Subject: [NEXTEL-1] FCC Chairman Powell Meets With NextWeb and Broadband Wireless Group in California

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 10:42:37 -0400

FCC Chairman Powell Meets With  NextWeb and Broadband Wireless Group in
California

Powell and BANC Members Discuss Coordinated Spectrum 
Management, National Implications of Wireless Technology 

FREMONT, Calif.
Tuesday July 13 2004

NextWeb, (http://www.nextweb.net/) the nation's largest fixed wireless
Internet service provider for business, today announced the San
Francisco Bay Area visit of the Chairman Michael K. Powell, head of the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

During his visit, Chairman Powell met with NextWeb and other members of
the Broadband Access Network Coordination (BANC) group,
(http://www.wbanc.com/) an organization developed by NextWeb to enable
fixed-wireless operators to work together to minimize interference and
maximize reliability and spectrum efficiency. The BANC meeting with
Chairman Powell took place at the Hotel Monaco in San Francisco, and
served to open a direct dialogue on successful management of Internet
service in the license-free spectrum between the region's leading
broadband fixed wireless service operators and the country's top
communications regulatory body. During the meeting, Chairman Powell
viewed a demonstration of Internet service provided by Northern
California-based NextWeb, the nation's largest wireless Internet service
provider for businesses.

As broadband fixed wireless emerges as a reliable Internet access method
for businesses, and as the technology's benefits over cable and DSL
solutions become clearer, more enterprises across the country are making
the switch from traditional wireline to wireless Internet connectivity.
By coupling the high bandwidth that businesses need, with real
scalability -- from fractional T1 to 6xT1 speeds -- often not possible
with traditional solutions, fixed wireless provides a true high speed
alternative for businesses, with comparatively minimal startup and
ongoing costs. With the strong growth of the wireless Internet service
provider (WISP) industry, however, the potential for spectrum
interference has also been greatly heightened. Recently expanded to
include Southern California service provider groups, the regional BANC
organizations cover four of the nation's densest business broadband
markets, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Los Angeles and San Diego, where
members cooperate to manage and maximize efficiency of the allotted --
and largely license-free -- wireless spectrum. In this way, the
coordination between fixed wireless ISPs in the 2.4 GHz and 5.3/5.8 GHz
ISM/U-NII bands has become a key factor in providing high quality
service and reliability to the largely business-class customer base.

"I commend NextWeb and the other BANC members for what they're doing to
bring valuable broadband services to the American public, and for their
innovative approach to spectrum coordination," commented Chairman Powell
at the event.

Graham Barnes, NextWeb's CEO, developed the idea of a spectrum
coordination group in 2003, at which point several top operators got
together to discuss the potential benefits, forming the first BANC
group. Barnes feels the cooperative model is a clear success, and
encourages wireless service providers nationwide to form BANC groups in
their respective markets.

"I have seen firsthand that NextWeb and the other BANC members have seen
significant benefits from the cooperative nature of this group," said
NextWeb CEO Graham Barnes. "We're overjoyed to have the opportunity to
discuss the group's workings, and the emergence of the fixed wireless
space in general, with Chairman Powell. Our industry, and our
collaboration with spectrum management have proven themselves extremely
viable and effective, and are a model for others around the country.
Chairman Powell's recent visit gives us a tremendous opportunity for
growth and visibility for the entire fixed wireless industry."

Currently offering business-class Internet service to more than 175
cities in California, NextWeb's service is scalable to speeds up to six
times faster than a T1 and typically saves businesses thousands of
dollars per year by eliminating the high cost of a traditional phone
company T1. By owning and maintaining its own telecommunications network
and connections to the Internet backbone, NextWeb's service completely
bypasses telephone and cable companies, providing customers with
significantly more bandwidth at substantially lower startup and monthly
costs.

About NextWeb

NextWeb, Inc. is the nation's largest fixed wireless Internet service
provider for business, providing high-speed service to more than 2,000
enterprise customers throughout California. NextWeb's service is
available to over 50,000 business locations in more than 175 cities.
Typically installed in just three to seven days, NextWeb's SuperT-Plus
service is 30 percent faster than a T1 at approximately half the cost,
easily scaling to six times the speed of a T1. The company is profitable
and is backed by strategic investors including Asset Management
Partners, Cedar Grove Investments, Kaiser Permanente, Monet Capital,
Saints Capital, Sage Venture Partners, and Sunsino Venture Group.
Additional company information is available at www.nextweb.net. 

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040713/sftu071_1.html

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