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CDPD: Cutting the cord

Bill Jackson, Triton's chief technical officer, is a lot less excited about CDPD (cellular digital packet data) than he used to be. "The availability hasn't grown as much as we anticipated it would three years ago when we first started talking about it," Jackson said. "We don't push it as much as we used to. It's difficult when you get people all excited about it, and then they find out they don't have coverage in their area."

September 18, 2001

Bill Jackson, Triton's chief technical officer, is a lot less excited about CDPD (cellular digital packet data) than he used to be.

"The availability hasn't grown as much as we anticipated it would three years ago when we first started talking about it," Jackson said. "We don't push it as much as we used to. It's difficult when you get people all excited about it, and then they find out they don't have coverage in their area."

Tritonwas an early advocate of CDPD as a telecommunications option for ATM deployers. While many ATM makes and models can be adapted for CDPD, Triton is one of only two manufacturers – the other isGTI-- that offers an integrated CDPD modem as a factory option on its machines. In addition to a CDPD modem, the other major hardware requirement is an antenna to receive the signal.

CDPD is a form of wireless communications that breaks data files into multiple "packets" and sends it to and from ATMs via the existing cellular infrastructure. It's notably faster, and sometimes cheaper, than dial-up.

Here, there, not everywhere

While CDPD offers several benefits as a telecommunications option for ATM deployers, its biggest drawback, according to users, is its still-limited coverage area. "That's the Achilles heel," said Vance Rowland, director of sales and marketing forATM America, a Columbia, S.C.-based ISO that has deployed a number of machines using CDPD.

While CDPD is generally available in large metropolitan areas, Rowland said that is not a given. "There's no rhyme or reason where you see it," he said, noting that he was surprised that coverage was available in Anderson, S.C. but not in Atlanta, for example.

ATM America relies largely on Web sites furnished byVerizon Wirelessand other providers to determine the availability of CDPD. But Rowland said the sites aren't always up-to-date.

"If it says they have coverage, you can trust it. But we've followed up with a phone call several times when it said coverage wasn't available, and it's paid off for us," he said.

While it uses the same infrastructure, CDPD coverage is not the same as regular cellular coverage, cautioned Triton's Jackson. "If you don't have cell coverage, you definitely won't have CDPD. But it doesn't necessarily work the other way around," he said.

Bob Hunsberger, manager of technical support/wireless data for Verizon Wireless, said that while there are still some notable gaps in coverage – including Atlanta, New Orleans and upstate New York – new areas continue to be added all the time. He estimated that CDPD is currently available in 70 percent of the populated areas of the U.S.

Tweaking the 'tenna

The strength of a signal can vary somewhat within a coverage area, sometimes requiring ATM deployers to get creative with their deployments.

According to Roger Myers,EFTLogix'svice president of ATM operations, deployers may have to reposition the antenna, which is typically found inside the cabinet near the top rear of an ATM, or possibly switch to a larger antenna. In some cases, an antenna may need to be relocated in an exterior location to pick up the CDPD signal.

"We've had instances where we've modified the cabinet by drilling a hole in the top so we could move an antenna closer to the ceiling, and I've strung coaxial cable across a ceiling so I could get the antenna near a front window," Myers said. "If you go that extra step, it can make all of the difference in the world."

Something as innocuous as tinted window glass can wreak havoc with a signal, said Verizon's Hunsberger. "Most tinted glass contains a metallic element which can block radio communications, whether it's a cell phone, a pager or a CDPD ATM."

Ron Schuldt, chief operating officer ofColumbus Data Services, agreed that CDPD placements require more tweaking than the installation of standard dial-up.

"Anybody that's going to deploy CDPD should plan on doing a couple of terminals with the idea they're going to experiment a little bit," Schuldt said. "They may end up doing nothing, they may need a booster, or they may need a booster and a longer antenna."

Triton sometimes displays ATMs running CDPD at trade shows. Jackson said his experience in setting those machines up is that "they're never quite as plug and play as a phone line."

Support groups

While not all transaction processors support CDPD, a dozen or so major players, including EFTLogix,Concord EFS,Core Data,Columbus Data Services, Genpass andLynk Systems, do so.

EFTLogix, formerly RBSA, has supported CDPD for more than two years, said the company's Vice President of Sales and Marketing Bobby Hicks. "I believe we were the first (processor) to do so," he said. Recently, EFTLogix announced a partnership withU.S. Wireless Datato provide conversion services for ATMs using a U.S. Wireless adapter.

Schuldt, a former RBSA principal, said RBSA saw the technology as a way to separate itself from the processing pack. "We were looking for niches to exploit to get our name out in front of people," he said.

