By KATHERINE PETERSEN
Sunnyvale businesses and residents will soon have access to the Internet while they are away from their desktop computers--whether they're in a conference room, sipping a cappuccino at a local coffee shop or relaxing in their back yards.
The Sunnyvale City Council on May 7 approved a nonexclusive, 15-year franchise for Metricom Inc. of Los Gatos to operate its wireless data network service in the city.
Metricom installed 147 microcellular data network radios on light poles and other poles throughout Sunnyvale so the city can evaluate the service during a six-month pilot study.
Metricom subscribers can either rent or purchase wireless modems to use the service. Rather than dialing a phone number the user dials an access code, and then the data is translated and sent to one of Metricom's pole-top radios. The data is then relayed by radio waves to the nearest wired access point, traveling via telephone wire to a Houston network facility and then onto the Internet. That long-distance trip occurs almost instantaneously.
The company will pay the city an annual amount equal to 5 percent of its revenues from Sunnyvale subscribers, plus an annual fee based on the number of poles upon which the radios are installed. Metricom operates in 48 cities in the Bay Area, but Sunnyvale is the first in the area to require a franchise agreement.
The franchise agreement is supposed to ensure that Metricom will adhere to high customer service standards, which the city will monitor.
Kirk Wampler, Metricom's director of right-of-way, said his company has 4,000 radios and 2,000 subscribers in the Bay Area. He said the radios are roughly a quarter-mile apart.
He said the modems can transmit data at speeds of between 14.4 and 28.8 kilibits per second. "I'm sure the customers will let us know if they aren't getting the speeds they desire," he said.
Councilmember Landon Noll expressed concern at the meeting about how much volume each radio can handle. Wampler said each radio could accommodate three people simultaneously downloading large files.
"If one radio is full, the user will be jumped to the next one," Wampler said.
While other companies may offer wireless Internet access, their services tend to be slower and more expensive, Wampler said. Metricom is the first to offer unlimited Internet access for a monthly fee rather than charging per-minute or per-hour fees.
Noll said it is commendable that Metricom is willing to enter into a franchise agreement because the city will have use of wireless modems to operate more efficiently.
Metricom, which has been in business since 1985, began offering wireless Internet service in September 1995.
"Metricom has no competitors in terms of price and service offering," Wampler said. Other companies such as Ardis and RAM Mobile Data target the corporate market more heavily.
Yet the monthly fee isn't the only benefit of Metricom's Internet service. Customers who use the service on a regular basis will not incur the cost of an additional phone line.
Shawn Hernandez, Sunnyvale's director of information technology, said he has been testing the service to ensure its reliability.
"It works very well and has tremendous potential," he said.
The city is putting a laptop computer and wireless modem in its bookmobile so patrons will be able to search through the library catalog and check out books at remote sites.
"When people went to the bookmobile, there was no way for them to see what else was available. This technology will add to the city's library services," Hernandez said.
With service throughout the Bay Area, subscribers will be to access the service either from work, from home or on the road, Hernandez said.
"I was in Oakland the other day and was able to get my messages. It was very convenient," he said.
For more information about Metricom, call (888) 4NO-WIRES.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, May 22, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.