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November 09, 2005
Another call for caution on muni wireless
A watershed moment in the municipal wireless trend was this past summer's report from JupiterResearch examining the costs of municipal wireless systems. Its estimate that the average cost of building and maintaining a municipal wireless network is $150,000 per square mile over five years was twice as much as what municipal wireless consultants had been saying. JupiterResearch further predicted that half the current municipal wireless systems would fail to break even. It advised communities to seek private industry partners, structure a deal from which the city itself could derive value from the network as a large user, and, pointedly, warned against the idea of building wireless systems for the sole reason of providing consumer broadband Internet access.
JupiterResearch’s report was just one of several voices, including the Yankee Group's, that were not hostile to municipal wireless, yet urged city administrators to consider all aspects of the project, including the difficulties of radio optimization, interference, ongoing maintenance, and customer service, before committing city resources.
It is no coincidence that in the wake of these reports, we have seen municipalities opt to shift risk, cost and operational responsibility to the private sector. It started with Philadelphia, which ditched its orginal plan to own a city-owned wholesale broadband backbone and instead turned over the whole kit-and-caboodle to EarthLink.
Despite all the municipal wireless hype, it is gratifying that voices of knowledge and experience are being heard when talk of cost comes up. The latest comes from Andrew Seybold of Andrew Seybold Group. Seybold is a respected, long-time technology and marketing consultant with a specialty in converging mobile technology with data communications.
Like JupiterResearch and the Yankee Group, Seybold does not come off as completely anti-muni. Nonetheless, he has concerns as to whether any type of reliable wide areas service can be set up on unlicensed frequencies that Wi-Fi uses. Here are some excerpts from Seybold’s comments in a Nov. 1 column in the industry’s trade bible, Wireless Week.
This is my issue. If you plan to spend millions of dollars on muni Wi-Fi, you will have to spend millions more to keep it running and to fix it when it breaks due to new interference. You cannot simply sweep an area, find places where there is no interference and install access points. There is no guarantee that tomorrow there won't be new access points that will affect your system.…
Interference will be an ongoing issue, and coverage and data speeds will denigrate over time. Who will handle customer support calls? Who will be available to answer questions about getting configured and on line? Who will spend the time and money to educate people about the potential hazards of a non-secure, non-encrypted connection to the Internet?...
There are plenty of questions I have not seen answered anywhere except by bidders assuring city fathers that it will be built and it will work as advertised.…
The questions I am raising should be addressed by city leaders before moving forward. If they think they will have a clear shot at this spectrum, they are sadly mistaken. If they think they will not need customer service, they are sadly mistaken. If they think the networks, once built, will continue to function and provide years of trouble-free service, they are equally mistaken.
Posted by steve.titch at November 9, 2005 08:20 AM
Not much on my mind lately. My life's been completely boring these days. I've just been hanging out not getting anything done. So it goes.
Comment by: Sten83710 at January 6, 2007 06:45 AM
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My mind is like a bunch of nothing, but I guess it doesn't bother me. I haven't been up to anything recently. I've pretty much been doing nothing to speak of.
Comment by: Sten9138 at January 7, 2007 07:01 PM
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Not much on my mind these days, but what can I say? It's not important. I just don't have much to say lately. I've just been letting everything pass me by recently, but eh.
Comment by: Sten48183 at January 8, 2007 06:10 PM
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I haven't been up to much lately. I've basically been doing nothing , but it's not important. I can't be bothered with anything recently. I've just been letting everything happen without me lately.
Comment by: Sten84368 at January 10, 2007 03:19 AM
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Basically nothing noteworthy happening right now, but eh. Today was a complete loss. I haven't been up to much recently. I've pretty much been doing nothing worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten24545 at January 15, 2007 09:17 PM
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I just don't have anything to say. Not that it matters. Eh. I've just been staying at home doing nothing, but I don't care. That's how it is.
Comment by: Sten4098 at January 18, 2007 12:01 AM
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retty much nothing seems worth thinking about. My life's been completely dull , not that it matters. I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen.
Comment by: Sten92445 at January 18, 2007 04:05 PM
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I feel like an empty room, but eh. Nothing seems worth doing. I haven't gotten much done today.
Comment by: Sten23328 at January 18, 2007 05:56 PM
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I haven't been up to anything recently, but so it goes. Such is life. What can I say? Pretty much not much exciting going on to speak of. I haven't gotten much done lately, but I don't care.
Comment by: Sten10837 at January 19, 2007 10:59 PM
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I haven't been up to anything recently, but so it goes. Such is life. What can I say? Pretty much not much exciting going on to speak of. I haven't gotten much done lately, but I don't care.
Comment by: Sten30893 at January 23, 2007 05:24 AM
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I just don't have anything to say. Not that it matters. Eh. I've just been staying at home doing nothing, but I don't care. That's how it is.
Comment by: Sten97765 at January 26, 2007 07:01 PM
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I just don't have much to say these days, but so it goes. Today was a total loss. I guess it doesn't bother me.
