AT&T 3G MicroCell

If you are an AT&T customer with a 3G MicroCell, AT&T’s home-based “cell tower”, take note: your 3G data usage, even while at home, counts against your monthly usage cap.

AT&T’s MicroCell ($150) does not use AT&T’s mobile network — it instead relies on your home broadband connection — but AT&T charges customers as if they were.

For customers who assume MicroCell traffic should be exempt because they provide and pay for the connectivity, AT&T’s overlimit fees await.

The company’s pricing and policies make owning a MicroCell increasingly pointless, particularly for data applications.  That’s because AT&T does not meter Wi-Fi usage, even when using AT&T’s own Wi-Fi network.

The disparity between femtocell traffic (the industry name for devices like the MicroCell) and Wi-Fi doesn’t make much sense to Dean Bubley, writing for his Disruptive Wireless-Disruptive Analysis blog:

Given that the RAN generally costs much more than the core network for most operators, there should clearly be differential (or zero-rated) pricing for traffic using femtocell offload. Either that, or there should be a mechanism for customers to charge AT&T for using THE USER’S broadband pipes for backhaul.

It is critical that any policy management and charging infrastruture is capable of discerning bearer type (which could also be UMA WiFi tunneled via the core on some other networks). Otherwise it makes a total mockery of the concept that policy is intended to align pricing with the underlying costs of service delivery.

It also makes a mockery of the femtocell concept as a mass proposition, if the end-user has to pay more than using their own WiFi. If I was a femto vendor today, I’d be spitting feathers about this, as it completely undermines the positioning vs. WiFi as an offload tool.

AT&T doesn’t care.

“The 3G MicroCell complements Wi-Fi by providing enhanced in-home voice coverage and reliable data when Wi-Fi may not be available — but it is primarily intended for voice calls,” an AT&T spokeswoman wrote in an email to Light Reading Mobile.

As the website notes, for consumers, the femto price model means that they will pay AT&T for the Microcell to get better indoor 3G coverage, pay for the backhaul connection to AT&T’s core network, and pay AT&T to use that indoor 3G base station.  What a great deal — for AT&T.

This empty water tower in Madison, Wis. caught fire Friday as workers began painting preparations, disrupting wireless communications services on the city's west side for months. (Photo: WMTV Madison)

A water tower fire on Madison’s west side has wiped out WiMAX broadband service for at least 150 fixed wireless broadband customers, leaving them cut off for so long, provider TDS Telecom is canceling their service and assisting customers in switching providers.

A Madison utility manager said workers Friday were preparing to paint the 100,000-gallon tower in the 2700 block of Prairie Road when insulation around communications cables caught fire.  Smoke was visible from the empty water tower for miles, and several nearby homes had to be evacuated because of fears of a potential collapse.

City engineers have since deemed the tower safe, but the real impact will be several months of interrupted broadband and cell service from several area providers who depended on the tower as an antenna site.  The tower was particularly crucial to TDS Telecom, which depended on its strategic location to deliver its wireless broadband service in western Madison.  It will take several months to restore service.

“Based on our discussions with the City, we anticipate it could take a very long time to repair the damaged tower,” states DeAnne Boegli, TDS National Public Relations Manager. “Since this is the only viable tower location TDS can use to serve these homes, and because temporary solutions are not available, our customer’s best option is to select another facilities-based communications provider.”

TDS will assist all 147 impacted customers in changing their service without penalty and remove the equipment from customer homes at their request and convenience. The company is also providing the customers a month’s service credit.

“Unfortunately, this accident has left us with no reliable or timely restoration options. TDS understands communications services are critical to our customers and we want to get them transitioned as quickly as possible, even though it means they must select another provider,” said Boegli.

Affected cell phone companies are trying to establish temporary cell tower sites to improve service in the area while repairs get underway.

