« March 2006 | Weblog | May 2006 »

April 2006 Archive

The Great is the Enemy of the Good

It's Sunday morning and I've been thinking. It's a dangerous time after I've finished reading the newspaper and various blogs, with the rest of the Cooper household still asleep. Here's what's on my mind this monring.

Why in the US do we stare an opportunity for better communication in the face and blink, because its not better enough? Why do city officials blink when looking at a "free" deal with a private sector vendor? Why do we wait to buy something that will enhance our lives/solve our problems because something else may come out in the near term that will enhance our lives a little more, or a little cheaper? Why do we continue to expect gasoline to be cheap and easy to obtain, in the face of all evidence to the contrary? (whoops, how did that question get in this list?)

I would argue that we as a society have grown accustomed to ever better deals, to the point where we expect, even deserve to get a free lunch from technology. Technology is Superman and Houdini, all in one super-hero. Moore's Law has become as addictive as Cheap Gasoline. We (city officials in particular, as our local government representatives) hold out for the best deal and say NO THANKS to a better deal. The Great has become the enemy of the Good. Despite low costs, modular design that enables small deployments, and valid ROI models for targetted business purposes, Wi Fi mesh technology gets hammered by critics and decisions by public officials get delayed, using the yard stick of comparisons to older and more prevalent technologies that are far more expensive, if far more convetional.

Three articles at the top of Wi-Fi Networking News this weekend led me to ponder these and other questions. Thanks, Glenn.

First, city officials in Boca Raton have pushed Wi Fi mesh networks down their list of priorities citing some spurious reasoning and one failed downtown network. I wonder what priorities went ahead of ubiquitous high-speed connectivity. No doubt, more pedestrian (but also, more immediate and better understood) concerns such as property taxes, no-smoking ordinances, and city staffing levels beat out the more esoteric Wi Fi mesh proposition. Despite considerable progress in raising the debate in some quarters, this issue continues to be debated locally in city councils around the nation in an atmoshphere of half-truths, misunderstandings and general lack of awareness (or mistrust?) of the dramatic transformations that ubiquitous high-speed connectivity enables.

Then in Pittsburgh, the city council seems to be working down at the micromanager level, debating pole attachment rates. When do such esoteric issues merit board level discussion? I'll tell you when - when perceived political risk gives politicians a ratioanle to look for delays and reasons not to say YES to change, because something better may come along and they will be second-guessed. If "Great kills Good," then its companiion must be "Fear trumps Faith." These are rapidly changing times and we all need to be able to look at new opportunities with new yardsticks, which factor in unknown upsides against better known risks, and account for opportuniity costs. There is risk in every change, but there is also risk in delaying change, and I would argue that cities are delaying making prudent decisions and are not attaching a cost to those decisions. If they did, they would vote to take small risks in demonstration networks while they consider the bigger picture, but continue to move forward just the same.

Finally, a breath of fresh air with another bold county-wide initiative, wherein a large county moves forward with dramatic plans for a large-scale wi fi mesh network. In
Suffolk County Plans to Offer Free Wireless Internet Access - New York Times, we learn that one government council thinks that the merits outweigh the costs and that a county plans to proceed. There is a long way to go to getting the network, however, and the forces of "prudent decisons" - read "risk-free decisions" - will raise their heads here as well. Count on this project to hear from critics who will argue that the project is too risky and that the county should wait until they know more.

I'd suggest to all three regional political leaders, in Boca Raton, Pittsburgh, and in Suffolk County, that there is a safe path to move forward, which begins with widespread regional discussions and education campaigns, complemented with targetted and well-publicized demonstration deployments of wireless networks so that everyone can see, touch, and feel this new technology. Wi Fi mesh and other new forms of wireless broadband access require us all to try them out, to consider how we might use them, to imagine a new way of communicating and to debate worthiness based on a full understnading of the potential risks, costs and benefits.

Waiting for the Best solution to come along - free, fast, free, for everyone, free, and .... risk-free - condemns a population to live without the benefit of the new experience, new knowledge, and new potential that would come from a smaller, less ambitious (but accesible and deployed) neighborhood network, which would still be a Better communication solution than what they currently have. Waiting for a full-city or county-wide network to be debated to the point where no risk is left in the decision is deterministic - it will not happen. It means that your population will not get to the future until their incumbent providers take them there, and the opportunity cost will be huge (and most likely, unaccounted for).

And that, my firends, is how a nation slides into 16th place in the global race to broadband connectivity. Safe, and mediocre, ever patient and waiting for somebody else to go first, and for the risk-free answer to all their prayers. Not unlike, I might add, the transition to alternative fuels, but that is a whole other can of worms...

Posted on April 30, 2006 at 09:36 AM | Comments (0)

Big and Small Can Coexist

There's no doubt that this is an exciting time to be involved with wireless. With news of massive projects in Houston and Portland moving forward, and now this article in the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal that describes an RFP for the huge Silicon Valley network, leading with the compelling title It's time to see if bidders share valley's free wireless vision, there is much to be excited about. Yet as exciting as this is, there are some troubling signs on the horizon.

