Sprint Corp. announced it launched its Sprint Broadband Direct service in Phoenix, a multichannel multipoint distribution service offering that provides an always-on Internet connection and burstable downstream data rates up to 5 megabits per second.
Sprint’s launch follows closely on the heels of MCI WorldCom Inc.’s introduction of MMDS service in several cities in the Southeast during the past few months. Federal Communications Commission approval of the merger between Sprint and MCI is still pending, and Tim Sutton, president of Sprint’s Broadband Wireless Group, believes their combined MMDS assets and imminent and widespread broadband service launches should aid the approval process.
“MCI WorldCom has a footprint of the same type of spectrum that we have, almost as large as ours, and when one puts them together, we’ll have a broadband footprint that covers almost two-thirds of the U.S. We think it’s a very compelling argument in letting the merger go through. We think the MMDS synergy is key to the merger,” Sutton said.
Sprint and MCI own the majority of U.S. MMDS spectrum, which operates in the 2.5 GHz frequency band.
Sprint Broadband Direct will be available to 85 percent of the homes in the Phoenix metropolitan area for about $40 per month, Sprint said. The Internet services provided include six e-mail accounts, six personal start pages, 6 megabits of Web storage for building personal Web pages and five hours per month of remote dial-up Internet access for use when away from a Sprint Broadband Direct coverage area.
“Since our service does not depend on wires, we can move quickly into a market and provide coverage to most of the households and businesses right away,” said Sutton.
Customers who sign up for the service now will have the installation fee waived and should get the service installed within five days of ordering, Sutton said.
Sprint also is simultaneously launching Sprint Broadband Direct Office, a broadband offering for small to medium-sized businesses that supports up to five work stations for $90 per month. The equipment costs $300 upfront if a customer subscribes on a monthly basis; $200 if the customer signs a one-year deal; and $100 if the customer enters a two-year deal, Sprint said.
Direct line-of-sight is required for Sprint Broadband Direct to work, although Sutton said the technology can penetrate leaves. The MMDS signals can reach homes and businesses within a 35-mile radius of the transmission tower.
“We’re typically using a supercell architecture, which means some very large cells that have a very large footprint. Over time we will be moving to a cellular architecture,” Sutton said.
The technology currently offers data services only, but by the middle of next year Sprint said it hopes to deliver voice services as well.
“We want to rapidly roll out two-way, high-speed Internet access for the masses and, in the future, add voice over Internet Protocol services to set the stage for the rapid deployment of the Sprint Integrated On Demand product line,” said Sutton.
By the end of the year Sutton said the company hopes to offer the service in 10 to 15 additional cities and be in a total of 60 markets before the end of next year.
Some of the cities the company is considering include San Francisco, Houston, Denver, Salt Lake City, Chicago and Seattle.
