Alaska's Ripe for Expanding Wireless Communication.

• Author: SWAGEL, WILL

Whether it's two-way radios, cell phones of Internet services, individuals and businesses benefit from wireless technolgy.

When cruise ships anchor at Sitka, getting the passengers ashore is a complex task. Sitka has no cruise ship dock, so passengers must be "lightered" in-brought ashore in small boats. Hundreds of eager passengers jam each ship's exit corridors, all wanting to go at the same time. At the end of the day, those same lines will form on shore, as the crowds wait to get back to the ship.

Various members of the crew communicate continuously with shore staff, while ships' officers maintain contact with every step of the complex chain needed to move droves of vacationers over water. Sitka-based service companies, bus tour representatives and drivers, as well as public safety officials, also maintain contact while downtown Sitka floods with fun-seekers and shoppers. Dozens of those fun-seekers step aside from the crowd to call family back home on mobile phones.

And all this communication is wireless.

While a heavy cruise ship day in Sitka may be an extreme case, Alaska, along with the rest of the country and many parts of the world, has participated fully in the wireless revolution of the last few years.

For decades, two-way radios have been a mainstay of police officers, truckers and construction foremen. The recent wireless advances in cellular phone technology have in some cases replaced two-way radios. But those radios have shown themselves to still be a better-read: cheaper-alternative for those with certain needs.

And both cellular and two-way radio technologies are converging-as customers demand a slew of new menu features-including the wireless transmission of data, as well as voice.

Two-Way Choice

Cruise ship crews may have enjoyed reliable wireless communication, but Sitka public safety officials, especially wilderness search-and-rescue teams, have not. Sitka is built on a narrow strip of curving beach with transmission blocking mountains sprouting immediately behind it.

But new antennas and better channel-management software is being installed this year by ProComm Alaska, a firm that specializes in the two-way radio side of wireless.

ProComm president and CEO Gary Peters explains that, while cell phones users are finding new applications constantly, there are still several areas where two-way radio communication maybe a better business choice.

Peters says two-way radios should be seriously considered when a one-to-many...