Comment by: Sten9891 at January 26, 2007 10:35 PM
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Not much on my mind right now, but it's not important. I've just been letting everything happen without me. I just don't have anything to say right now.
Comment by: Sten23721 at January 27, 2007 04:32 AM
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I can't be bothered with anything these days, but such is life. I don't care. So it goes. More or less nothing seems worth thinking about. I've just been hanging out waiting for something to happen, but that's how it is.
Comment by: Sten23363 at January 28, 2007 06:28 PM
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I just don't have much to say these days, but so it goes. Today was a total loss. I guess it doesn't bother me.
Comment by: Sten73466 at January 28, 2007 07:55 PM
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I've more or less been doing nothing worth mentioning, but eh. My life's been really bland today. I don't care. I've just been letting everything happen without me these days. That's how it is.
Comment by: Sten36526 at January 29, 2007 06:39 PM
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Not much on my mind lately. My life's been completely boring these days. I've just been hanging out not getting anything done. So it goes.
Comment by: Sten81869 at January 29, 2007 08:22 PM
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I just don't have anything to say , but shrug. So it goes. Not much on my mind recently. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten9676 at January 30, 2007 12:29 AM
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I haven't gotten anything done today. I feel like a fog, but what can I say? I've just been letting everything wash over me lately, not that it matters. Shrug.
Comment by: Sten38016 at January 30, 2007 07:39 AM
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I've just been staying at home not getting anything done. I guess it doesn't bother me. Shrug. I haven't been up to anything. I haven't gotten much done today.
Comment by: Sten21648 at January 30, 2007 01:41 PM
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I just don't have anything to say. Not that it matters. Eh. I've just been staying at home doing nothing, but I don't care. That's how it is.
Comment by: Sten34824 at January 31, 2007 03:49 AM
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I haven't been up to anything these days. So it goes. I can't be bothered with anything these days.
Comment by: Sten10722 at January 31, 2007 02:33 PM
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I've just been hanging out not getting anything done. What can I say? I've basically been doing nothing worth mentioning, but pfft. Not that it matters. Pretty much nothing exciting happening to speak of. I haven't been up to much these days.
Comment by: Sten60387 at February 1, 2007 12:15 AM
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I haven't gotten anything done recently. I've just been hanging out doing nothing. I haven't been up to anything these days, but it's not important. Today was a total loss.
Comment by: Sten6457 at February 1, 2007 03:50 AM
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I haven't been up to anything these days. So it goes. I can't be bothered with anything these days.
Comment by: Sten95459 at February 1, 2007 10:28 PM
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I haven't been up to much today. I've just been letting everything happen without me. Basically nothing seems worth bothering with. I've just been hanging out doing nothing. I just don't have anything to say right now. More or less nothing happening.
Comment by: Sten50563 at February 2, 2007 03:39 AM
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I've more or less been doing nothing worth mentioning, but eh. My life's been really bland today. I don't care. I've just been letting everything happen without me these days. That's how it is.
Comment by: Sten66866 at February 2, 2007 12:03 PM
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I haven't been up to much these days. Today was a loss. Nothing seems important. I've just been letting everything happen without me these days.
Comment by: Sten55238 at February 2, 2007 02:42 PM
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I haven't gotten anything done today. I feel like a fog, but what can I say? I've just been letting everything wash over me lately, not that it matters. Shrug.
Comment by: Sten60054 at February 3, 2007 12:23 AM
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Not much on my mind these days, but what can I say? It's not important. I just don't have much to say lately. I've just been letting everything pass me by recently, but eh.
Comment by: Sten1627 at February 3, 2007 01:11 AM
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I can't be bothered with anything these days, but shrug. I just don't have anything to say recently. I haven't gotten much done recently. Nothing seems worth thinking about.
Comment by: Sten34585 at February 3, 2007 12:25 PM
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I haven't been up to anything these days. So it goes. I can't be bothered with anything these days.
Comment by: Sten12002 at February 4, 2007 02:10 AM
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I haven't been up to anything these days. So it goes. I can't be bothered with anything these days.
Comment by: Sten21521 at February 4, 2007 10:56 PM
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My life's been basically bland today. More or less nothing seems worth thinking about. My mind is like an empty room. I've more or less been doing nothing to speak of. Not much on my mind recently.
Comment by: Sten90756 at February 5, 2007 04:47 AM
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My life's been basically bland today. More or less nothing seems worth thinking about. My mind is like an empty room. I've more or less been doing nothing to speak of. Not much on my mind recently.
Comment by: Sten43272 at February 5, 2007 04:25 PM
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I can't be bothered with anything these days, but shrug. I just don't have anything to say recently. I haven't gotten much done recently. Nothing seems worth thinking about.
Comment by: Sten40388 at February 5, 2007 10:39 PM
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retty much nothing seems worth thinking about. My life's been completely dull , not that it matters. I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen.
Comment by: Sten47857 at February 6, 2007 03:25 AM
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