Two wireless infrastructure manufacturers signed agreements last week giving them a foothold in the emerging broadband access market.
Lucent Technologies Inc. announced plans to acquire Hewlett-Packard Co.’s local multipoint distribution service wireless business, and Nokia Telecommunications said it signed a cooperation agreement with Diamond Lane Communications Corp., which provides digital subscriber line data access products.
Nokia made an equity investment in Diamond Lane Communications as part of the agreement, said the company. The agreement between Nokia and Diamond Lane gives Nokia global distribution rights to Diamond Lane products, and it also covers the development of future digital subscriber line access multiplexer products targeted at the European Telecommunications Standards Institute markets.
The Lucent agreement calls for HP’s LMDS wireless business unit to become part of Lucent’s Wireless Broadband Networks Division, based in a new facility in Milpitas, Calif. While specific numbers were not available, Lucent said as many as 150 employees could be housed at the facility by the end of this year.
The move is designed to expand Lucent’s ability to provide broadband access to its customers and add value to its networks, said Gary Bonham, a spokesman for Lucent. The company, which is well-known for its wireline and mobile wireless network products, considers the acquisition its first major entrance into fixed wireless applications.
Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.
“There’s a pent-up demand by business for ever-greater bandwidth,” said Bonham, who noted that Lucent initially will target its wireless broadband applications at carriers that service business customers in metropolitan areas. “Our focus is to build networks with different types of broadband access to suit our customers’ needs.”
The LMDS team, which was developed in HP’s video communications division, will design, manufacture and deploy wireless broadband access networks, including LMDS, that will use antennas to relay data, voice and video directly into the wireline network. The technology will allow high-speed wireless access to networks-up to 45 megabits per second-30 times the speed of a T1 line and more than 1,500 times the speed of conventional PC modems today, said the company.
The LMDS team is focused on providing point-to-multipoint communications, which is an advancement from earlier point-to-point communications systems that require a one-to-one ratio of radios-each radio on a customer site must have a corresponding radio at a hub site. Point-to-multipoint service requires only one radio at a hub site that can communicate with each remote radio simultaneously, which translates into lower costs for both carrier and customer.
While U.S. businesses have wireless broadband access needs, international markets represent an even greater opportunity, said Bonham. Fixed wireless applications allow companies to launch or modify local telephone service without the time and expense needed to dig up streets to lay fiber cable.
Bonham said HP’s expertise in microwave applications will complement its experience in network development and deployment to provide a “whole network.”
“HP recognized the importance of broadband wireless technologies early on,” said Byron Anderson, vice president and general manger of HP’s Microwave and Communications Group. “It’s becoming increasingly clear, however, that our customers need end-to-end solutions that are best provided by network integrators. We believe Lucent is well-positioned to take what we have done and make it successful in the marketplace.”
Northern Telecom Ltd. in November also made a move into the fixed broadband wireless market when it acquired Broadband Networks Inc.
