AT&T eyes WiMAX for rural broadband expansion

Jim A. Get a room, and maybe you and AT&T's new CEO can have some quality love making time. I wish people like you who wish to worship at the alter of this A$$holes would admit what is truly going on here, and it is that they are merely telling the government what they want to hear in order to get regulatory relief.

I ask you when has AT&T ever been known as a technology company? When has AT&T ever been about giving the consumer innovation? The old Southwestern Bell,SBC, at&t can keep changing it's name but they are all about the old AT which was about monopoly and keeping everyone else away from their CA$H COW's that they want to milk slowly.

I could leave you with several Mantra's that perfectly addresses the old AT&T but I doubt you know enough about them even know what I am talking about, but here goes anyway. We server no technology before it's time (which means when it's time can no longer be avoided, and we have milked the older technology of all the profits we can squeeze out of it. Which is why the 5ESS was almost a decade behind the Nortel DMS100) there is also Litigation over Innovation, and my all time personal favorite which came from an interview with Edward Whitacre back in 1999..."I own my customers, and I will go to court to keep them" The old guard Edward Whitacre was good at only one thing since he was afraid of technology, and that was playing the monopoly game he calls regulatory relief. So I suggest you wake up an smell the coffee they have very little interest in converting these local dial tone customers as this would allow the likes of Vonage to convert his customers from a $75 a month local dial tone customer to a $25 dollar a month Vonage LD customer who doesn't charge an additional amount of money for all these tariffed features like Call Waiting, Caller ID, 3 way calling, and also things like VoiceMail which Vonage includes as part of the basic service.

I doubt AT&T will in two years even be approaching starting to convert anything more than a couple of trial markets. The trials will drag on, and on as a delaying tactic.

COnsider the following:
1. AT&T has a solid HSDPA network being installed nationwide and is about to venture further into that area with a potential HSPA+ upgrade (Big $$$$) as well in the next few years. This service (Plus Clearwire) and its capabilities is causing Verizon Wireless to escalate its drive to get their 700MHz LTE network deployed in order to stay competitive. This new LTE network is projected to be deployed in the 2010 time frame and will cause AT&T problems if it does not have a competitive solution.
AT&T has announced that it will eventually deliver a LTE based network sometime in the next 3-5 years.
Clearwire/Sprint is in the process of deploying the first phase of a potential 4G network which should be deployed in major markets by end of 2010 and will cause both Carriers major problems.
It makes a great deal of sense for AT&T to consider using some of its 700Mhz spectrum nationwide to deploy both a Fixed and mobile WiMAX Network Data Centric (IP Data/Video) network in parallel with its HSDPA Cell Voice network. With the introduction of a Tri-Mode Handheld Device (700MHz,HSDPA & WiFi 802.11n capable radios) they will have the best of both worlds allowing customers to ride on both WAN & WLAN networks and allow AT&T to redirect its spectrum on the HSDPA network to focus more on delivering high quality voice services while shifting most high bandwidth traffic (Video/Data)to a symmetrical low latency wireless network.
This will also allow them to begin addressing the FMC Enterprise market where the commercial $$$ reside.

Jim A