<s>
Ricochet	B-Application
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
wireless	O
Internet	O
access	O
services	O
in	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
,	O
before	O
Wi-Fi	O
,	O
3G	B-Architecture
,	O
and	O
other	O
technologies	O
were	O
available	O
to	O
the	O
general	O
public	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
developed	O
and	O
first	O
offered	O
by	O
Metricom	B-Application
Incorporated	O
,	O
which	O
shut	O
down	O
in	O
2001	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
service	O
was	O
originally	O
known	O
as	O
the	O
Micro	O
Cellular	O
Data	O
Network	O
,	O
or	O
MCDN	O
,	O
gaining	O
the	O
Ricochet	B-Application
name	O
when	O
the	O
service	O
was	O
launched	O
to	O
the	O
public	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Metricom	B-Application
was	O
founded	O
in	O
1985	O
,	O
initially	O
selling	O
radios	O
to	O
electric	O
,	O
gas	O
,	O
oil	O
,	O
and	O
water	O
industrial	O
customers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Paul	O
Allen	O
took	O
a	O
controlling	O
stake	O
in	O
Metricom	B-Application
in	O
1997	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
this	O
time	O
,	O
the	O
service	O
was	O
operating	O
at	O
roughly	O
the	O
speed	O
of	O
a	O
56	O
kbit/s	O
dialup	O
modem	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ricochet	B-Application
introduced	O
a	O
higher-speed	O
128	O
kbit/s	O
,	O
service	O
in	O
1999	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
monthly	O
fees	O
for	O
this	O
service	O
were	O
more	O
than	O
double	O
those	O
for	O
the	O
original	O
service	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
its	O
height	O
in	O
early	O
2001	O
,	O
Ricochet	B-Application
service	O
was	O
available	O
in	O
many	O
areas	O
,	O
including	O
Atlanta	O
,	O
Baltimore	O
,	O
and	O
Dallas	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
July	O
2001	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
Ricochet	B-Application
's	O
owner	O
,	O
Metricom	B-Application
,	O
filed	O
for	O
Chapter	O
11	O
bankruptcy	O
and	O
shut	O
down	O
its	O
service	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
many	O
companies	O
during	O
the	O
dot-com	O
boom	O
,	O
Metricom	B-Application
had	O
spent	O
more	O
money	O
than	O
it	O
took	O
in	O
and	O
concentrated	O
on	O
a	O
nationwide	O
rollout	O
and	O
marketing	O
instead	O
of	O
developing	O
select	O
markets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ricochet	B-Application
was	O
reportedly	O
officially	O
utilized	O
in	O
the	O
immediate	O
disaster	O
recovery	O
situation	O
of	O
the	O
September	O
11	O
,	O
2001	O
terrorist	O
attacks	O
,	O
partially	O
operated	O
by	O
former	O
employees	O
as	O
volunteers	O
,	O
when	O
even	O
cell	O
phone	O
networks	O
were	O
overloaded	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Aerie	O
sold	O
Ricochet	B-Application
to	O
EDL	O
Holdings	O
in	O
2003	O
,	O
who	O
then	O
sold	O
it	O
to	O
YDI	O
Wireless	O
in	O
2004	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
YDI	O
Wireless	O
changed	O
its	O
name	O
to	O
Terabeam	O
Inc.	O
,	O
and	O
Ricochet	B-Application
then	O
operated	O
as	O
a	O
subsidiary	O
of	O
Terabeam	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
the	O
bankruptcy	O
,	O
ownership	O
of	O
the	O
Ricochet	B-Application
radio	O
transmitters	O
had	O
reverted	O
to	O
the	O
municipalities	O
where	O
the	O
radios	O
were	O
installed	O
,	O
so	O
any	O
expansion	O
would	O
have	O
required	O
Ricochet	B-Application
to	O
renegotiate	O
agreements	O
with	O
the	O
cities	O
or	O
counties	O
in	O
question	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
meantime	O
,	O
wireless	O
data	O
services	O
carried	O
over	O
the	O
cellular	O
telephone	O
network	O
had	O
become	O
more	O
popular	O
,	O
making	O
the	O
value	O
of	O
Ricochet	B-Application
technology	O
unclear	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
August	O
2007	O
the	O
Ricochet	B-Application
service	O
was	O
acquired	O
by	O
Civitas	O
Wireless	O
Solutions	O
LLC	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ricochet	B-Application
notified	O
its	O
Denver	O
customers	O
on	O
March	O
28	O
,	O
2008	O
,	O
that	O
service	O
would	O
cease	O
the	O
next	O
day	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
technology	O
,	O
deployed	O
by	O
Metricom	B-Application
Inc.	O
,	O
worked	O
as	O
a	O
wireless	O
mesh	B-Architecture
network	I-Architecture
:	O
packets	B-Protocol
were	O
forwarded	O
by	O
small	O
repeaters	O
(	O
typically	O
mounted	O
on	O
streetlights	O
,	O
