL, though significantly lower than T1 lines, Williamson is quick to point out. “We are 25 percent more than DSL and two-thirds less than T1.” In addition to monthly service fees, the customer must buy a directional antenna, radio receiver, and cables. Prices for this standard package range from $1,295 to $1,695 at DHR. Generally, the larger the antenna, the higher the price. Bigger antennas can receive and transmit from longer distances. In addition, customers can purchase add-on features, such as a firewall for keeping the network secure. A firewall would add about $250 to the cost of the package.

DHR hopes to quickly establish itself as the wireless market leader in Southwest Florida. It is coming on the scene just as another wireless provider — Airlink — has stumbled badly. Other competitors are making forays into the area: ClearAccess Communications of Bradenton has installed one tower each in Naples and Fort Myers and has plans to add four more this spring to expand its coverage in Lee and Collier counties, according to communications manager Cindi Feingold. ClearAccess offers wireless service from Naples to Lakeland. Naples-based Airdata WIMAN, meanwhile, in conjunction with CellularOne’s Wireless One Network, is testing its own wireless system in Naples and Bonita Springs. WIMAN manufactures the equipment for wireless data networks.