Fixed Wireless Access

Fixed Wireless Access

Fixed wireless access provides wireless communications between a fixed access point and multiple ter-
minals. These systems were initially proposed to support interactive video service to the home, but the
application emphasis has now shifted to providing high speed data access (tens of Mbps) to the Internet,
the WWW, and to high speed data networks for both homes and businesses. In the U.S. two frequency
bands have been set aside for these systems: part of the 28 GHz spectrum is allocated for local distribution
systems (local multipoint distribution systems or LMDS) and a band in the 2 GHz spectrum is allocated
for metropolitan distribution systems (multichannel multipoint distribution services or MMDS). LMDS
represents a quick means for new service providers to enter the already stiff competition among wireless
and wireline broadband service providers. MMDS is a television and telecommunication delivery system
with transmission ranges of 30-50 Km. MMDS has the capability to deliver over one hundred digital
video TV channels along with telephony and access to emerging interactive services such as the Internet.
MMDS will mainly compete with existing cable and satellite systems. Europe is developing a standard
similar to MMDS called Hiperaccess.