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August 03, 2006
Non-Profit Wireless in Boston
Taking a new direction in municipal wireless, the city of Boston is proposing the creation of a non-profit corporation to own and manage a citywide wireless network.
It represents something of a “third way” for muni wireless. After coming to terms with the failure rate of city-owned telecom networks, most cities have decided to award Wi-Fi contracts to ISPs such as EarthLink and MetroFi. If non-profits participate, they are usually part of the effort to bridge digital divide issues, as is the case in the Philadelphia plan.
Boston would differ from these. Under the plans issued earlier this week, the city would place the responsibility of raising the $16 million to $20 million need to fund the network on the shoulders of a private non-profit group, which would own the network. No commercial ISPs could have a stake (although they might be permitted to manage operations). At the same time, no taxpayer money would be used. The city would purchase services from the non-profit, which would be allowed to use city right-of-way.
It represents a bold move toward communitarian technology, and has received support from traditional supporters of the municipal movement, although many still believe (sigh) it would be better if local government owned the operation outright. But even Boston Mayor Thomas Menino had a good argument against this: a non-profit also assures independence from the city and continuity for the project. A future administration could let a city-owned system languish.
The plan triggered a lengthy series of talkbacks at muniwireless.com, as to whether the government can actually outperform the private or nonprofit sector in providing wireless services, notable because Marty Hahnfeld, senior vice president of marketing at SkyPilot Networks, a vendor of wireless mesh network technology to service providers makes points such as...
A point to consider: Today, there are fewer well funded efforts in the Muni WiFi service provider (builder/owner/operator) game than one would expect – why is this? The space is red-hot right? Why is the same private equity community which usually over-funds every tech trend with a chance being so careful? The reason is simple, the costs and risks associated with building, operating, and supporting networks are high and the ability to turn a profit doing requires a lot of know-how and efficiency. We learned this in spades between 1997-2002 with the CLEC implosion.
What makes this any less a risk when the city takes the role of owner of a single network? What happens when one of these networks needs subsidies 100-200% beyond the original budget forecast? Doesn’t that network then become subject to being “at odds” much the same as you cite on the private network scenario?
…without being called a telco shill.
Read the entire thread here.
Posted by steve.titch at August 3, 2006 03:22 PM
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: Sten61270 at January 28, 2007 01:30 AM
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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: Sten61270 at January 28, 2007 01:30 AM
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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: Sten39966 at January 28, 2007 09:51 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: Sten26216 at January 28, 2007 08:04 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: Sten53412 at January 28, 2007 10:53 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: Sten20832 at January 29, 2007 01:05 AM
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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: Sten93980 at January 29, 2007 04:15 PM
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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: Sten34928 at January 29, 2007 06:50 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: Sten93499 at January 30, 2007 07:50 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: Sten19377 at January 31, 2007 04:27 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: Sten55172 at February 1, 2007 05:35 AM
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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: Sten16683 at February 1, 2007 10:23 AM
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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: Sten50610 at February 1, 2007 05:20 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: Sten8182 at February 1, 2007 10:35 PM
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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: Sten85753 at February 2, 2007 08:55 PM
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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: Sten12351 at February 3, 2007 05:48 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: Sten30762 at February 4, 2007 12:18 AM
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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: Sten87725 at February 4, 2007 02:16 AM
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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: Sten19264 at February 4, 2007 12:25 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: Sten21368 at February 4, 2007 11:04 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: Sten66504 at February 4, 2007 11:16 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: Sten54724 at February 5, 2007 04:53 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: Sten22181 at February 5, 2007 09:58 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: Sten17633 at February 5, 2007 03:14 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: Sten59718 at February 5, 2007 04:35 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: Sten45294 at February 6, 2007 12:09 AM
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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: Sten52256 at February 6, 2007 03:32 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: Sten67666 at February 6, 2007 08:20 AM
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