The service will commence trials in January, with a commercial launch
planned for mid-2005.
"We are extremely excited about the network we're building," said Jim
Baker, Telabria founder and chief executive, speaking at the WiMax
World Conference in Boston.
"WiMax is a revolutionary standard which, over the next few years,
will fundamentally change the structure of broadband networks."
Telabria last month joined the WiMax Forum, the industry body formed
to promote and certify the compatibility and interoperability of IEEE
802.16 broadband wireless products.
The firm said that it will deploy its network initially in Kent, which
has a population of over one and a half million in an area of 1,442
square miles.
Telabria promised to use the infrastructure to deliver wireless
broadband services uniting voice, video and data to urban and suburban
centres as well as to rural regions currently under-served by
copper-based broadband.
"We believe that in the UK market WiMax-based services can compete
head-on with fixed-line residential and SoHo contended broadband such
as ADSL, as well as offering SME customers a wireless alternative to
uncontended T1/E1, leased line or faster services," said Baker.
"To enable this we have designed a hybrid wireless distribution
network using technologies that offer excellent performance, scalable
capacity, carrier-grade quality of service, rapid provisioning and
low-cost subscriber units."
Telabria will deploy 802.16 compliant WiMax equipment for both
back-haul and point-to-multipoint links. For the 'last mile'
connection to subscribers, the firm said that it has chosen SkyPilot
Network of Belmont, California and its SkyPilot System.
Telabria has been deploying Wi-Fi hotspots located in pubs, inns,
hotels and public libraries across central London, Essex, Sussex,
Surrey and Kent at a rate of 25 per month. It plans to replace the
existing ADSL-based back-haul at these sites with WiMax.
"With its high aggregate capacity and non line-of-sight
characteristics, WiMax is ideal for back-hauling from multiple
hotspots, and we want to completely cut out any reliance on the copper
local loop as soon as possible," said Baker.
"Furthermore, our Wi-Fi hotspots of today will also be our WiMax
points-of-presence of tomorrow, enabling us to build networks where
our customers are always 'best connected' wherever they are in our
coverage area." |
