Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service - Current Status

Current Status

In the United States WATCH Communications (based in Lima, OH), Eagle Vision (based in Kirksville, MO), and several other companies offer MMDS based wireless cable television, internet access, and IP based telephone services.

With T-Mobile USA acquiring the 2.1 GHz AWS band (old MDS band) in most areas of the country, which is used for the modem upstream in MMDS DOCSIS, the future of this kind of service in the USA is in doubt. However, new CPE equipment allows operators to use part of the main 2.5 - 2.7 GHz MMDS Spectrum for modem upstream, ensuring future operation in the United States. With newer WiMAX equipment available, some companies are looking to deploy mobile services instead of fixed services for future expansion.

In certain areas, BRS is being deployed for use as wireless high-speed internet access, mostly in rural areas where other types of high-speed internet are either unavailable (such as cable or DSL) or prohibitively expensive (such as satellite internet). CommSPEED is a major vendor in the US market for BRS-based internet.

AWI Networks (formerly Sky-View Technologies) operates a number of MMDS sites delivering High-Speed Internet, VoIP, and Digital TV services in Southern Utah USA. AWI has recently upgraded several sites to DOCSIS 3.0 hardware, delivering download speeds up to 100 Mbit/s. DOCSIS 3.0 has improved peak bandwidth, lower latency, and improved reliability over previous DOCSIS versions.

In the early days of MMDS it was known as Wireless Cable and was used in a variety of investment scams that still surface today. Frequent solicitations of Wireless Cable fraud schemes were often heard on talk radio shows like The Sonny Bloch Show in the mid 1990s.

In Ireland, UPC Ireland (previously Chorus and NTL Ireland) offer MMDS TV services almost nationwide. The frequency band initially allocated was 2500 - 2690 MHz (the “2.6 GHz band”) consisting of 22-23 8 MHz analogue channels, digital TV was restricted to 2524 - 2668 MHz consisting of 18 8 MHz digital channels. Two digital TV standards are used DVB-T/MPEG-2 in the old Chorus franchise area (some areas still broadcast an 11-channel analogue MMDS TV service), and DVB-C/MPEG-2 in the old NTL franchise area. The existing licences expire in 2012 (ntl) and 2014 (Chorus) with an option extend to 2017/2019 following a review which commenced in May 2010.

In Iceland, since Nov 2006 Vodafone Iceland runs Digital Ísland (Digital Iceland) - the broadcasting system for 365 (media corporation), (previously operated by 365 Broadcast Media). Digital Ísland offers digital MMDS television services using DVB-T technology alongside a few analogue channels. The MMDS frequency range extends from 2500-2684 MHz for a total of 23 8 MHz channels, Of these, 21 are considered usable for broadcasting in Iceland. Analogue MMDS broadcasting began in 1993 moving to digital in 2004.

In Brazil, the MMDS tecnology has been shutdown in 2012 to release the frequency for the LTE-UTRAN band in 2500-2600Mhz. The national shutdown is planned to be finished in end of 2012.

In Dominican Republic, Wind Telecom started operations using MMDS technology in 2008,at that time and ever since it became a pioneer taking advantage of such implementations.The company uses the DVB standard for its digital television transmissions.