Transcept’s alternative redistribution solutions, comprising the PCS (personal communications services)-over-cable, PCS-over-microwave, and PCS-over-fiber systems, have attracted attention in the wireless telecommuni-cations industry. Of these, PCS-over-cable has drawn attention by enabling wireless operators to establish or fortify their networks quickly at a lower cost, while also helping to avoid common zoning issues associated with building towers.

Benefits for the cable industry are not as evident. That situation may soon change, however, thanks in part to a licensing agreement between CableLabs, Rogers, and Transcept. Combined with additional technologies from an intellectual portfolio built when the company was the telecommunications business unit of Sanders, a Lockheed Martin Company, Transcept’s solutions are overcoming many barriers to wireless network ubiquity.

Commenting on the licensing agreement, Dr. Richard Green, president and CEO of CableLabs said, "We see this as an opportunity to extend the utility of North America’s extensive cable infrastructure and to provide another means for cable operators to generate revenue from their network investments."

Any who doubt the prospects of success for PCS-over-cable need only look at PCS provider WirelessNorth. WirelessNorth needed to establish service quickly in its Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin regions, and prospects for doing so with a traditional tower/base station configuration were dim. Instead of "fighting city hall," WirelessNorth struck a deal with Bresnan Communications, the local cable operator.

Bresnan saw the deal with WirelessNorth as a means of securing return on recent investments made to upgrade its cable plant. By leasing surplus bandwidth to WirelessNorth in a cooperative partnership, Bresnan Communications seized an opportunity to establish itself as a player in the converging communications market.

According to the January 25, 1999, edition of Telephony magazine, Bresnan and WirelessNorth said they were considering working together to offer local customers one-stop shopping for cable television, high-speed data communications, and wireless telecommunications. The partnership allows both companies to concentrate on what each does best, while spreading the risks associated with doing business in an emerging market.

Cable and wireless service providers are watching closely. The success of the WirelessNorth/Bresnan partnership has the potential to push other wireless service providers toward PCS-over-cable in order to improve and extend service. Users of wireless phones are becoming less tolerant of service inadequacies, such as dead spots, low capacity, and roaming fees, particularly as the market becomes more competitive with additional carriers establishing themselves in the marketplace.

Some analysts feel that alternative distribution equipment, such as Transcept’s PCS-over-cable, can cut the time it takes to establish a wireless network by as much as a year.

"Transcept is tapping an incredible need for rapidly deployable alternative transmission equipment in the wireless market," said Nick Hamilton-Piercy, senior vice president and CTO of Rogers Cablesystems Limited.

Additional benefits for WirelessNorth and Bresnan come from Transcept’s operations, administration and maintenance (OA&M) software, which monitors the network’s cable transceiver units. Residing at WirelessNorth’s CATV headends, the software continually polls the status of the transceivers in the associated network. In addition to monitoring performance, the alarm features enable the operator to determine trouble status. In practice, the network manager can double as a cable plant monitor. Transcept’s management software performs regular end-to-end continuity checks to verify health and operation of the PCS-over-cable components, as well as the cable/fiber infrastructure used to transport signals.