Wireless Industry Should Align on Security, Northrop Grumman Vp Says
Wireless companies should “get past” political friction in spectrum dealings with the FCC, and “get together from a national perspective,” Northrop Grumman Vp/CTO Robert Brammer said at the WCA conference. Wireless network security is a major safety and homeland security issue, and requires involvement beyond the govt.’s, he said: “We need much higher awareness of security issues. Don’t underestimate these security threats.”
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Mobile broadband technology, developing rapidly, will transform many govt. operations, Brammer said. But limitations remain and need to be addressed, he said. That shows in wireless carriers’ “fewest dropped calls” marketing, he said. Airlines wouldn’t advertise “fewest plane crashes,” he added. Govt. agencies need communication technology “everywhere, all the time,” he said.
Security and privacy concerns will grow as mobile broadband networks proliferate, Brammer said, predicting a “defender-attacker arms race.” Greater network deployment gives malefactors “more valuable targets,” he said.
Industry must improve mobile broadband network “functionality, performance, reliability and security,” said Brammer. Spending on market development, sales, spectrum and technology “should lead to significant improved product and service offerings over the next few years,” he said.
Clearwire Says Wireless Broadband No ‘Niche Product’
Wireless Internet service is “not a niche product” and will be to wireline service what the cellphone was to wireline telephone, Clearwire CEO Ben Wolff said Wed. at the WCA Conference. He called Clearwire’s wireless broadband a differentiated Internet service that, as with mobile phones, people will see short term as complementary to their wired connections, and long term as a replacement. About 69% of customers who signed up with the company in May had been using a cable modem or DSL connection; 20% planned to use the Clearwire service to supplement wired service, Wolff said.
To succeed, Clearwire needs to balance the mobility of wireless with wired connections’ power and dependability, said Wolff. On its highest tier service, Clearwire offers 3 Mbps downlink speeds on average through a modem that users “plug and play” into their systems. This year the company will release a PC card, in 2008 embedded WiMAX chipsets and by 2009 mobile device support, he said. Clearwire is building a facilities-based VoIP network, he added.
Clearwire acquires spectrum following a region-based approach, Wolff said: The company doesn’t immediately “need a nationwide network in order to succeed.” Clearwire’s network covers 85% of people in the 100 top U.S. markets, plus several European nations, he said. Contrary to assumptions, Clearwire keep expanding not only in rural but also urban and suburban markets, he said.
The company won’t pursue “triple play” bundle offerings such as telcos favor, Wolff said. That forces customers to buy services they don’t want so they can feel as if they're getting a good deal, he said: “Customers said one reason they liked Clearwire was because they didn’t have to buy a bundle of services.”