ISP Networks used Winstar Communications Inc., a New York company, to set up a high-speed microwave link to Graphisoft's building. Winstar has been using two-way microwave radios to offer business phone and data services in major cities around the country. The connection has also proved more reliable than some wire line connections. When power went out to Graphisoft's building, Winstar's wireless link came back up in a quarter of the time it took to restore Graphisoft's wire line T1, which it uses for voice service. Radio waves are not a solution for everyone.
Some critics dismiss wireless as a curiosity.
Ironically, however, TCI's partner in the Internet service business, At Home Corp. of Redwood City, plans to use microwave connections to bring data to business customers. It has a close relationship with BizTel, a competitor to Winstar with radio licenses around the country in the 38 gigahertz range. World Wide Wireless, a Southern California company, has plans to offer such services later this year or early next year in Concord and Walnut Creek. Like Warp Drive, it uses a telephone path for user data requests, but it plans to test full two-way wireless service in Boston and Pittsburgh this year. It operates at 28 GHz, a frequency so high that antennas shrink to the size of a small pizza box.