Independent Towerstream Blog

Site Updates; Observations On Service Provider Sites

I updated Independent Towerstream Blog with three new sidebars (right side) today:

• Towerstream Markets
• Towerstream Competitors - Regional
• Towerstream Competitors - National

Towerstream Markets is obviously self-explanatory. Towerstream Competitors - Regional is my highly-subjective list of serious competitors to Towerstream either in current Towerstream markets (Accel Net in Seattle; Business Only Broadband in Chicago), or major urban markets that Towerstream might reasonably be expected to enter (Phoenix, served by Metrobridge; Portland, OR served by Freewire Broadband). Towerstream Competitors - National is also highly subjective, and I list only one that has something-approaching national scale on a par with Towerstream's nine markets to date.

My experience... well... sense is that every major urban area in the US, say the largest 150 urban markets, all have at least one Broadband Wireless Internet Access Service Provider serving businesses with "T1" and faster Broadband Internet Access with comparable reliability to wireline. I'll be continuously updating the "competitors" list as I discover these urban BWIA SPs.

Launch Of Independent Towerstream Blog

Welcome to the Independent Towerstream Blog!

I've been writing about the evolution of Broadband Wireless Internet Access for a decade now, and I view the the emergence of Towerstream to be a seminal development. Not only is it the highest profile company (well, not counting the flameouts - Teligent, Winstar, Advanced Radio Telecom, etc.) providing "Fixed" Broadband Wireless Internet Access mostly to businesses in urban areas, but Towerstream made real what had only been a theory of mine. That theory was that well-capitalized, well-organized Broadband Wireless Internet Access Service Providers could operate in urban markets utilizing license-exempt spectrum... if they used good (albeit expensive) technology, engineering, and systems.

Towerstream proved out this theory - initially using (ill-fated) Cisco BWIA systems, then Aperto Networks systems to great success, and then systems from multiple vendors. I've covered Towerstream since I learned of it shortly after, if not at its inception. My writing here will offer an experienced, independent perspective that's focused solely on Towerstream, exceptions being to provide context on Towerstream's place within, and influence upon, the larger Broadband Wireless Internet Access industry. If you'd like to read about the bigger picture of the Broadband Wireless Internet Access industry, I'm happy to oblige at Broadband Wireless Internet Access (BWIA) / WiMAX News blog, which I've been writing for a long time.

In writing about Towerstream, I'm completely independent of Towerstream - I have no affiliation or association with Towerstream, formal or informal. Towerstream serves the Seattle area, so I hope to offer at least some "up close" perspective about how Towerstream is performing in the Seattle market, as well as linking to the abundant coverage from journalists that cover the company as the first Service Provider to join the WiMAX Forum.

Please let me know what you think about the Independent Towerstream Blog, either by private email  - steve@stevestroh.net or by commenting on the articles here.

By Steve Stroh

This article is Copyright © 2008 by Steve Stroh. Excerpts and links are expressly permitted (and encouraged.)

Welcome to the Independent Towerstream Blog!

I've been writing about the evolution of Broadband Wireless Internet Access for a decade now, and I view the the emergence of Towerstream to be a seminal development. Not only is it the highest profile company (well, not counting the flameouts - Teligent, Winstar, Advanced Radio Telecom, etc.) providing "Fixed" Broadband Wireless Internet Access mostly to businesses in urban areas, but Towerstream made real what had only been a theory of mine. That theory was that well-capitalized, well-organized Broadband Wireless Internet Access Service Providers could operate in urban markets utilizing license-exempt spectrum... if they used good (albeit expensive) technology, engineering, and systems.

Towerstream proved out this theory - initially using (ill-fated) Cisco BWIA systems, then Aperto Networks systems to great success, and then systems from multiple vendors. I've covered Towerstream since I learned of it shortly after, if not at its inception. My writing here will offer an experienced, independent perspective that's focused solely on Towerstream, exceptions being to provide context on Towerstream's place within, and influence upon, the larger Broadband Wireless Internet Access industry. If you'd like to read about the bigger picture of the Broadband Wireless Internet Access industry, I'm happy to oblige at Broadband Wireless Internet Access (BWIA) / WiMAX News blog, which I've been writing for a long time.

In writing about Towerstream, I'm completely independent of Towerstream - I have no affiliation or association with Towerstream, formal or informal. Towerstream serves the Seattle area, so I hope to offer at least some "up close" perspective about how Towerstream is performing in the Seattle market, as well as linking to the abundant coverage from journalists that cover the company as the first Service Provider to join the WiMAX Forum.

Please let me know what you think about the Independent Towerstream Blog, either by private email  - steve@stevestroh.net or by commenting on the articles here.

By Steve Stroh

This article is Copyright © 2008 by Steve Stroh. Excerpts and links are expressly permitted (and encouraged.)