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Telabria partners with the University of Kent for Canterbury WiMAX trials
May 23, 2005;
WiMAX (similar to Wi-Fi but with much bigger coverage area and transfer speeds) is coming and will cover whole cities. In combination with mobile phones supporting WiMAX it may mean the end of 3G.

WiMAX pilot to deliver business-class wireless broadband services to entire city, and provide research test bed for advanced broadband communications

Telabria, the award-winning wireless network developer and operator, today announced a strategic partnership with the University of Kent (UOK) and the launch of wireless broadband trials that encompass the entire city. As a result of the newly forged relationship – the first of its kind in the UK – Telabria and UOK will research and develop best practices for designing and building next-generation wireless networks based on the emerging IEEE 802.16d standard, more commonly known as WiMAX. Broadband subscribers using wireline DSL services are limited by technical restrictions of copper cable to speeds of up to just 2Mbps over distances that are determined by the way the copper cable is laid between the subscriber and the local telephone exchange. In the case of business-oriented SDSL (symmetric DSL), this is less than one mile from the exchange in the best of circumstances. The majority of new build business and residential developments are at the edges of communities furthest from the local telephone exchange, and as a result worst positioned for wireline broadband. By using radio signals WiMAX overcomes these limitations, providing speeds to up to 45Mbps in both directions (known as ‘symmetric’ service) at point-to-point distances up to 15 miles.

“Our relationship with the University of Kent is a terrific example of close cooperation between higher education research and enterprise,” said Jim Baker, Telabria’s founder and chief executive. “Through this collaboration, Telabria can leverage the University’s world-class electronics and computing research facilities and academic staff to help design the very best wireless broadband networks. In return, we can provide training and real-world work experience for undergraduate and postgraduate students in technical fields, preparing them for careers in the telecommunications industry. Together we can explore the impact that WiMAX will have on broadband communication for business, in areas such as remote training, VoIP (voice-over-IP) and video conferencing. It’s a win-win situation for everyone involved.”

Commencing in early June, Telabria will run a 90-day pilot of WiMAX-based wireless broadband services to small/home offices (SOHO) and small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Canterbury; base stations will be located at a number of sites including University campus rooftops. “UOK is ideally situated for the provision of Telabria’s WiMAX services,” continued Baker. “The 300-acre campus is just one mile from the city centre, and positioned on a hill that overlooks a large proportion of the city’s 120 square mile area, with excellent reach to Canterbury’s 5,000-odd small to medium sized businesses.” The key objectives of the pilot are to test radio propagation in licensed and licence-exempt frequency bands, antenna configurations, network capacity and routing protocols, and quality of service (QoS) methods for delivering data, voice and video over WiMAX connections at speeds far in excess of those possible with ADSL or SDSL broadband services.

“The University of Kent has a reputation for innovation and works closely with the business community in Kent”, said Professor Phillip Davies, UOK’s Pro Vice Chancellor and former head of the University’s Electronics Department. “We believe that the collaboration with Telabria will not only explore the boundaries of wireless broadband communications, but also contribute to knowledge transfer and provide the students participating in the trials with an insight into real-world career opportunities in this exciting field.”

Other objectives of the collaboration include the deployment of a Wi-Fi mesh network or ‘hotzone’ in the city centre for public Internet access, and building-to-building connectivity to provide off-campus student accommodation in the city with University network access. Telabria expects to convert the pilot to a commercial WiMAX service at the end of the trials as part of an initiative to deploy wireless broadband services throughout Kent, a county with a population of over 1.5m people and 600,000 businesses over an area of approximately 1,500 square miles.

For more information, visit www.telabria.com.

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