Speakeasy spreads wireless Net over central Seattle

Forty-three years later, Seattle's most recognizable landmark is living up to its original mission as a conduit for one of this century's most promising communications technologies.

Today, executives from Speakeasy, Intel and Alvarion will announce that they have placed equipment on top of the 605-foot needle that will beam wireless Internet signals over a 5-square-mile area of Seattle. It is one of five high points across the city where the companies have set up antennas and radio equipment -- creating what Speakeasy calls the largest and most dense wireless broadband deployment of its kind in a metropolitan city.

From Safeco Field north to Fremont and the Seattle waterfront east to Capitol Hill, the wireless network -- which will be turned on today -- could transform the way businesses connect to the Internet. A precursor to the much-anticipated WiMax technology, Speakeasy's wireless network can beam data and voice over unlicensed airwaves at tremendous speeds -- penetrating nearly every building in the coverage area.

"There are other providers in the U.S. that have deployed pockets of broadband wireless," said Speakeasy chief executive Bruce Chatterley. "No one has ever taken a major urban area, a metropolitan business core, and densely deployed a non-line-of-sight broadband wireless network."

Speakeasy will charge $800 per month for connection speeds that are twice as fast as a T1 line. A 1.5-megabit wireless connection -- the equivalent of a T1 and about 30 times faster than a dial up modem -- will cost $500 per month.

In order to receive the wireless signals from the Space Needle and other Seattle-area base stations, businesses must place a laptop-sized receptor in a window or on a rooftop. That receptor, which is made by Tel Aviv, Israel-based Alvarion, then is plugged into a company's internal network. Installation will take less than a week, said Chatterley.

Bandwidth capacity and speed of installation are two of the key advantages to wireless broadband systems like the one from Speakeasy, said Monica Paolini, a wireless analyst at Senza-Fili Consulting. She said small businesses looking for a high-speed alternative often face "high prices, slow service and little flexibility in the services." By targeting small businesses, Paolini said, Speakeasy is hitting a "sweet spot" in the market.

With 45,000 broadband Internet customers nationwide, Seattle-based Speakeasy will offer the same service guarantee that it does for its T1 offering. If successful in Seattle, the 11-year-old Internet service provider plans to roll out the wireless service to businesses in its top eight markets.

Securing space on top of the Space Needle, The Westin Building and three other undisclosed buildings in the city was not an easy task, said Chatterley. In some cases, he said it took several months to negotiate the roof-top rights or other special arrangements.

"We have had the technical testing done for months now," he said. "It has been 100 percent about securing the leases. But once you have those done in a market like Seattle, you have a pretty good position."

The Space Needle -- the tallest structure in the lower Queen Anne area -- granted exclusive roof-top rights at no cost to Speakeasy, said Dean Nelson, chief executive of the privately held Space Needle Corp.

The partnership made sense because the Space Needle was already exploring ways of using technology to enhance the visitor experience in the observation deck, Nelson said.

With the Speakeasy network in place, Nelson said, testing is to begin this summer of new high-definition displays that will allow visitors to receive real-time streaming video and other information from landmarks in the Space Needle's 360-degree view. For example, a visitor to the observation deck could pull up live, online video feeds of seals at the Seattle Aquarium or baseball fans at Safeco Field. They then could be presented with information about the aquarium's conservation efforts in Puget Sound or a description of how the retractable roof works at Safeco Field.

If successful, the interactive displays would replace the back-lit photographs that currently present static content on dozens of landmarks, Nelson said. Given that the Space Needle attracts about 1.2 million visitors annually, Nelson said, he expects a warm reception from other businesses in town who may want to showcase their products. It plans to begin testing the service in mid-July with about 15 to 20 live video feeds.

"Speakeasy's capability is going to be really important in pulling this off," Nelson said. "A few years ago this wouldn't have been possible."

Speakeasy isn't the only company that may develop a high-speed wireless network in downtown Seattle.

Middletown, R.I.-based TowerStream, which has about 1,000 business customers in six U.S. cities, including New York, San Francisco, Providence, Boston, Los Angeles and Chicago, is negotiating with landlords in Seattle, said TowerStream president Jeff Thompson. TowerStream plans to expand into four new cities this year, though Thompson declined to say whether Seattle would be one of those.

"We like a lot of things about Seattle," said Thompson, whose company is profitable and growing. "And it is definitely a market we plan on being in." The 5-year-old company, which has secured roof-top rights to the Empire State Building, John Hancock Center and other skyscrapers, charges $500 per month for a T1 equivalent. Though Thompson described Speakeasy as a high-quality Internet service provider, he disputed the company's claims about the size and scope of its wireless network.

"I don't know how they are using the word 'big,' " said Thompson, adding that TowerStream's network covers nearly 500 square miles in Boston and all of Manhattan.

Kirkland-based Clearwire, the wireless broadband provider founded by cellular phone pioneer Craig McCaw, also is expected to launch a precursor to the WiMax technology in the Seattle area later this year.

A spokesman for the company, which offers wireless data service to residential customers in four cities, declined to comment on the Seattle rollout. Clearwire has said that it plans to operate in 20 cities this year.

Local government also is looking at ways to increase high-speed Internet access in the region.

The city of Seattle is considering recommendations from its broadband and telecommunications task force, which was formed last year. A draft of the task force's final report, which was obtained by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, indicates that the city must take steps to implement a citywide network open to businesses, residents and government.

"Seattle cannot afford to dawdle," task force chairman Steven Clifford wrote in the opening remarks of the report.

"Broadband networks will soon become what roads, electric systems and telephone networks are today: core infrastructure of society."

The report goes on to say that the "private markets" will not provide the services that Seattle needs when it comes to broadband. It also indicates that a wireless broadband system, with security, interference and capacity problems, would not be sufficient in the long-term.

Instead, the draft of the report recommends the most expensive option: a fiber-optic network that connects directly to users' homes and businesses. That's similar to Tacoma's Click! Network, which provides cable television and high-speed Internet.

The final report is expected to be submitted to Mayor Greg Nickels later this month.

Speakeasy chairman Mike Apgar said he doesn't view city governments as competition, adding that there could be partnership opportunities.

A number of cities -- including Boston, Minneapolis and Philadelphia -- are contemplating municipally-owned high-speed wireless networks.

"I can't imagine the city of Seattle -- based on my earlier discussions with them and the reports I have read -- trying to go in and create a commercial network for businesses," Apgar said.

"I would think it would be more of a civic type deployment for traffic cameras, utility trucks, police, fire and that sort of thing."

Many have tried and failed in the past decade to bring "last mile" broadband wireless connectivity to urban markets -- including Advanced Radio Telecom, Teligent and Winstar.

But with powerhouses such as Intel, Cisco, Nokia and Microsoft now supporting the roll out of WiMax, including plans for new standardized chips and hardware that will enter the market later this year, many believe the time is right for the technology to finally take off.

And Speakeasy, which is backed by Intel, 3i, BV Capital and others, is hoping to ride the coming wave.

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