An internet service provider Webpass located in United States shows a possible way of providing faster internet to people, a much relevant topic of today’s India. Through its point-to-point wireless technology, Webpass provide internet service to consumers with 500 Mbps upload and download speeds at $55 per month.
Started in 2003, the service caters only in big cities to multi-unit residential buildings and businesses. Its service spans across San Francisco, San Diego, Miami, Chicago and also expected to be in Boston using only 10 units.
Webpass is still gaining pace in United States, with its promotional activities stay limited to word of mouth. A reason for its lack of popularity is that the service does not cater single-family home or even the rural areas. However, Webpass claims to have 20,000 residential subscribers living in high-rises.
Interestingly, the company has varied business customers, including a military boat that avail its service. Top banks, HBO films, warehouses etc too comes under the customer base of Webpass.
Majority of its revenue stream comes from commercial services and the company charges a greater cost as point-to-point wireless technology has a greater reliability compared to the fibre/cable network service.
The network tool of Webpass includes two transceivers on the roof of a building, with one serving the building and another serving the next building. A line-of-sight is required between two buildings for Webpass to deliver service. Webpass buildings will have radios capable of delivering 2Gbps upstream and downstream.
For residential services, Webpass provides 100, 200 or 500 Mbps to each unit. However, the price stays constant at $55 per month. A $160 can be obtained as discount, in case if bought a full year service for $500. Also, only the residential services are shared and not the business services.
The business plan costs between $125 a month to $5,500 per month for speeds from 10Mbps to 1Gbps. The price varies according to data and speed. The cheaper plans have data transfer limits of 1TB to 10TB per month whereas for premium plans come with unlimited transfer data. The business service also comes with an installation charge of $300 for "on-net buildings" and $3,000 for "off-net buildings."
Although Webpass records a good response from its customers in terms of its performance, a few rated it slow during peak hours. Most of them also agree with the fluctuations of speed in the course of the day. Weather can also prove harmful to the quality, in rare circumstances, according to Webpass.
