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Deploying Point-to-Point Wireless Links

Markets and Standards

The broadband fixed wireless market can be segmented in several ways, most notably between the point-to-point and multipoint arenas. The dream of the multipoint industry is to provide an alternative to DSL, scalable to deliver service to thousands of subscribers in an area. Unfortunately, vendors have struggled to issue a compelling story, primarily because implementing multipoint systems is technically challenging, particularly when line of sight to each subscriber is required.

The point-to-point market shares many technical challenges with multipoint, but the economics are much different--the aim is to save thousands of dollars per month on service charges as opposed to competing with $79 DSL. And unlike multipoint systems, point-to-point systems make radio interference issues manageable because you don't have hundreds or thousands of links communicating to the same base station.

Glossary
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