for	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
which	O
Metricom	B-Application
negotiated	O
agreements	O
with	O
municipal	O
governments	O
)	O
and	O
might	O
"	O
bounce	O
"	O
among	O
several	O
such	O
units	O
along	O
the	O
path	O
between	O
an	O
end-user	O
'	O
s	O
modem	B-Application
and	O
a	O
wired	O
internet	O
access	O
point	O
;	O
hence	O
the	O
name	O
of	O
the	O
service	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
wireless	O
ISP	O
service	O
was	O
an	O
outgrowth	O
of	O
technology	O
Metricom	B-Application
had	O
developed	O
to	O
facilitate	O
remote	O
meter	O
reading	O
for	O
utility	O
companies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
originally	O
inspired	O
by	O
amateur	O
packet	B-Application
radio	I-Application
,	O
but	O
differed	O
from	O
this	O
technology	O
in	O
many	O
respects	O
:	O
for	O
instance	O
,	O
Ricochet	B-Application
used	O
spread	B-Architecture
spectrum	I-Architecture
(	O
FHSS	B-Protocol
)	O
technology	O
in	O
the	O
low-power	O
"	O
license-free	O
"	O
900MHz	O
ISM	B-Algorithm
band	I-Algorithm
of	O
the	O
RF	O
spectrum	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
the	O
resistance	O
to	O
eavesdropping	O
offered	O
by	O
FHSS	B-Protocol
,	O
modems	B-Application
offered	O
built-in	O
encryption	O
,	O
but	O
this	O
was	O
not	O
turned	O
on	O
by	O
default	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Throughput	O
was	O
originally	O
advertised	O
as	O
equivalent	O
to	O
,	O
and	O
in	O
practice	O
was	O
often	O
somewhat	O
better	O
than	O
,	O
that	O
of	O
a	O
then-standard	O
28.8	O
kbit/s	O
telephone	B-Application
modem	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
Ricochet	B-Application
could	O
be	O
treated	O
as	O
an	O
"	O
always-on	O
"	O
connection	O
(	O
in	O
the	O
sense	O
that	O
,	O
once	O
connected	O
to	O
the	O
network	O
,	O
it	O
could	O
stay	O
connected	O
even	O
when	O
not	O
in	O
use	O
without	O
tying	O
up	O
scarce	O
resources	O
,	O
unlike	O
a	O
dialup	O
connection	O
)	O
,	O
much	O
the	O
way	O
broadband	O
is	O
today	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
also	O
marketed	O
for	O
a	O
flat	O
monthly	O
fee	O
(	O
the	O
original	O
Ricochet	B-Application
service	O
was	O
$29.95	O
a	O
month	O
,	O
less	O
than	O
the	O
cost	O
of	O
dialup	O
plus	O
a	O
second	O
phone	O
line	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
result	O
,	O
a	O
significant	O
number	O
of	O
users	O
in	O
the	O
Ricochet	B-Application
service	O
area	O
adopted	O
it	O
as	O
their	O
primary	O
home	O
Internet	O
connection	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ricochet	B-Application
's	O
main	O
draw	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
was	O
that	O
it	O
was	O
wireless	O
;	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
there	O
were	O
almost	O
no	O
other	O
options	O
for	O
a	O
wireless	O
Internet	O
connection	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cellular	O
phones	O
were	O
not	O
as	O
prevalent	O
as	O
today	O
,	O
and	O
wireless	O
data	O
services	O
such	O
as	O
GPRS	B-General_Concept
had	O
not	O
yet	O
been	O
deployed	O
on	O
US	O
cellular	O
networks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
possible	O
to	O
use	O
specially	O
adapted	O
dialup	O
modems	B-Application
over	O
cellular	O
connections	O
,	O
but	O
this	O
was	O
slow	O
(	O
typically	O
topping	O
out	O
at	O
9.6	O
kbit/s	O
)	O
,	O
expensive	O
(	O
per-minute	O
charges	O
applied	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
often	O
unreliable	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
contrast	O
,	O
Ricochet	B-Application
was	O
fast	O
,	O
flat-rate	O
,	O
and	O
very	O
reliable	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
consumer	O
equipment	O
uses	O
license-free	O
1	O
W	O
900	B-Algorithm
MHz	I-Algorithm
FHSS	B-Protocol
encrypted	O
radio	O
modems	B-Application
which	O
respond	O
to	O
standard	O
Hayes	B-Device
"	O
AT	O
"	O
commands	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
include	O
a	O
packet-based	O
mode	O
of	O
operation	O
called	O
"	O
star	O
mode	O
"	O
,	O
and	O
it	O
is	O
possible	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
point-to-point	B-Architecture
connection	I-Architecture
or	O
even	O
a	O
small	O
independent	O
network	O
with	O
data	O
speeds	O
greater	O
than	O
256	O
kbit/s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
of	O
the	O
infrastructure	O
equipment	O
used	O
900MHz	O
for	O
the	O
link	O
to	O
the	O
consumer	O
and	O
used	O
2.4GHz	B-Algorithm
for	O
the	O
backhaul	B-General_Concept
link	O
.	O
</s>
