09/24/2006

High-speed WiMAX wireless coming

Saginaw firm is expanding its service in region

By Bill O'Brien

bobrien@record-eagle.com

Record-Eagle/Tyler Sipe
John Waslawski, left, Jeff Forrest and David Krumlauf are employees with Wireless First in Traverse City. The company was recently purchased by Saginaw based SpeedNet.

TRAVERSE CITY — A downstate company is poised to ramp up the availability of high-speed wireless Internet service across northern Michigan.

Saginaw-based SpeedNet, the state's largest wireless broadband provider in Michigan, received a $5.6 million loan from the Michigan Broadband Development Authority to expand its service network in northern and central Michigan and to purchase Wireless First, an Internet service company in Traverse City.

The company will use the funds to install new antennas on buildings and towers in Grand Traverse, Leelanau, Kalkaska, Emmett and Antrim counties. Equipment upgrades also are planned in Bay, Saginaw, Midland, Tuscola, Isabella and Presque Isle counties. The expansion will put the company within the service range of another 200,000 households in the central and northern parts of the state.

"We think it's the right time to invest in Michigan, because we think the economy is going to turn around," said Bruce Moore, SpeedNet's vice president and general manager. "And we see the northwest Michigan area as a great opportunity to invest in that."

SpeedNet specializes in providing "non-line of sight" access points — also known as "WiMAX" technology — that allow customers to receive a high-speed wireless Internet signal over significant distances from a transmitting tower without interruption. The technology is especially beneficial in rural areas where hilly terrain and trees can hamper direct signals.

A WiMAX transmission tower is conceptually similar to a cellphone tower in that it can provide service in a radius of up to 30 miles and beyond, compared to the typical 300-foot radius of a WiFi hotspot. WiMAX uses a lower frequency range where its transmissions are not easily disrupted by physical obstacles, allowing for better service in remote rural areas.

The service currently costs residential subscribers $34.95 per month for broadband service, with transmission speeds up to 100 times faster than a dial-up modem. It works with a modem or an outdoor antenna, providing customers with Internet service around their homes or other locations where a signal is available.

Moore expects service to be available in some parts of northern Michigan by early 2007.

WiMAX service could be a boon to both residents and businesses in northern Michigan, where high-speed Internet service is often confined to the infrastructure limits of the telephone and cable television companies.

"For rural economic development opportunities, I think this is huge for our region," said Tino Breithaupt, senior vice president of economic development for the Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce. "It's a big deal for a lot of different companies."

High-speed wireless service will help businesses located in smaller towns or in remote areas better compete with those in larger cities where high-speed access has been available for years. The state's Rural Broadband Initiative program aims to provide affordable high-speed Internet access throughout Michigan by the end of next year.

Demand for the service should be strong, one local computer expert believes, and it could draw more business interest in northern Michigan.

"I think it very much would be (in demand), especially in our outlying areas," said Timothy Gillen, president of Terrapin Networks in Traverse City.

"With WiMAX, once the infrastructure's there you can shoot information all over the place," he said. "If there's serious money and a serious commitment, that's great news for us."

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