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ATLANTA -- Rural wireless Internet service providers
have provided Motorola with a vibrant new market for broadband wireless systems,
according to Motorola officials attending the Supercomm trade show.
However, executives warn that it's still early in the WISP market. 'The
wireless ISP market is still in its infancy. There are no big players yet,' says
Thomas Hulsbosch, director of sales and marketing for Motorola's Canopy wireless
broadband products.
'There are 2,000 to 3,000 wireless ISPs in rural areas,' he says, adding the
Canopy product serves markets where wireline broadband services such as DSL are
difficult to deploy. Canopy, he claims, can provide wireless Internet services
in areas where distance and cost-limited DSL services can't.
However, that doesn't mean the wireless technology doesn't have its own
technical restrictions. Trees-which are usually around rural areas, sometimes in
profusion-can hinder the wireless signal. The company is working to resolve that
restriction and will have a solution soon, he says.
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