Craig Wireless eyeing August launch of new non-line-of-sight technology in B.C.

Craig Wireless BC Inc. will begin deploying new wireless technology next month in Vancouver that will eliminate line-of-sight problems in the delivery of TV and broadband services to customers. Boyd Craig, president of parent company Craig Wireless International Inc., says the non-line-of-sight gear will complement the company’s existing Stream:1 next level TV and Internet service that has been rolled out in the Greater Vancouver Area, including Burnaby, Delta and Surrey. Operating on the IP-based network MPEG 4 standard, Stream:1 is "much like the video networks that Telus and MTS (Manitoba Telecom Services) have built, except that instead of over copper wire, it runs on a wireless backbone," Craig says. He would not reveal how many customers have signed up for Stream:1 since its soft launch late last year in the Vancouver market. Craig tells Canadian Communications Reports that the company plans to expand the coverage area of Stream:1 over the next six months. "The Stream:1 network…operates on a line-of-sight network. It’s the same issue of obstructions in the path of the signal that the Look (Communications Inc.) system would have," he notes. "But there is emerging technology that will make our network non-line-of-sight. And we’re actually putting our first non-line-of-sight system into the south side of downtown Vancouver in August. The equipment is on site. We’re going to turn it on in August." The equipment is being supplied by U.S.-based IP Wireless Inc. Craig Wireless first announced in December 2001 that its MDS system in Vancouver would be the world’s first advanced 3G (next generation) broadband wireless Internet access network. Moratorium on MDS spectrum The MDS operators in Canada have struggled to meet their business plan objectives, and Industry Canada has thwarted any possibility of a nationwide MDS operation emerging anytime soon by putting a moratorium on MDS spectrum licensing. Industry Canada has stopped licensing the spectrum as it prepares to undertake a comprehensive review of under-used and unused blocks of airwaves. The department sent a letter to the CRTC late last month saying it had imposed a moratorium on MDS spectrum licensing in regions of the country where MDS broadcast distribution licences have not yet been issued. That means Alberta, Atlantic Canada and several other regions of the country will remain without an MDS provider. The decision appears to have little effect on the business plans of Canada’s three wireless cable operators, all of which have had trouble penetrating the areas for which they are currently licensed. Look is the licensed wireless cable operator for southern Ontario, Ottawa-Gatineau, and parts of Quebec; Craig Wireless operates in Manitoba and British Columbia; and Image Wireless Communications Inc. serves numerous Saskatchewan communities. "For the moment the moratorium isn’t really affecting us. It’s not problematic for us," says Look spokesperson Stéphanie Brody, who adds that the company isn’t looking to expand its coverage area. Craig says Craig Wireless has "no immediate plans" to expand into Alberta or Atlantic Canada, so the moratorium does not affect it. He also denied that Craig Wireless was aiming to merge with Look to form a larger MDS company. The company announced in January of this year that it had purchased 7.2 million common shares in Look from a third party and had agreed to acquire more shares to increase its stake to 32.5% in the company, subject to CRTC approval. At that time, Craig was quoted by the Winnipeg Free Press as saying he would approach Look’s other shareholders to see if they’d be interested in merging the two MDS operations (CCR, Jan. 30/03). But Craig tells CCR that Craig Wireless increased its stake in Look simply for investment purposes. "No, we’re not (looking to merge with Look)," he says. For more information on Industry Canada’s moratorium on MDS spectrum licensing, see the July 9, 2003 issue of CCR affiliate publication Report on Wireless.

Craig Wireless eyeing August launch of new non-line-of-sight technology in B.C.

News | 07/17/2003 4:00 am EDT

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