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AIRBAND BUYS GO-COMM, TARGETS VoIP
by Dan O'Shea
Telephony, May 17, 2004

Fixed wireless and voice over IP are technologies on a merry collision course, and regional ISP airBand Communications last week moved to make the most of this convergence by acquiring VoIP CLEC Go-Comm and launching new services - potentially including wireless VoIP - in the Dallas-Ft. Worth market.

"We're cautiously and strategically certifying our network for voice services," said Andrew Lombard, founder and CEO of airBand. "It's not supported in 100% of our network right now, but we're working to expand it."

Four-year-old airBand, which primarily has carried data services on its wireless and wireline facilities, has partnered with Dallas-based Go-Comm to market VoIP services since last October. AirBand originally decided to work with Go-Comm because the latter company offered solutions based on the VocalData Application Server and already supported a rich VoIP feature set, Lombard said.

The acquisition of Go-Comm comes not long after some larger service providers, such as SBC and AT&T, have declared plans for VoIP services. "Four years ago, VoIP was something we wrote into the business plan as an application over our network, and now everybody is getting on the bandwagon," Lombard said. "This technology is ready for prime time. The killer app for broadband is voice."

Lombard's firm, also based in Dallas, offers services over its wireless network where possible because of the faster scalability it allows airBand and the access flexibility that it allows airBand's customers. But the company also has found a dual-path redundant wireless/wireline service to be of value to its customer base of small and medium-sized business users, said Lisa Kolczun, vice president of marketing at airBand.

That strategy for network reliability has helped the company hold churn down to a miniscule .2%, while maintaining a streak of 42 consecutive quarters of revenue growth, Lombard said.

The company also is a huge proponent of 802.16 WiMAX technology, and a member of the WiMAX Forum. It plans to expand its network using equipment that is on track toward WiMAX Forum certification, the first round of which the forum is scheduled to complete early next year.

"I think the certification schedule is a little aggressive," Lombard said. "But we see WiMAX as a huge opportunity for us as we expand our network in Tier 1 markets. We'll transition to [WiMAX Forum-certified] equipment as it becomes available."

The company also plans to deploy technology based on the 802.16e standard enabling mobility when equipment becomes available in about two years.