lem of delivering high-speed access to the end user. The first-mile problem is especially severe in rural and large metropolitan areas where it is impractical or cost-prohibitive to install fiber. The term virtual fiber is used in a wide variety of contexts and has no specific technical definition. The most recent use of the term refers to very-high-frequency radio waves. The use of VF as a last-mile solution is based on millimeter wave (MMW) tech- nology to deliver line-of-sight broadband. MMW is often used in wireless local loops, and it usually covers the range between 10GHz and 300GHz. MMW produces very narrow beams, called pencil beams (less than one degree), but at the ultra-high fre- quencies, wide channel bandwidths can be used to provide high data rates. MMW grew out of the Free Space Optics (FSO) technology of the mid-1990s. FSO allowed transmission of digital data across the air using lasers, at the same speeds as could be achieved in fiber-optic cables. VF is an improvement on MMW for higher bandwidths and lower environmental losses. It is still a point-to-point line-of-sight technology, but it operates in the frequency range 70GHz to 90GHz. In February 2003, the FCC authorized commercial licensing rules for this very- high-frequency spectrum. In February 2005, the FCC approved the use of the 71GHz to 76GHz, 81GHz to 86GHz, and 92GHz to 95GHz frequency bands, offer- ing 13GHz of bandwidth for wireless fiber-speed point-to-point communications. This is more than 50 times the amount of all cellular spectrum combined! High-speed wireless communications require a large amount of spectrum with the lowest possible potential for atmospheric resistance (particularly in terrestrial environments)-characteristics uniquely provided by the spectrum bands autho- rized by the FCC. Other frequency bands that support Gbps speeds cannot provide fiber-like reliability for the entire last mile. The 60GHz frequency band is impeded by high oxygen absorption, while the FSO (light wave) frequencies are severely affected by f