[flv]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WMTV Madison Water Tower Fire Wipes Out WiMAX 5-14-10.flv[/flv]

WMTV-TV in Madison broke into regular programming to deliver a special report on the fire.  We’ve also included some raw video of the fire.  (11 minutes)

Chama, New Mexico

Emergency officials trying to warn residents of Chama, New Mexico about the threat of potential flooding were stymied by widespread service outages from Windstream Communications, the area’s broadband and telephone service provider.

The loss of service even impacted cell phone companies, whose cell tower sites relied on Windstream to get cell phone traffic into the telephone network.

More than 30,000 customers lost long distance and Internet service in the Chana area, leaving a local radio station as the primary source for communications to and from officials and Chana residents.

Residents began calling KZRM Radio asking about the service outages, leaving one local DJ to shrug his shoulders, noting he didn’t know because he couldn’t call out either.

Windstream kept 911 service running by call forwarding incoming emergency calls to cell phones in Española, located on the other side of Rio Arriba County.

Information about the flooding ultimately traveled primarily by word of mouth.

Windstream blamed the outage on a power surge.

[flv width=”640″ height=”500″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/KOAT Albuquerque Chama Communications Down During Flooding 4-19-10.flv[/flv]

KOAT-TV in Albuquerque reports on the plight of 30,000 Chama residents left without cell, long distance, or Internet service during a potentially dangerous flood.  (2 minutes)

AT&T Mobility doesn’t want a repeat of 2009’s wireless meltdown at Austin’s annual geek gathering South by Southwest (SXSW).  The wireless provider is bolstering coverage across Austin with temporary cell towers rising from trailers strategically placed around the convention center, as well as an indoor cell system inside the Austin Convention Center.

All this to avoid the embarrassment the company experienced last year when thousands of iPhone-wielding attendees slowed AT&T’s network to a crawl.  When smartphone customers notice slowdowns or dropped service, they become vocal.  That’s no good for a convention catering to the cool-kid techie.

Making a good impression at SXSW may represent a road back to credibility for many unhappy AT&T customers, who have repeatedly criticized the carrier for not keeping up with mobile demand in 2009.  In addition to “Cellular On Wheels” — the aforementioned AT&T cell tower trailers, the company has also beefed up its permanent cell sites with improved backhaul connections, which provides increased bandwidth.

Most of AT&T’s data demands come from its exclusive arrangement with Apple to provide iPhone service in the United States.  The deal brought millions of new customers to the company, which claims to have twice as many smartphones on its network that any other carrier.

The results of all the work seem to have paid off.  Many attendees report the network is performing better than expected.  Some have noted its working even better than the conference-provided Wi-Fi network.

[flv width=”480″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/KXAN Austin ATT trying to prevent mobile meltdown 3-12-10.flv[/flv]

KXAN-TV in Austin covers the opening of SXSW and AT&T’s service improvements throughout Austin (2 minutes)

Under stiff opposition from the nation’s broadcasters, the Federal Communications Commission has dropped a proposal to reallocate a significant chunk of the UHF broadcast television spectrum to wireless communications companies.

As Stop the Cap! recently reported, the wireless industry sought the reallocation to broaden the bandwidth available for wireless broadband services.  The proposal would have paid broadcasters to adopt a new “cell tower”-like model of repeater antennas to provide broadcast television in more localized areas, reducing distant signal reception.  This would permit stations to be packed closer together with less chance of interference with each other.  Broadcasters reacted angrily to the proposal, suggesting it would limit reception and the launch of additional channels and communications services available from their new digital television service.  It would also cause a nightmare for consumers less than a year after the end of most analog television transmissions.

For now, the FCC will adopt a voluntary strategy allowing stations to relinquish spectrum and receive compensation.

The wireless industry was not happy with the decision, and the industry’s trade and lobbying group weighed in.

“The record overwhelmingly demonstrates there’s a need for additional spectrum for mobile broadband services,” said CTIA President and CEO Steve Largent. “We continue to believe that all spectrum should be on the table for potential reallocation, including the almost 300 MHz allocated for broadcast television use, which is spectrum most favorable to mobile broadband. We look forward to working with the Commission and the broadband team to consider mechanisms to put spectrum to its highest use.”