News

Wireless broadband "wherever you can find a power socket" in Westminster - over WiMAX

Oxford based RedKite has beaten Bristol based Libera to launching a WiMAX broadband service in London, using a point to multi-point symmetrical technology providing speeds from one to 20 megabits.

The technology used is provided by Radionet of Finland, and since WiMAX technology isn't yet finalised, it's described as "WiMAX-ready" at this point.

Matthew Hare, CEO of Community Internet - which operates RedKite in the City of Westminster, told NewsWireless that the service started with a ten to one contention ratio for 95 pounds a month plus a 1,500 pound installation charge. A dedicated (no contention) service would cost 395 pounds.

The launch comes after a pilot network was set up in Oxford. The installation is normally pretty simple, with customer premise equipment consisting of a transceiver [ left] mounted on the roof of a building. Subscribers have to provide mains electricity, and in exchange, get an Ethernet cable.

The choice of Radionet gear is based on technical requirements: "The support for OSPF routing in Radionet’s base station and customer premises equipment allows RedKite to be an integral component in combined wired and wireless solutions," said Community Internet in its official release. "All service options guarantee better than 99.9% availability and come with a Service Level Agreement as standard."

From an Oxford user: "It’s the same speed up and down, which ADSL isn't.  A few of us use Voice over IP within the company and that is a lot nicer over RedKite than over ADSL.  It also makes sending large files and emails so much quicker than using an ADSL connection," commented Peter Ellis, IT Manager at Oxford Centre for Innovation.

Full information from www.community.net.uk and www.redkite.net