AT&T to fill in broadband gaps with WiMAX, satellite

AT&T CEO Ed Whitacre on Monday talked up the carrier’s plans to reach more users with broadband services regardless of whether they’re in a metro or rural area.

Whitacre spoke at the Detroit Economic Club, where he said AT&T will introduce a new satellite service and expand its fixed-wireless trials. He also committed to delivering the carrier’s Project Lightspeed IP video service to more than 5.5 million low-income households within three years.

AT&T is teaming with WildBlue to offer satellite-based broadband Internet access service in select rural markets where DSL is not available. The service, which will be called AT&T High Speed Internet Access, powered by WildBlue, is expected to be available later this month.

The service will support up to 1.5Mbps downstream and up to 256Kbps upstream. It will cost between $49.95 and $79.95 per month, depending on bandwidth options selected.

Currently AT&T is conducting fixed-wireless trials in Alaska; Atlanta; Middletown, N.J.; and Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The carrier says it will start new WiMAX trials this summer in Pahrump, Nev., and Red Oak and Midlothian, Texas.

The service provider plans to offer the trial service to residential and small business customers supporting 384Kbps to 1.5Mbps downstream and 128Kbps to 384Kbps upstream.

The trial in Nevada will use licensed spectrum, and the trial in Texas will use unlicensed spectrum.

Before merging with SBC, AT&T had expanded its WiMAX trials in Atlanta and New Jersey. AT&T is using a combination of newer gear that adheres closely to the IEEE 802.16 specification and older, first-generation gear that isn’t as closely aligned with the standard.

The 802.16 specification states WiMAX can support 2Mbps up to 6Mbps fixed-wireless speeds to individual users, but most trials are offering lower upstream and downstream speeds. WiMAX is a point-to-multipoint technology that can support about 70Mbps of shared bandwidth over a 30-mile radius.

Whitacre also restated the company’s plan to offer its Project Lightspeed video service in 41 markets within three years. The company is committed to reaching low-income households, as identified by the U.S. Census Bureau. AT&T is building its own IP video network in these 41 markets.

AT&T says it plans to spend $4.6 billion on Project Lightspeed by 2008 to reach 19 million homes with its initial deployment.