The Holy Grail that everyone seems to be after nowadays is low-cost, high-speed access. Rarely does a day go by without a digital subscriber line announcement from a local carrier. On the flip side, the headlines seem to be lacking in announcements from competitive access providers and competitive local exchange carriers that are not facilities-based.

Unfortunately, it's not due to lack of initiative from CAPs and CLECs. Some competitive carriers liken getting unbundled local loop access to pulling teeth. While wholesaling unbundled local loops is one of the criteria on the 14-point checklist that the RHCs must meet to offer in-region interLATA services, keeping tight reigns on the local loops helps protect the RHCs' installed customer base and control the amount of local competition.

With the influx of new industry players, time to market is extremely crucial to obtaining mind share and market share. The RHCs may be intentionally or unintentionally applying delay tactics in offering unbundled local loops until they have firmly established competitive market entry barriers, including having the majority of the market share for DSL-based services.

By the time some CAPs and CLECs get access to the unbundled local loops, it may be too late. Their dependence on the RHCs to get access to customers poses an uphill battle.

Therefore, CAPs and CLECs need to think outside the box. One way to get around the problem is to build their own terrestrial local infrastructure. But this can become a time-consuming, costly and business case-breaking endeavor.

Microwave is a viable option for transporting broadband services over local or metropolitan area networks. It is also an ideal solution for getting access to areas that are surrounded by rugged terrain, as well as rural communities, as long as line of sight can be established.

Several service providers in Europe already have implemented broadband microwave solutions using wireless equipment called AirMAN from Netro Corp. The company plans to offer a North American version of its products later this year. The products are compatible frame relay and asynchronous transfer mode switches that can support speeds from 2 to 155 Mb/s.

Newbridge also announced an ATM radio interface card that plugs into the MainStreetXpress 36170 switch. Services like high-speed Internet access, native or transparent local area network services and virtual private networks can be offered over these platforms.

Wireless networks can be installed in a fraction of the time that would be required for wired networks. Their initial costs are generally far lower than for a wired network, and recurring operational and maintenance costs are lower. Additionally, the microwave connections are very reliable and immune to the effects of cuts, floods and earthquakes.

However, one of the biggest concerns with microwave links is their susceptibility to atmospheric variables. Rain-induced fading is one of the most dominant effects. This can cause high bit error rates that can alter ATM or frame relay address fields, which results in delivery to the wrong destination - a phenomenon called "misinsertion." When considering microwave solutions, carriers need to ensure that their vendor of choice has an implementation scheme that will prevent misinsertions.

Carriers also should consider vendors that can support not only point-to-point solutions, but also point-to-multipoint. Point-to-multipoint solutions allow users to share and dynamically allocate local access bandwidth among multiple buildings within a metropolitan area. This solution also can save on equipment costs at the CO or hub.

Though some competitive carriers may feel like their hands are tied, it's not too late to evaluate wireless solutions. While awaiting access to the unbundled loops, wireless broadband can become an ideal interim solution. And carriers shouldn't discount the possibility that it may even be the best long-term solution to meet their business and financial goals.

Liza Henderson is a Broadband Consultant with TeleChoice, Verona, N.J. Her e-mail address is lhenderson@telechoice.com.