It's on the air

-- MILLIONS of pounds will be spent in the
UK over the next three years on a
new generation of high-speed radio
networks that will provide super-
highway services directly in offices and
homes.

The systems mean that consumers
and businesspeople can have access to
the Internet and use high-speed digital
communications without having to rely
on existing British Telecom (BT) lines or
those being installed by the cable-television companies. Instead, the telecommunications services will be made available through dishes mounted on the roof tops of homes and offices, though
they will be smaller than those used for
receiving regular TV channels.

The new networks would be built
by three British telecommunication
companies: Mercury,
Ionica and NTI. Early in
February, the UK
department of trade
and industry announced that these three
companies had won a
hotly contested auction
of licenses to run a
new breed of national
wireless telecommunications network based on the 10 giga
hertz frequency.

Nigel Playford, managing director,
Ionica, says that the additional spectrum would enable his residential telephony firm to support high-speed,
broadband remote access for consumers
for many years to come.

"Essentially, it gives us the ability to
offer the mass market computer-to-
computer services," he says. It also
means that Ionica has enough capacity
to compete with BT in the residential
market. Winning the extra band width
means that lonica is now set to become
a serious competitor in the residential
telephony market that uptil now is
dominated by British Telecom.

lonica's principle is simple. By offering a radio-based phone
service, that will be
received by small dishes
on subscribers rooftops,
lonica can cut out the
need to Use BT'S phone
lines. And, lonica
claims, not only is the
cost of building its
radio network infinitely
cheaper than the land-
line ones being built by cable-TV companies, but the cost of maintaining the radio system is far lower, too.

Robin Schlee, access manager for
Mercury, says winning the franchise
means Mercury can provide access in
the final mile to people's homes and
offices much more cheaply than it
would be possible otherwise. All three
companies will also have to overcome
cosmetic issues: will people accept
what looks like a small satellite dish
on their roof?