For starters, every one of these projects is trying to get the same or better deal from the vendors that the previous city got. And I know most of these vendors - the pot is not that big. How many vendors do cities think are standing out there ready to build networks on behalf of cities and take all the risk? I've long thought that this was a temporary situation, based on new venodr's eagerness to get networks deployed. Great if you can get in on the ground floor, but not meant to last. A business strategy based on the greater fool theory is not sustainable.

And now this huge project hangs out there, which I'm afraid to say makes me think of that ambitious movie, A Bridge Too Far, the WWII movie about a tragic overly ambitious battle plan by Allied Gen. Montgomery that in some ways became a symbol of overly ambitious big budget Hollywood projects. More recently, the metaphor was used to describe our current tragedy in Iraq. The risk is certainly great for project planners that no vaild bidders will come - so it begs the question: with new technologies that do not require great scale to be effective, why do we still plan such huge telecom projects?

If regional collaboration makes sense to get economies of scale, to pool purchasing power, to ensure that your neighbors' networks work with yours, and to share lessons learned - all reasons I've used on these pages to sing the praises of regional togetherness - if that makes sense, at what scale does it make sense to break the project up into more digestible bits?

In other words, can a big project and smaller implementations go together? I would make the argument that its the only thing that makes sense. First, in an unknown, it makes sense to sort through an uncertain territory with several dozen of your friends. When many regional leaders get together, you get better answers - the Wisdom of the Crowds that I talk about now and then here. Large groups make better decisions than small groups.

But having decided that a wireless network is good for the region, why not break the project up into as many small bites as possible, with common guidelines and requriements, so that the many smaller companies in this industry can all get a slice of the pie and the project can serve to develop the industry further.

This is the set up for NANOnet, the business I'm lanching this week. The nature of metropolitan broadband with wireless mesh is that it can be deployed economically and rationally in chunks as small as 4-10 nodes, exactly where its most wanted and needed, and that such a phased deployment gives the public time to adjust and digest this dramatic change in the way we look at wireless and broadband.

Otherwise, I'm with the authors of this article. One risk of a huge project like this is a huge case of indigestion, as those involved wait on the public to catch on and the revenues to start flowing from the new project.

Posted on April 24, 2006 at 08:25 AM | Comments (0)

Progress Update

Following the launch of the WIKIMETRONET at the start of this month - check it out if you haven't already - I've had my head down working on three projects, so I haven't been blogging.

Austin Wireless Network - With a week to go for the start of the World Congress on IT, there's lots of excitement in the air. I'm told the city has mounted a total of 17 of the 80 some odd Cisco Aironet 1500 Wi Fi Mesh nodes that Cisco donated to provide downtown wireless coverage during the event. My client Cellnet is prepping a network to complement the city's, and we are nearing completion of our Pole Attachment agreement with the City's electric utility department, Austin Energy. They have been good to work with, but this is a pioneering effort and it's taking more time than anyone would like, client and city alike. I'll write an article on this as the process is completed. Very instructional, to say the least.

NANOnet - I will launch a new site in the next day or so to announce an alternative direction for metropolitan broadband - my new mantra is "Small is Good, Simple is Better." Again, I'll blog more about this upcoming service offer in the next day or so when the website is launched. It will be a busy week, as I'm also a delegate to the WCIT, so lots of preparation to make the most out of next week's 80-hour workweek, when the world comes to Austin. The launch of NANOnet completes the three legged stool I envisioned when I launched MetroNetIQ nearly three months ago and WikiMetroNet one month ago. I intended to address what I percieve as gaps in this very new market, and it's exciting to see this vision being realized.

1. An education and resource website - MetroNetIQ
2. A dynamic, user-generated Users Manual - WikiMetroNet
3. A bundled low-risk service offer to kick-start a network - NANOnet

Stay Tuned!

Posted on April 24, 2006 at 05:54 AM | Comments (0)

Biting the Hand that Feeds You

Still, HP said that there were only 842 help-line calls out of more than 50,000 user sessions in the first 45 days of service. At first, a desktop computer in Lusardi's house could use the Wi-Fi network with no problem, but his laptop would only work outdoors. Even then it was too slow and unreliable, so he kept his $20 per month Sprint DSL service.

Now the desktop doesn't even work, and he's completely abandoned the idea of dropping his pay service and using the network. "It's just total frustration," Lusardi said. "I'm going to stay with the DSL and just forget it, because I don't think it's going to work. Very few people are going to use it, and they're going to say it's underutilized and they're going to shut it down." (Ed note: one man's opinion - see 50,000 user sessions above - and, the kicker follows - he didn't even buy the right equipment).

Lusardi didn't shell out the money for a signal-boosting device St. Cloud recommends for those having trouble connecting - City Hall sells them for $170.

