Born Again Municipal Broadband

by Craig Settles

I chose this title with tongue firmly in cheek given that the recent barrage of media reports insinuating municipal wireless is deader than a doornail often misses two realities: First, the pressing communication need America faces is for high-speed data access, true broadband-not just wireless and definitely not WiFi alone. Second, quite a few municipalities are pursuing and delivering successful high-speed access projects, but doing it away from the media spotlight.

What we've seen over the last two years is the rise and fall of a partial solution crippled by a flawed business model. Muni broadband, on the other hand, is very much alive.

Access is the Holy Grail

In 2006, free municipal WiFi became an overly hyped pipedream with noble public policy origins. The chimera of free and the instant fame generated by claiming to cure all social and economic development ills with a single technology blinded people to the real communication need, and subsequently delayed efforts to solve the root problem.

Municipalities and their various constituents have an increasing need for rapid access to mountains of data and resources for multiple purposes. Many people require it indoors, quite a few need it outdoors and others long for anywhere, anytime blazing-fast access.

Once they accept that true broadband- access measured in gigabytes - is the Holy Grail, municipalities focus on various technologies and viable business models as part of the solution for pursuing that objective. Doing thorough needs analysis with all stakeholders at the table leads most folks to conclude that WiFi isn't dead, but the concept that this alone is the best solution is certainly DOA. The real solution could be wireless in its many forms, or wired technology such as fiber. Most likely, it's all of the above.

These stakeholders know the "free" business model for muni networks is indeed deader than a doornail. But when you bring together leaders from local business, academic, medical, government and other communities, you find the most interesting and varied approaches to funding these projects while minimizing taxpayer and vendor risks.

Walking in the light

We need to focus the spotlight on the muni-broadband success stories-those local governments that ignored the hype to pursue the goal of true high-speed access in its many guises and iterations. Their network projects reflect approaches many other municipalities should have been following since 2005.

Minneapolis determined that a successful muni network for them needs to include 4.9 GHz as well as WiFi, then backed that assessment up with a commitment of $1.25 million a year for 10 years to pay for services on that network.  The service provider, in turn, needs only a 3-percent market penetration among general subscribers to be profitable, not the 20 percent to 30 percent that some associate with a profitable wireless service.

Santa Monica, Calif.'s CIO identified needs for fiber among businesses that incumbents were unwilling or unable to offer. He provided access to city fiber to businesses and developed fiber extensions for them, all for fees IT reinvested into the city's network infrastructure and free hot spots. Now IT has a self-sustaining operating budget of $2.5 million in available capital and an infrastructure foundation for the citywide wireless network they plan to deploy.

Corpus Christi, Texas, which owns its network, and Tucson, Ariz., both rolled out services that improve emergency medical treatment and saves lives by enabling ambulance crews to send live video and patients' medical stats directly to the ER from accident scenes.

The common thread running through these and other successes are simple, but potent. The municipalities recognized high-speed access is the Holy Grail. They analyzed constituents in detail to determine who needs what. With this knowledge the cities conducted broad-minded evaluations of broadband options and business models. Finally, they executed projects for maximum positive impact, not political fame.

Where goeth our industry?

The wireless industry faces a challenge and an opportunity as real municipal broadband steps into the limelight. The challenge, particularly among telecom and cable companies, is to learn how to embrace muni networks rather than going into apoplectic seizures at the mere mention of them. And I don't mean embrace with intent to smother. The opportunity rests in expanding your customer base while compensating for your shortcomings.

When writing Fighting the Good Fight for Municipal Wireless, several cities related how they invited the local incumbents to join in the planning for their muni networks, but the incumbents refused. Oh, foolish mortals. Since the beginning of time, technology marches ever onward and leaves behind the proud, the inept and the just plain slow. Telegraph dusted the Pony Express. Airlines stymied the railroads. Muni networks and the incumbents?

Here's one example of the frailty of cellular technology and why technology history may repeat itself. In almost any major natural or manmade disaster, cellular voice and data is hosed, even if the physical infrastructure stays intact. One bridge collapsed in Minneapolis and the cellular network almost immediately imploded when everyone tried to call out or call in at once. The muni network was a lifesaver, providing capabilities and services cellular just couldn't deliver. Substitute any big disaster, and results are similar.

OneCommunity (formerly OneCleveland) recently launched a community broadband network spanning 22 counties in Ohio. One interesting thing about their approach is that they find ways to integrate various wired and wireless technologies with the incumbents wherever possible, and in ways that communities and incumbents both benefit. Santa Monica provides services incumbents deem unprofitable, but turns over customer requests to incumbents that the city can't handle. Minneapolis dramatically altered its service provider's profit-generating model.

Municipal broadband is alive and well. The telcos and cable companies can meet the challenge by becoming a positive, cooperative force in these projects, or they can meet the same fate as the Pony Express and the railroads. If it's not as a result of muni networks, then it's under the wheels of some other evolutionary technology. 

Craig Settles, president of business strategy consulting firm Successful.com, is an expert on municipal broadband who has written two books and several in-depth reports on the subject.