Wireless Business Forecast's sister e-letter Communications Technology has taken a look at the initial forays of the cable industry into the muni mesh arena - including a newly announced deployment in Billings, Mont. Its examination, which adds yet another dimension to understanding the complex of issues surrounding muni meshes, is as follows:
Cable Positioning
The two vendors involved in Bresnan Communications' Wi-Fi trial in Billings think the cable industry is well-positioned to become a player as the sector evolves away from its traditional orientation toward municipalities.
It wasn't a good summer for the municipal Wi-Fi sector, as projects in Houston, Chicago and San Francisco ground to halts. The idea of offering basic services for free, and generating revenue from premium services and advertising simply hasn't worked out so well.
Strictly speaking, the Bresnan initiative is private and not muni Wi-Fi. In the big picture, however, private cable and muni Wi-Fi initiatives overlap. How cable projects evolve will both influence and be influenced by the posture of municipalities grappling with technical innovation, new and presumably more realistic business models and shifting regulatory requirements.
Beyond Billings
Though not too much information is available from Bresnan, it is clear that the operator isn't relying on the discredited business assumptions. The service will be offered free to the operator's high-speed data subscribers. Others may eventually be charged a small fee. Other details, such as how many of BelAir Networks' S100 strand-mounted access points may be needed if this trial moves into a broader launch, are skimpy.
Jim Orr, the principal network architect for Fujitsu, which is handling the design, management and monitoring of the project, says a relatively small number of wireless access points are being used due to the nature of the BelAir gear. The vendor "has a lot of good architectural tricks in terms of RF power" and other strategies aimed at cutting down the required number of devices.
The question is whether the Billings project is an exception or if the industry is showing signs of getting behind municipal wireless. Cable, insiders say, has significant advantages that can be brought to bear on municipal projects.
For one thing, operators can roll out a number of different wireless services that rely on similar technology. In addition to municipal services, the same basic technology can be used in lieu of wired plant extensions to serve such commercial areas as business parks, and seasonal facilities like colleges and resorts, to backhaul cellular traffic and for traditional hot spots.
Despite this, the industry has largely, though not completely, stayed on the sidelines when it comes to municipal projects.
Helpful Failures
BelAir's position is that it's a good thing the discredited muni Wi-Fi business model failed and that a stronger sector will take its place. "What the industry is going through, frankly, we think is healthy and very necessary," says Jim Freeze, senior vice president of marketing and alliances for BelAir.
The emerging model, Freeze and others say, will be based on economic development and offering services to such municipal entities as first responders. Indeed, the efficacy of such an approach was unexpectedly--and tragically--validated when BelAir client US Internet fired up an unfinished network after the Minneapolis bridge collapse on Aug. 1. Freeze says that network provided IP video of the scene, and other reports say it took pressure off the overburdened cellular network.
Freeze's comments may be more than a vendor trying to spin bad news. Craig Settles, a municipal Wi-Fi consultant and author of the book Fighting the Good Fight for Municipal Wireless, sees wireless services as a natural for cable both as a revenue-generator and as a defensive measure against wireless and telco bundles.
Settles suspects the industry largely may be waiting out the poor business models created by municipalities. Last spring, Buckeye CableSystems' response to a request for proposals to build a network in Toledo, Ohio, was a letter to city officials saying that it would be interested if a well thought out business model was implemented.
The letter from Buckeye says it is "essential that the parties come to an understanding about the financial structure of the project as well as other critical operational objectives before investing significant time and resources in the design of such a complex network."
The Feb. 20 letter suggests a three-part plan that was heavy on researching community needs and assets. Buckeye backs a regional approach covering the Toledo metropolitan area, which includes Lucas and Wood counties in Ohio along with the south part of Monroe County, Mich. The plan is stalled but conversations are continuing, says Tom Dawson, the company's director of governmental affairs. The matter still is being discussed between the company and the city, adds CTO Joe Jensen.
Settles notes the industry's previous antipathy to such networks--such as Comcast's opposition to Philadelphia's network--has become more muted, a sign that industry thinking may be changing.
Inherent Advantages
Experts generally agree that the cable industry has inherent advantages, such as pole-attachment rights, network infrastructure and substantial back- office, marketing assets and acumen. Pole-attachment rights are perhaps the biggest reason the industry has an advantage over possible competitors. It is difficult for competitors to make a go of it without such rights, Orr says. Indeed, he adds, "other problems pale in comparison to this."
The other advantage is technical. Municipal Wi-Fi networks can be provisioned and managed using DOCSIS 2.0 specs. This is how the BelAir gear works in Billings. The result is that the APs represent just another element in the cable network and not an add-on that demands different treatment. In addition, Freeze says, the S100 family used in the Bresnan project is line- mountable and network powered. Both of these elements, he says, were designed with cable in mind.
Wireless Business Forecast, Vol. 3, No. 19
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