Wireless Makes a Strong Showing.Reflecting the new trends of the telecom industry, wireless applications dominated NTCA's EXPO '01. Large and small vendors alike unveiled wireless solutions aimed at rural telecom service providers, including wireless local area network (WLAN See wireless LAN.WLAN - wireless local area network ), microwave radio and wireless Internet products and equipment. Wireless technologies exhibited on the EXPO floor included WLAN Technology from BreezeCom (Tel Aviv Tel Aviv (tĕl əvēv`), city (1994 pop. 355,200), W central Israel, on the Mediterranean Sea. Oficially named Tel Aviv–Jaffa, it is Israel's commercial, financial, communications, and cultural center and the core of its largest , Israel; www.breezecom.com) and a microwave radio application from Alcatel (Plano, Texas; www.usa.alcatel.com). BreezeCom showcased its BreezeNet Pro. 11 wireless networking product, which adheres to the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, New York, www.ieee.org) A membership organization that includes engineers, scientists and students in electronics and allied fields. 802.11 standard, and Alcatel promoted its MDR-800 digital microwave radio system. Wireless Internet service, without a doubt, was one of the hottest wireless applications on the exhibit floor. Among the vendors offering wireless Internet solutions by way of two-way satellite were SpaceCom Systems (Tulsa, Okla.; www.spacecom.com), which delivers wireless DSL DSL in full Digital Subscriber Line Broadband digital communications connection that operates over standard copper telephone wires. It requires a DSL modem, which splits transmissions into two frequency bands: the lower frequencies for voice (ordinary service via KU band satellite. Also exhibiting was the National Rural Telephone Cooperative (NRTC NRTC National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative NRTC National Road Transport Commission (Australia) NRTC National Respiratory Training Centre (UK) NRTC National Research and Training Center ), which displayed and demonstrated the Starband (McLean, Va.; www.starband.com) system, offered in conjunction with EchoStar Communications (Littleton, Colo.; www.dishnetwork.com). Wireless Internet solutions via multichannel multipoint distribution service
Multichannel multipoint distribution service, also known as MMDS or Wireless Cable (MMDS (Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service or Microwave Multipoint Distribution Service) A digital wireless transmission system that works in the 2.2-2.4 GHz range. ) fixed wireless systems were offered by both BreezeCom and WaveCom Electronics (Saskatoon Saskatoon (săskət  n`), city (1991 pop. 186,058), S central Sask., Canada, on the South Saskatchewan River. , SK, Canada;
www.wavecom.com).
Award-winning Booths Competition for the annual best booth awards was fierce among the wireless and wireline exhibitors that crowded the EXPO floor. In the end, iMagicTV (St. John, NB, Canada), which showcased an interactive cable television software package called Digital TV Manager, won for Best 10 [foot] by 20 [foot] Booth. Best Island Booth went to Optical Solutions (Minneapolis, Minn.; www.opticalsolutions.com), which promoted FiberPath, a fiber-to-the-home solution that delivers voice, video and data. Optical Solutions representative Myra Papas said attendees have shown interest in FiberPath, and the company anticipates the product will be popular with rural telcos. Some rural telecom providers, including Federated Connected and treated as one. See federated database and federated directories. Telephone Cooperative of Chokio, Minn., already have implemented FiberPath (Rural Telecommunications, January/February 2001). Rounding out the booth competition with an award for Best 10 by 10 Booth was Falcon Communications (Malden, Mo.; www.falconcommunications), a provider of network solution products and services. Among the most talked about non-wireless technologies at this year's EXPO was Nortel Network's Succession Solutions product suite (www.nortelnerworks.com). The products, which are designed for service providers, enable migration from a centralized, narrowband network to a distributed access, distributed control broadband architecture. The product suite, which contains applications for traditional telephone services, as well as wireless and IP services and cable telephony, received the 2001 Frost & Sullivan Market Engineering Award. C. Keith Cheshire, a senior manager in Nortel's Network Solutions division, said that while distributed architectures benefit telecom providers industry-wide, the product has "special significance for rural telecom service providers because it would drastically reduce the expense of network build outs." Athena Platis is wireless industry analyst for NTCA NTCA National Telecommunications Cooperative Association NTCA National Telephone Cooperative Association NTCA National Tile Contractors Association NTCA National Token Collectors Association NTCA Northern Territory Cattlemen's Association . |
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