Monday, December 2, 2002		Feature

AS wireless technology becomes more affordable, new applications are being discovered daily that were not economically feasible in the past. One of these is Wireless in Local Loop (WiLL) which represents one of the most exciting growth opportunities in the communications business.

The term Wireless in Local Loop refers to the distribution of telephone service from the nearest telephone central office to the individual customers or subscribers by using radio signals as a substitute for copper for all or part of the connection.

Industry analysts predict that the global WiLL market will reach millions of subscribers by the end of 2000. Much of this growth will occur in emerging economies where there is a lack of plain old telephone service (POTS). Developing nations like China, India, Brazil, Russia, and Indonesia look to WiLL technology as an efficient way to deploy POTS for millions of subscribers—without the expense of burying tonnes of copper wire.

The huge potential for WiLL applications is in developing countries where wireline infrastructure is either non-existent or inadequate to meet growing demands for telephone service. Most developing countries typically have only one or two phone lines per 100 persons, compared with over 60 lines per 100 persons in developed countries. Many developing countries, particularly China, India, and the Philippines, are experiencing strong economic growth which, in turn, creates a strong demand for communications services.

To expand telephone services, there are basically only two alternatives - install a traditional wireline infrastructure or adopt a WiLL solution. Since the installation of wireline is extremely labour-intensive, the cost tends to increase over time with increasing wages and standards of living. By contrast, the cost of wireless technology has been steadily declining in recent years, a trend which tips the balance in favour of WiLL solutions. Other WiLL advantages include rapid deployment and lower maintenance costs.

Since the advent of the telephone system, copper wire has traditionally provided the link in the local loop between the telephone subscriber and the local exchange. But copper’s heyday in the local loop is coming to an end. Economic imperatives and emerging technologies are opening the door for WiLL solutions.

WiLL technology has several economic characteristics that make it attractive to deploy for 20 to 50 per cent of a typical telephone network. One important economic consideration is that a WiLL network can be deployed very quickly: Activating a system within 90 to 120 days is feasible. Although this economic benefit is difficult to measure in purely economic terms, it is a key advantage in a market where multiple service providers are competing for the same user base.

Because the expense of provisioning service via WiLL, is not affected by the distance between the subscriber and the central office (CO), WiLL is more cost-effective than wireline operator service provider (OSP) for at least 20 per cent of the service lines deployed in a network.

WiLL has a much lower incremental investment cost than copper, and it is much cheaper to deploy at lower subscriber densities.