GTI similarly was an early adopter of CDPD, said Charlie East, the manufacturer's general manager. "We have continuously looked for ways to differentiate our company," he said. "We saw this an opportunity because we're a little more technically oriented than most others making machines in our price range. We didn't have to outsource development to a bunch of outside engineering companies."

While CDPD has created some loyal customers for GTI, East said that less than 5 percent of the company's sales are CDPD units. Jackson reported similar figures for Triton, estimating that less than 1,000 of his company's worldwide base of 55,000 ATMs are equipped for CDPD.

Campbell Burgess, president and CEO of Core Data, which began supporting CPDP terminals in January, said that only about 1 percent of the 35,000 machines Core Data drives are on CDPD. He expects that number to grow in the coming months. Of the 8,000 machines EFTLogix drives, Hicks said 300 to 500 are on CDPD.

Despite its coverage limitations and sometimes quirky installation requirements, interest from ATM deployers seems to be growing. "We get calls every day about CDPD," ATM America's Rowland said.

Moving right along

Among the most popular uses for CDPD are temporary ATM placements at events like fairs, rodeos and NASCAR races, said EFTLogix's Hicks. Deployers appreciate not having to install a phone line, which is almost always a more complicated and expensive process at temporary venues. And such placements often provide a perfect opportunity to take advantage of CDPD's speed, which can shave 15 seconds off typical dial-up transaction times.

"At an event like NASCAR weekend at the Texas Motor Speedway, you may do as many transactions in a weekend as you do in a month at a good location," Hicks said. "You want to keep ATM users moving through those lines as quickly as possible."

One caveat related to temporary ATM deployments: CDPD coverage is less likely to be available in the isolated areas that are popular with many fair and concert organizers.

"There was a misconception when CDPD came out that you could use it to put an ATM anywhere you couldn't get a phone line. People thought they could put machines on the top of a mountain in Colorado or out in the middle of a swamp somewhere," said Columbus Data's Schuldt. "Generally it's got to be in an open area for it to work."

CDPD's mobility can also be an advantage at permanent locations, said GTI's East. "C-store merchants are always rearranging their stores because the bread people or the soda people want more space. With CDPD, you don't have to rerun wire every time," he said.

While a CDPD modem typically adds $400 to $600 to the cost of a terminal, ATM America's Rowland said it doesn't take long for CDPD to pay for itself – particularly at a high-volume location. "It takes maybe 12 to 14 months to make up the difference," he said, when one considers the ability to crank out more transactions because of faster response times and the monthly savings on a dedicated phone line.

Because no phone line is required, Schuldt said CDPD is an especially attractive option for placements in which ATMs are owned by deployers. "Invariably a certain percentage of those locations don't work out," he said. "It's not as big of a problem if the merchant bears the cost, but you don't want to have to keep paying to install and de-install phone lines if you can help it."

Always on

Verizon's Hunsberger characterized CDPD, which communicates with ATMs and other devices through an IP (Internet protocol) address, as "an IP-based WAN (Wide Area Network) that just happens to be wireless."

It's faster, he said, because it provides an "always on" connection – unlike dial-up, which must re-establish a connection with each transaction. "Think of the PC on a LAN (Local Area Network) in your office, which gets you a connection much faster than when you dial in at home," he said.

Core Data's Burgess said that CDPD was somewhat tricky to implement, requiring a great deal of coordination with wireless providers to establish routing paths. Yet Core Data is committed to providing CDPD, he said, because it enhances data delivery.

"We believe in inexpensive broadband delivery of transactions to terminals, and CDPD is one of the methods we have identified to achieve it," Burgess said. "We want to create a core competency for ourselves in broadband access."

According to Hunsberger, CDPD can deliver up to 19.2 kilobytes of data per second. In comparison, a 9600 baud modem -- found in many of the most popular retail ATM models -- can deliver up to 9.6 kilobytes of data per second.

Pricing packages for CDPD vary, depending on the wireless provider, the region of the country where the ATMs are located and other factors. Typically, Verizon's Hunsberger said, there is a monthly access fee of perhaps $5 combined with a charge of five to 10 cents per kilobyte of data delivered.

"For the typical low-end, low-volume machine out there, CDPD will be cheaper than dial-up," Hunsberger said.

Campbell isn't so sure, noting that there is a wider variation in CDPD costs compared to dial-up. He would like to see more consistency in pricing.

"I've got a spreadsheet several hundred lines long, and I still can't figure out what it costs half of the time," he said. "I think it adds to the confusion when we can't say it's definitely more expensive or less expensive than dial-up."

While CDPD usage will likely increase if more ATM manufacturers and processors decide to support it and if the coverage areas continue to expand, GTI's East believes the single biggest factor may be deployers' willingness to try it.

 "When more try it and like it and have a good experience, you'll see more of it," he said. "It's fantastic when it works."

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