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January 27, 2006
Broadband "market failure" myth takes another blow
Municipal wireless, which began as a socialistic vision of government-owned Internet access, is morphing into a commercial juggernaut that carriers should do their best to embrace as participants, says a new research report from Visiongain, an international market research firm with offices in San Francisco and London.
As much as it is aimed at municipalities, the report, which sells for ₤1,499 ($2,650) at www.visiongainintelligence.com, is also being marketed to telcos, cable companies and wireless operators, for whom Visiongain advises that “resistance is futile,” but that “muni broadband is as much an opportunity as it is a threat.”
The report, “Municipal Broadband Networks: Market impact and implications, 2006-2011,” says there are more than 400 cities worldwide planning to deploy municipal broadband networks and the number will double in 2006, making community broadband initiatives a very real and significant trend.
From VisionGain’s press release:
While these networks present yet another new competitive threat to the broadband market landscape, there are opportunities to be grasped for service providers, whether fixed-line or wireless, if these companies play their cards right. Major vendors, such as Motorola, Cisco, HP and IBM are already reaping cumulative contract awards running into hundreds of millions of dollars.
Whoa! Those who believe government should be running telecom never stop saying the free market has failed because there’s no profit in ubiquitous broadband deployment. Now comes a market forecast that all but commands commercial providers to seize the day.
While the release holds back details, it teases that the most successful “municipal” operations may turn out to be non-municipal commercial networks run by private enterprise, not local government, a conclusion reached last year by JupiterResearch and the Yankee Group.
However, many technological and business factors need to be considered, any one of which can better or worsen the outcome for any given municipality. Often, cities lack sufficient experience and knowledge of technologies to make the best choices and compound the problem further by inadequately funding the effort or by employing a business model that can not sustain the endeavor.
This report examines the various technology options open to communities in deploying broadband networks, as well as the business models, assessing the advantages and disadvantages of each approach. It looks at case studies of successful and failed initiatives, identifying and outlining the reasons behind them. The impact that these networks have had and will have on local markets and incumbent operators are also analyzed.
Posted by steve.titch at January 27, 2006 01:39 PM
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: Sten54469 at January 8, 2007 06:32 PM
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I haven't been up to anything today. I don't care. I've just been staying at home not getting anything done. Basically not much happening right now. Maybe tomorrow. I guess it doesn't bother me.
Comment by: Sten49153 at January 10, 2007 03:46 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: Sten34550 at January 10, 2007 09:30 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: Sten97802 at January 13, 2007 06:28 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: Sten7156 at January 14, 2007 07:18 AM
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I've just been staying at home not getting anything done. I've basically been doing nothing worth mentioning. My life's been pretty unremarkable these days. Eh.
Comment by: Sten23143 at January 23, 2007 05:46 AM
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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: Sten9926 at January 25, 2007 12:39 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: Sten23988 at January 26, 2007 03:07 AM
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Not much on my mind. I don't care. I've just been letting everything happen without me , but shrug. Whatever. I feel like a void.
Comment by: Sten13423 at January 26, 2007 08:18 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: Sten76006 at January 26, 2007 10:36 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: Sten67936 at January 27, 2007 08:34 PM
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I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen. Whatever. Not much on my mind lately. I guess it doesn't bother me.
Comment by: Sten23593 at January 29, 2007 01:01 AM
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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: Sten68580 at January 29, 2007 01:53 AM
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My life's been pretty dull recently. Shrug. My mind is like a void. I haven't gotten anything done lately. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten34103 at January 30, 2007 02:02 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: Sten30480 at January 30, 2007 07:41 AM
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I just don't have anything to say right now. I haven't been up to anything recently, but it's not important. I've just been sitting around waiting for something to happen, but shrug.
Comment by: Sten49101 at January 30, 2007 05:41 PM
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Basically nothing seems worth thinking about. I haven't been up to much these days. I just don't have much to say right now. I can't be bothered with anything , but whatever.
Comment by: Sten46214 at January 31, 2007 03:52 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: Sten40216 at February 1, 2007 10:16 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: Sten37226 at February 1, 2007 04:00 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: Sten81404 at February 1, 2007 09:42 PM
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I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen, but I don't care. Basically nothing seems worth thinking about. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten56017 at February 2, 2007 07:18 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: Sten9654 at February 2, 2007 12:05 PM
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I just don't have much to say recently. Such is life. I've basically been doing nothing. Basically nothing seems worth bothering with. Oh well.
Comment by: Sten88849 at February 2, 2007 01:51 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: Sten18254 at February 3, 2007 01:13 AM
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My life's been pretty dull recently. Shrug. My mind is like a void. I haven't gotten anything done lately. I can't be bothered with anything recently.
Comment by: Sten61109 at February 3, 2007 05:42 AM
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I haven't been up to anything today. I can't be bothered with anything recently. Nothing seems worth thinking about. I haven't gotten anything done recently, but oh well. Not much noteworthy going on worth mentioning.
Comment by: Sten35338 at February 4, 2007 06:44 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: Sten79392 at February 4, 2007 04:47 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: Sten16586 at February 4, 2007 10:56 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: Sten15472 at February 5, 2007 03:10 PM
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I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen. Whatever. Not much on my mind lately. I guess it doesn't bother me.
Comment by: Sten15121 at February 5, 2007 11:57 PM
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