Date: August 1, 2002

Presenter: Francis Thompson

Affiliation: WispAir

The guest speaker for this meeting was Francis Thompson from WispAir, a local wireless network provider. The wireless services available include - line of sight or non-line of sight - with capacities from DS1 (1.54 MB) to DS3 (45MB). The service can be used as new broadband wireless (Internet) application or as a leased line replacement.

This wireless technology is new to Omaha and has a significant market demand due to the limitations of terrestrial broadband. Current limitations of DSL and cable modem services leaves many metro areas underserved - and no service options for rural areas. When fully deployed, this technology promises to impact many businesses with a host of broadband services. The service is competitively priced and considered to be very reliable. Details of the overall technology and guidelines for evaluating applications were discussed at the meeting.