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Letter from the President
As I put the finishing touches on this letter today investors started buying stocks enthusiastically after the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index vaulted to 54.9 from 40.8, soaring past the 42.3 that economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters forecast. This is the biggest gain in consumer confidence since 2003. You may recall this is when we started to pull out of the last recession. Of course, it is human nature for us to project to most recent past forward into infinity. Which of course, is never what actually happens as business cycles are inevitable as the sunrise and sunset, also due to human nature. Let the good times roll!
In regards to the latest on the ARRA NTIA has reported that it anticipates meeting the following milestones: March - June 2009 - procurement for grants program assistance services; June 2009 - award contract for grants program support; April - June 2009 -- preparation for initial solicitation for proposals; June 2009 - publish notice of funds availability; Sept - Dec. 2009 - initial proposal processing and review; December 2009 - initial grant awards made; Oct - Dec 2009 - second solicitation for proposals; April - June 2010 - third solicitation for proposals; September 2010 - all awards to be made. RUS will follow a relatively similar time line.
Lastly we are offering our next free RWTI in Seattle on June 25th. Please see the information to the right and don't forget only approved registered guests who email us at sales(at)radiowavesinc.com will be granted access to this microwave antenna system training in Seattle complete with certification. Lunch will be provided to all attendees.
The opportunities in wireless telecommunications are abundant. Between 3G/4G cellular networks, WiMAX, smart grid networks, 2.4 GHz, 4 GHz and the new 3.65 GHz band there is plenty of action in North America and all over the world. See our smart grid primer further down.
As always stay positive and Go Large!!
Andy Singer
Antennas that cover 4.9 - 5.85 GHz; why they are a Bad Call
We have had a few customer call into technical support and ask us why we don't offer a family of antennas that covers 4.9 - 5.85 GHz like some of the competitive product they have seen advertised. The reason is rather simple, any antenna with a bandwidth of 4.9 - 5.85 GHz will be a compromise and not work as well as an antenna focused on either the 4 GHz or 5 GHz band. We have measured some of the products that claim to cover 4.9 to 5.85 GHz and all of them have compromised performance at one end of the band or the other, or in some cases both. Actually if you operate our 4.7 model antennas between 4.9 and 5.2 GHz they will perform ok with a slight loss of gain. If you operate our 5.2 model antennas from 4.9 to 5.0 GHz they will also perform ok, but with a slight loss of gain. We don't advertise for instance the 5.2 family as covering the 4.9 GHz band, because we want our customers to have the best performing networks and not compromised performance because a specific OEM only wants to have to stock one model that covers the whole band. (Which is typically the real reason why an OEM markets these broadband products) If you need an antenna for the 4 GHz band, use the 4.7 model family for best possible performance. If you want an antenna that covers 5 GHz, use the 5.2 model family for best possible performance. Why compromise your network....
NOAA forecasts 9 to 14 tropical storms this season
Hurricanes will strike the United States this season and Americans must be prepared, federal forecasters said. They predicted 9 to 14 named tropical storms this year. Current projections call for a near normal year for hurricanes, Gerry Bell, lead Atlantic hurricane forecaster for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said at a briefing. The named storms are expected to include 4 to 7 hurricanes of which 1 to 3 are likely to be major storms. Added Craig Fugate, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency: "Hurricanes will make landfall in the United States, hurricanes will destroy homes, people need to heed the preparedness message and be ready to act." People in hurricane-prone areas need to think about how these storms and their flooding might affect their lives, and to have a hurricane preparedness plan in place before the season begins, he said. Hurricane season officially starts June 1. Last year there were 16 named storms, of which 8 grew into hurricanes and 5 were major. About 1,000 people lost their lives, mostly in flash flooding in the Caribbean. NOAA's forecast comes just days after the Department of Homeland Security urged Americans to be prepared for hurricane season. You can learn more about hurricanes at http://www.noaa.gov
Since June is the beginning of hurricane season, at Radio Waves we are declaring June - Side Strut Month. It is important to keep in mind that a side strut costs only a couple hundred to a few hundred dollars, depending on size, but it can avoid a more costly trip to the site and realignment down the road. For customers in high wind areas, which certainly includes anyone in costal areas that may be affected by hurricanes, a side strut is a great investment and during the initial install is the time to use them. Please see our coupon below for a discount on your next one.
iPhone is a "data hog".....Wooohooo!
There was an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal during May. No surprise to my industry brethren for sure that the iPhone web applications are bandwidth hogs. Reportly they consume 69% of the bandwidth, but are still a small percentage of the usage on the network. As these proportional of customers with iPhone like devices increases and data intensive application such as web browsing, file downloading and video sharing become ever more popular, network capacity will need to increase by a rather significant factor. This means more cell sites, more advanced technology such as 4G and more backhaul.
Update on 4.7 GHz
The 4.4 - 5.0 GHz band continues to see lots of activity. Applications in the 4.7 GHz band are across the board from LMR (land mobile two-way radio) backhaul, to telemetry backhaul, to enterprise deployments (which might be point-to-point such as T1 replacement or point-to-multi-point. Federal and NATO agencies are using the lower portion of the 4.4 - 5.0 GHz band to establish reliable networks for battlefield communications, border security and video surveillance.
There area number of sites that offer interesting information on the 4.7 GHz band and equipment that operates there. Here a several sites that you might perhaps find interesting:
http://www.motorola.com/Business/US-EN/Business+Product+and+Services/Wireless+Broadband+Networks/Point-to-Point+Bridges
http://www.macom-wireless.com/
http://www.rfcomm.harris.com/
http://www.exaltcom.com/
http://www.proxim.com/
http://www.fcc.gov/
http://urgentcomm.com/
Smart Grid Primer
As part of the ARRA not only is there money allocated to wireless infrastructure by the NTIA and RUS, there is approximately $4 billion allocated to enhance energy efficiency by developing "smart grid" networks under the program being run by the Department of Energy. The idea behind a smart grid is to utilize meters, sensors, switches and monitoring systems to more efficiently monitor, control and utilize energy. Some of the expected benefits include peak demand reduction and demand-side management improvements which would defer the need for some major infrastructure investments, reduce energy usage and have a potential for environmental improvements. The smart grid will be IP based and there are several options available to utilities for aggregating the data back to the home office. One way to aggregate the data is to utilize an existing cellular network. Another option for utilities is to build their own networks for smart grids. This is similar to what Southern Company did when it develop its two-way communications network instead of paying for time on Nextel's network. A clear advantage to a utility building its own network is being able to leverage the network for other broadband communications and access. CenterPoint Energy in Texas will be utilizing the 3.65 GHz band as a backhaul system to aggregate data from smart meters. Some utilities have looked at the option of utilizing the 5 GHz band, but the 3.65 GHz band offer better protection from interference. The government of Canada developed a very pro-active plan and has designated a 1.8 GHz smart grid band just for these applications. There is some talk about the FCC allocating spectrum for a smart grid band in a similar fashion to what has been allocated in Canada, but nothing firm at this time.
To receive full versions of this newsletter - email andy_singer(at)radiowavesinc.com