Iowa Network Services to test WiMAX services

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Will WiMAX be a viable system to bring the next wave of wireless broadband service to Iowa’s communities? By the end of next year, Iowa Network Services hopes to have some definitive answers.

The West Des Moines-based telecommunications company, which is owned by 127 independent telephone companies in the state, plans to begin pilot networks in Norwalk and Mason City by mid-2006.

“If the pilot project is successful on all fronts, we anticipate being able to roll out a product in 2007, perhaps even sooner than that,” said Richard Vohs, Iowa Network Services’ president and CEO.

INS will work with Prairie iNet, a Des Moines-based wireless broadband company, to design and build the pilot networks.

At the same time, the city of Urbandale recently launched a feasibility study for a communitywide WiMAX system that it hopes to bid out to private companies by early next year.

WiMAX, or Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is an emerging technology that equipment manufacturers are racing to develop hardware for as the standards are finalized.

In comparison with Wi-Fi networks, which provide wireless broadband access in relatively limited “hot spots” of about 300 feet, WiMAX offers the potential for an expanded range, up to 30 miles, over which wireless broadband service can be made available. With data speeds of up to 40 Mbps, a single provider with one WiMAX tower could serve hundreds of businesses with T1-equivalent service and thousands of residential customers with access as fast as digital subscriber line service, according to the WiMAX Forum, a non-profit industry group.

INS’ goal for the project is to “test the ability to provide this service economically to consumers, both residential and business,” Vohs said.

Vohs said INS plans to invest about $300,000 total in the pilot projects, with the timetable for rollout dependent on how quickly the transmission equipment becomes available on the market.

“Our best analysis of what’s happening right now is that the standards are slated to be complete by the end of 2005,” he said. “If that timetable holds up, equipment manufacturers expect to be rolling out equipment in first half of 2006. If that holds up, we’ll be able to roll it out by the second half of 2006.”

In a separate project, the city of Urbandale has contracted with the Public Technology Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based technology organization that provides research and development assistance to local governments, to conduct a WiMAX feasibility study. The city is spending $25,000 for that study.

“They’ll be visiting with residents and business owners, and possibly providers, to determine what kind of infrastructure makes the most sense for Urbandale,” said City Manager Bob Layton. “We’re hoping they’ll have recommendations for us by the end of the year. … What we’re hoping to do is come up with a model that would identify terms for a private provider to come in and do the service citywide.”