CAA: GA News, "Airport’s phone, TV, Internet — all in one wire"

["Stephen Irwin" <Stephen.Irwin@pmail.net>]

Friday, April 14, 2000

Airport’s phone, TV, Internet — all in one wire
GA News


ULYSSES, Kansas — Out here in Western Kansas, the towns are small and few,
and communication amenities that are taken for granted in the big city may
not be as easily available. The county seat town of Ulysses (population
5,000), of course, has a telephone system, cable television and an Internet
server, but to get all three services to Ulysses Airport (ULS) one mile
north of town would involve separate land lines and a great deal of expense.

More than just a typical country airport, ULS serves a variety of users,
everything from crop-duster operations to a steady stream of corporate
aircraft that’s used in the oil and gas industry to transient traffic during
hunting season. Airport Manager and FBO Wendel Lambert wanted his customers
to have access to both entertainment and information in the airport’s pilot
lounge.

“We did have DTN service, which provided satellite weather and market
information, but we wanted to add cable TV and Internet access for weather
information and flight planning,” he explained, “so we contacted our local
telephone company, Pioneer Communications, gave them the problem, and they
came up with the answer.”

Pioneer, which is headquartered in Ulysses, is a regional communications
company that serves about 17,000 telephone customers in 15 Southwest Kansas
cities. In addition, it provides cable television and Internet service to
most of the same towns.

“We had just finished installing hybrid coaxial lines in the old terminal
building at the airport when we were informed that they were building a new
terminal three-quarters of a mile away,” explained Tom Vick, Pioneer’s
director of engineering. “Laying more coaxial cable would be expensive since
the proposed terminal would be our only customer within a half-mile. We’re
thinking, ‘You may not even get cable.’ Then a company called mPhase came to
us and proposed we could be a test site for their new digital video and data
delivery system (DVDDS).”

The company’s DVDDS, which is brand-named Traverser, allows transmission of
television programming, high-speed Internet service and voice service over a
single standard copper telephone wire. What seems like a simple solution is
an incredibly complex process that has eluded providers for years.

Using rate adaptive digital subscriber line (RADL) technology, 80 channels
of television are currently available, along with a 480-kilobyte Internet
connection.

“The television quality is just as good as hybrid fiber/coax,” Vick said,
“and the Internet is about 10 times faster than the current dial-up rate.”
He also sees the system being put in use for other rural customers, although
there is a practical limit on how far it can be delivered without additional
hybrid coaxial lines.

The RADSL will save other rural and commercial customers millions of dollars
in hybrid fiber coax cable, according to mPhase CEO Ronald Durando, and
current service will be unimpeded over already installed, twisted pair
copper lines.

The system has been in operation at ULS for about four months using
prototype hardware. The next step is a beta test, wherein manufactured
terminals (“set-top boxes,” as Tom Vick calls them) will be utilized.

Wendel Lambert doesn’t care what they’re called. He’s happy with the service
because his customers are satisfied. But if you would like to know more
about the system, don’t bother him. He’s too busy using the DVDDS and
running his FBO. But you can call mPhase president and CEO Ron Durando at
203-831-2225 for details.


   Post your opinion on this story in the CAA General Aviation Forum
http://www.californiaaviation.org/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?conf=DCConfID2

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