AT&T Wireless Services Inc. is pushing its PBX-connected, digital microcellular in-building wireless system, saying it sees a 40 percent compounded annual growth rate for the business market.
“There are about 86 million business telephones in use in the United States,” said Jerry Kaufman, an analyst with Alexander Resources of Scottsdale, Ariz. “That’s the target for this business-converting just about everybody using a wired desk set to a wireless business telephone system.”
Meanwhile, Motorola Inc. has stopped promoting its INReach in-building wireless product, which connects to the private branch exchange.
“We think there’s a huge in-building market, but believe the way to go is from the outside in,” said Marty Singer, vice president and general manager for Motorola’s wireless access division. “We work with operators to put microcells outside of buildings, and do variable billing. We are trying to penetrate in-building from the outside,” Singer said.
Lucent Technologies Inc. likewise has backed off from its 800 MHz in-building product, saying customers are more interested in systems that operate in unlicensed spectrum, possibly to avoid cellular airtime charges.
Numerous manufacturers are offering “dual domain” products, meaning the service covers inside and outside the office. In most cases, the product is offered by cellular service carriers.
Predictions for future success in this market are as varied as the arguments around penetration and financial models. Product differences include: whether the in-building system can hand-off calls to the macrocellular network; whether the system has a distributed radio or distributed antenna architecture; and whether the handsets are single domain or “dual domain.”
And since the PBX owner is paying the bill, system cost tops the list of concerns.
“The price needs to be relatively close to what they paid for the PBX,” said Dale Bastian, vice president of sales and marketing for Allen Telecom Group. Allen offers an in-building product, the SmartCell.
“A telecom manager can’t justify something that is three or four times what they paid for the system. And if you do it right, a wireless phone system doesn’t have to be expensive.”
Northern Telecom Inc. manufactures the system AT&T Wireless will promote. Its Companion Microcellular operates at 800 MHz using digital Time Division Multiple Access/Interim Standard 136 technology.
Customers can roam the campus or business complex for a flat rate charge, accompanied by PBX features such as message waiting indicator and call transfer. Or users can travel beyond the microcellular system and be handed off to AT&T’s macrocellular network.
Nortel is a primary supplier of PBXs nationwide, so the Companion system was designed to connect to the PBX and operate like a wireless PBX.
A strong selling feature, AT&T says, is that common dual mode analog/TDMA handsets are used, which AT&T said will drive down cost for the buyer.
Allen Telecom’s analog SmartCell connects to the PBX and provides hand-offs to the macro network. “Connection to the PBX is valuable for in-building users,” Bastian said. “I don’t see how you can provide the level of utility and functionality to the user without it.”
The SmartCell also allows visitors to the building to register their cellular phones with the network and to receive incoming calls through the PBX.
Panasonic has successfully sold its BusinessLink system to 18 U.S. cellular carriers and is conducting trials in Canada. Panasonic offers a low power, distributed radio system, which uses a scanning station to monitor interference. The cellular system provider doesn’t need to allocate channels.
“To the end user, it makes no difference if it’s analog,” said Al Seda, product manager for cellular at Panasonic. “The base stations are connected by telephone wire so there’s less cost.”
BusinessLink operates at 800 MHz and uses a handset that operates on both the analog macrocellular network and the in-building wireless standard, IS-94. However, the Panasonic system can’t hand off calls to the macrocellular network.
AT&T Wireless is the nation’s largest 800 MHz cellular operator, making the Nortel product-AT&T service offering a comfortable marriage. Both AT&T Wireless and Nortel will promote the product.
“We’ll handle sales on a cooperative basis. We both have a large customer base, so it’s a solution we’re both selling. And our agreement with AT&T Wireless was not exclusive,” said Nortel spokesman Brian D. Murphy.
Lucent, a cousin to AT&T Wireless, also is a primary supplier of PBX systems nationwide. Lucent introduced an analog 800 MHz wireless in-building system earlier this year but is no longer actively promoting the product.
Instead, Lucent is focused on providing a digital wireless PBX that operates at 1900 MHz unlicensed spectrum, the Definity Wireless Business System.
Nortel’s original Companion product operates in the 1900 MHz unlicensed frequency band, and the company said it has sold 8,000 of those systems.
Unlike systems that operate at the licensed 800 MHz frequency band, unlicensed systems can be sold directly to businesses as a wireless PBX. However, handsets for those systems usually are single domain, confined to the business coverage area.
