BY RICH TEHRANI
Group Publisher

Removing Reliance On ILECs

For years, industry publications have been evangelists of telecom deregulation, preaching a bright future with cheaper long distance and more economical bandwidth. And customers have waited patiently for telcos to open their COs to allow competitors access to once-closed copper pipes into our homes and offices.

Deregulation is slowly beginning to take effect, and many CLECs now "rent" copper from ILECs. We know that these rental fees are passed on to consumers, upping our already-high communications costs. So whenever I see last mile technologies and alternatives that don't rely on ILECs, I smile -- especially when these alternatives are backed by companies with the financial and technical resources that will make them work.

In the past few years, Cisco has made tremendous progress becoming a major player in the telecommunications space. By acquiring companies such as Selsius Systems (a voice/data switch vendor), Summa Four (a programmable switch vendor), and GeoTel (a call center vendor with strong SS7 expertise), they have assembled a portfolio of products in almost every facet of the CTI market.

Cisco has been a major driver of Internet telephony, and there has been significant consolidation among telecom and datacom companies as a result of Cisco's competitive telecom thrust. Cisco has proven itself a worthy competitor in the wireline space and has decided to expand its business into wireless as well.

To that end, Cisco and Motorola announced the joint purchase of Bosch Telecom's fixed wireless assets and the formation of a new company -- SpectraPoint Wireless -- that will develop products delivering high-speed data, voice, and video over the last mile. The technology is based on Local Multipoint Distribution Services (LMDS), one of a handful of technologies that allow wireless last-mile broadband delivery of voice and data services.

In February, Cisco and Motorola announced plans to invest $1 billion in R&D centers for third-party developers to build Internet-based cellular wireless services focused on mobile industries. This latest partnership shows that both companies are serious about delivering a new framework for Internet-based wireless services.

The primary markets for SpectraPoint's products are CLECs and, of course, those companies who have purchased LMDS licenses. Cisco and Motorola are committed to opening up the global telecom infrastructure and giving service providers access to markets that were once out of reach.

Cisco's entry into the wireline market helped spur competition on a grand scale. Similarly, we can look forward to this Cisco/Motorola partnership enabling service providers with products and technology that allow them to offer competitive voice and data services without a costly reliance on ILECs.

Rich Tehrani welcomes comments at rtehrani@tmcnet.com.