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I'm going to start a new catch phrase: broadband stimulus ready. That is the trend I'm beginning to see as the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prepare to dole out some $7 billion in broadband stimulus money. Every player in the wireless broadband space, it seems, is issuing a press release touting their wares as "broadband stimulus ready."
To wit: This week, Berkeley Varitronics Systems, EDX Wireless, DoceoTech and EGS Technologies announced their collaboration to develop what they call a comprehensive integrated package to help rural broadband buildout under the stimulus package. The package includes a streamlined procurement of wireless propagation test equipment, RF planning tools, geodata tools, and tailored technical training for several broadband technologies. These include WiFi, WiMAX and LTE. The companies say these tools will offer more definitive data on the underserved areas they are proposing to cover along with the coverage available after deployment. I like how their press release stresses that their package is American made.
Alan Solheim, vice president of product management with backhaul provider DragonWave, which has been doing rural projects for some time, is suddenly seeing companies hitting up DragonWave for press releases touting equipment that is stimulus ready. DragonWave recently deployed a wireless native Ethernet backhaul solution for the South Georgia Regional Information Technology Authority (SGRITA) to provide a broadband network throughout five rural counties in South Georgia to tie public schools and other groups together.
I'm not saying any of this is wrong. In fact, it's refreshing to know there are competitive options for those entities looking to buildout broadband in underserved areas. Back in the late 1990s, I remember covering a number of companies striving to come to market with fixed broadband wireless with the goal of connecting rural areas. The economies of scale just weren't there.
Today, fixed WiMAX is covering households on a Navajo reservation in northern New Mexico. CenturyTel is going to deploy LTE to target rural broadband customers. A plethora of rural communities have deployed WiFi. And broadband stimulus money may be just what the industry needs to continue to innovate and find cost effective solutions not only for underserved areas but across the country.--Lynnette
Comments
Posted by harlan | March 19, 2009 - 11:27am
no are local rural community in northern arizona is never ever ready for something new.whether it be cellphones,the internet,or cable tv.our small town of Page ,AZ only has one radio provider. KXAZ fm and the AM station. along with an outside radio station located in southern Utah.I don't know who keeps up with news info about the upgrade to faster speed. just last year a new cell tower was put up next to our old mcdonald's store still cell phone reception was poor. you can't even get service on antelope point if there is a real emergency. there is a small county of navajo county where cell phone reception is also very bad.their is no service in and around the grand staircase national monument in kane county.who ever is in charge hopefully keeps Page AZ in mind when it comes to the internet,cable tv,and cell phones.
Posted by Leon Conner | March 19, 2009 - 2:00pm
SGRITA is a group of local citizens who decided to bring change to our rural s/w Georgia Counties. If we did not do it ourselves, no one else would. By luck and I would like to say by design, we have positioned SGRITA to be as broadband stimulus ready as any rural broadband project can be. We have built the tower infrastructure and have acquired the frequencies. We are now deploying a minimum 3Mdown/1Mup to rural clients who previously barely had phone service much less dial-up internet. We have moved our schools from the bottom 8% in connectivity speed ranking to the top 1% in thew world. The project is in the black now and projected to remain that way. Our schedule is to have full deployment over the next five years. All we lack in completing the nearly 2,000 square mile project in 6 months is funds for the equipment.
Posted by Jims | April 8, 2009 - 4:47pm
It will take some enlightened leadership to vet the most cost effective solutions for deployment because most deployments should reflect a hybrid of technologies from FTTP to BPL to WiFi/WiMAX based upon population densities per square mile. As everyone jockeys for their own solution it will be difficult, at best, to move vendors from competing positions to collaborative ones-but that is what needs to occur.
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