Subject: [NEXTEL-1] In-building Coverage Grows In Stature

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 22 May 2003 01:18:07 -0400

In-building Coverage Grows In Stature
May 21, 2003 8:03am

When it comes to the wireless network, in-building coverage typically
has taken a back seat to other network coverage issues, such as filling
in gaps along highways or in urban or rural settings. However, with
increasing emphasis on data services, which in many cases are less
forgiving than voice, wireless operators are beginning to take their
in-building coverage more seriously, especially as they attempt to cater
to the lucrative enterprise market.

Plus, some experts predict that when wireless local number portability
becomes a reality, network coverage, and in particular in-building
coverage, will be a key differentiator for operators looking to
distinguish themselves from their counterparts.
"Carriers are taking this more seriously," says Iain Gillott, president
of iGillott Research. "Users don't understand why their phone doesn't
work in a building. When we talk about 90 percent coverage, to the user
that means 90 percent of everywhere they go, not 90 percent of a
geographic map."

TEAM EFFORT But with today's capital-constrained budgets, wireless
operators must be very selective about how and where they improve their
in-building coverage. Heavy traffic areas are the obvious choice, and
that's where operators such as AT&T Wireless place the most emphasis.
For example, the company, along with other operators T-Mobile USA and
Sprint PCS, worked with Richardson, Texas-based InnerWireless to secure
coverage in the Rockefeller Center Concourse, one of the highest traffic
commuter thoroughfares in Manhattan. InnerWireless negotiated with
Tishman Speyer Properties, owner of Rockefeller Center, to install and
operate the company's in-building system, which it then leases to
operators so they can provide wireless coverage to the building's
tenants and visitors. "This is a big value-add service," says AT&T
Wireless spokesman Ritch Blasi, who says his company also is working
with InnerWireless on a deployment in a large shopping mall in
California.

InnerWireless' deal to outfit the Rockefeller Center concourse with
in-building coverage was good for all parties, according to Ed Cantwell,
president and CEO of InnerWireless. "There were five property owners and
none of them wanted to do it, plus no single carrier could afford to do
it. This was a case where it was win-win," Cantwell says. But Cantwell
warns that not every deployment is a right fit for in-building coverage.
"What carriers can't do is throw money at in-building," Cantwell says.
"Each deployment must make sense."

GOOD FAITH And whether that means that carriers share the burden of the
costs for outfitting a public location with coverage, such as was the
case with the Rockefeller Concourse, or whether they pay the entire cost
varies with each deployment. For some, the InnerWireless Rockefeller
Center scenario is appealing and likely to become more prevalent. "In
many cases this type of situation is more economical but it depends upon
the facilities," says Kevin Packingham, senior manager, business
marketing at Sprint PCS. "It's an exercise in good relationships and
good faith across all organizations."
But every in-building deployment must have a business case to justify
the extra expense that in-building coverage can cost a carrier, which
experts say can run anywhere from as little as $5,000 for a piece of
equipment to as much as $150,000 to $250,000 for an entire system.

Carriers often use customer complaints about coverage as one way to
determine where in-building coverage is needed. "We look at customer
complaints from specific areas that are hot spots for dropped calls,"
says Mike Irizarry, executive vice president of engineering and chief
technical officer at U.S. Cellular. "We target those locations" and
decide whether to solve the problem by deploying infrastructure outside
the building or inside the building, Irizarry says. In general, the
company tries not to solve in-building coverage problems with equipment
on the outside because that isn't economical. "In-building is more cost
effective and you have more control over interference."

In addition, U.S. Cellular also looks to its enterprise customers to
help decide where to deploy in-building coverage. Often, Irizarry says,
enterprise customers want to be guaranteed good coverage in their
facilities before they commit to a service contract. "If it's a customer
or potential customer and they need to have good coverage in certain
locations before they commit, we will figure out what it takes,"
Irizarry says.

PROACTIVITY And while customer complaints are the most common way for
carriers to determine where in-building coverage may be necessary, some
are taking a more proactive approach. Sprint PCS, as part of the
company's customer focus campaign, actively approaches businesses and
public areas to determine whether more coverage is needed. According to
Packingham, the company recently has placed more emphasis and more
funding toward its in-building coverage. "We have the perspective that
people want to use their devices everywhere they are," Packingham says.
"So we now actively approach businesses and public areas and figure out
how we can help. It's a proactive approach."

Likewise, Nextel Communications, which has long had a hold on the
enterprise market, has been providing custom in-building solutions to
its customers for the past three years and continues to increase its
resources in that area. "We are adding more resources and support," says
Ernie Cormier, vice president of business solutions at Nextel. "We are
growing that group in head count, marketing dollars, operation and
capital."

Part of this growth in in-building, according to Cormier, is due to
customers demanding more coverage in order to get the most from their
wireless services. And while Cormier admits that looming threat of
wireless local number portability is making carriers focus more on
coverage, he says coverage has been a differentiator among operators for
a number of years. "Coverage is already a competitive differentiator and
wireless local number portability will just accentuate it."

http://hoovnews.hoovers.com/fp.asp?layout=query_displaynews&q=NEXTEL&so=&dc=&ro=&ed=&sd=&s=11&boldtext=NEXTEL&sym=&doc_id=NR200305213020.52_0d98002f7e09f69f

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Get A Free Psychic Reading!
Your Online Answer To Life's Important Questions.
http://us.click.yahoo.com/aM1XQD/od7FAA/uetFAA/61FxlB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/