conduit, pull cable, repave, and relandscape would be cost- and time-prohibitive. To bypass that entire operation, microwave could be used between the main campus and the remote park (see Figure 2.4). This is essentially the same strategy that wireless local loop is pursuing. Rather than take the time and money to build a wireline facility, you can do it much more rapidly and much more cost-effectively on a wireless basis. Whereas provisioning twisted-pair or coaxial cable costs roughly US$1,000 to US$1,500 per subscriber and requires a 12- to 18-month deployment time, wireless costs US$300 to US$800 per subscriber and requires 3 to 6 months of deployment time. Something could always delay the process (e.g., contractual problems with Distribution Transmitter Cable Receiver Interface Transmitter Receiver Interface Remote Switch Expanded Department Figure 2.4 A bypassing construction that uses microwave Microwave the building developer), but, generally, you can deploy a microwave system much more rapidly and at a much lower price point. Therefore, these systems are espe- cially popular in parts of the world where there is not already a local loop infra- structure. In addition, there are several unlicensed bands in the microwave spectrum, which means anyone can use them without needing to apply for and receive a license from the spectrum management agency. This includes the popular 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands used for Wi-Fi, the popular wireless LAN (WLAN) tech- nology used in thousands of "hot spots" around the globe. This makes it even eas- ier for a service provider or an entrepreneur to quickly deploy a wireless network to serve constituents. Another application for microwave is in the data realm. Say that in your com- pany, the buildings that have telephone systems today are going to have LANs as well, and you want to unite the disparate LANs to create a virtual whole. You can use microwave technology as a bridge between two different LANs, to give the combined network the appearance of being one LAN (see Figure 2.5)