Fleishman said the fact that others share Lusardi's frustration is a crucial technical and public relations problem for the vanguard project. He said residents should understand many won't be able to use the free network without additional equipment to strengthen the signal. "It's very large and it's very ambitious, so they're going to hit some of these problems before some of the marketing and technology is out there," he said. "Products have to catch up to this new market." Fleishman said other cities would likely have the same problems - in bigger cities, even larger ones - if they didn't fully inform the public of necessary equipment and network limits.

Pioneering Wi-Fi city seeing some startup problems

Well, I guess the cynic would say that the media loves a good story about consumer complaints, but I couldn't help thinking of the phrase, "No good deed goes unpunished." So, the city decides to step out and save some money AND provide their public with a free service. Hmmm, seems like that's what we want for our tax dollars, frugality and more services. In Tempe, , initial press coverage was better, although there was some grumbling there as well about problems with service quality stemming from the expectation that the signal would replace DSL and cable service inside homes as is (no bridge equipment was available at the time of the network rollout). Those problems, like those in St. Cloud, are more problems with patience than anything else, in my opinion.

Back to St. Cloud: with the service less than two months into it, the Help Desk call rate is less than 2% - seems to be working well - but it depends on what your standard is, and what your attitude is. That's where the public education comes in. It's vital, like Glen Fleishman says, that the public be thoroughly educated on network capabilities and limitations. To wit, outdoor antennae serve outdoor areas, and to get the signal inside with any reliability, a bridge is often needed. Even then, the technology may not reach all residents, so some may need to keep their wires. Disappointing, but not a knock on the technology or the project.

It cannot be stressed enough - Community Involvement up front will address most of the ignorant comments - any other word for a complaint of service quality when the user doesn't buy the recommended equipment? - but not all of them. Sad to say, there will always be those who complain that their free lunch didn't come with dessert.

Posted on April 24, 2006 at 05:20 AM | Comments (0)

WikiMetroNet Launches

I've been a semi-blogger the past couple of weeks, as projects have heated up. One particular project has reached a new milestone I want to share with you. I launched (publicly) the WikiMetroNet website today, in an email to 365 of my closest industry friends - OK, not all of them are that close, but I've personally met each of them at one point or another, and many are what I would consider close colleagues and friends. BTW, that's one for every day of the year.

While this mailer was limited to consultants, integrators, and vendors (and a few high school buddies, just so they know what I'm up to), the next mailers will go to the Registered Users of this site, and then to the city officials and staffers that are in my Rolidex (about 150 more). With some momentum and more content, I plan to work with city organizations and other groups to get city officials and staffers onto the site.

This is an exciting day for me because I've worked hard to create this Wiki, its the first Wiki I've ever launched, and its a gas to have a vision and execute on it. While I'm quite convinced that Wikis have a great future because the software lets everyone participate and promotes collaboration, we're all going to find out over the next year - if it takes off, my vision is right. If it flounders and nobody contributes, I was off the mark.

So, please, help me be right. Go to the website now and take a look - and why not register and try your hand at writing. There is little to fear, nobody is looking over your shoulder to tell you whether you got it right or not (well, actually, the whole world is, but with a Wiki, its a matter of perspective - there is no penalty for being wrong, and "wrong" is a very subjective term). The point is, in the Wiki Universe, nothing is permanent until the community says its permanent, nothing is correct until the community says its correct, and its less about being right or wrong than it is about participating in a collaborative event. Its more about getting your thoughts out there onto the website and then letting the rest of the community have at it. At some point, the community decides that the entries have reached a harmonic state and the content becomes stable. But by sharing your ideas, thoughts, wisdom, and learning, the entire community benefits.

Anyway, that's how its supposed to work. My one concern is that the Wikis are still too new a concept to many people and that many people will think they're too busy to contribute, or not experienced enough to chip in. Please don't be one of those - jump in and write something, come back and read and then write some more, and before you know it, we'll all have a resource that we all can benefit from. Pass along the site to five or ten people who are interested in this space, and the Wiki will be off and running.

Finally, let me know how I can improve it. Please.

Here's the letter I sent out today:

Dear Friend,

Lighting a Candle in the Darkness

I've been active in the metropolitan broadband space since mid 2003, and despite all the incredible change and progress we've seen in nearly three years, at least two things have grown ever more apparent: 1) the tremendous potential of this fascinating technology; and 2) the need to raise awareness and educate interested parties on the details and potential of wireless broadband.

Last summer, I began my efforts to raise awareness and educate with my first blog, www.unwiremycity.com, which I relaunched as www.metronetiq.com in February, with a new look and feel. I've tried to fill a gap and provide something new and useful - practical resources for interested parties, regardless of skill level or experience. Over the past year, I've had numerous discussions with colleagues about the need for a Metropolitan Broadband Users Manual to capture the lessons learned, expand the number of users, and speed up the pace in deployments.

Problem is, nobody has yet found the time to write that manual, and even if they did, this industry is so new that no one party would have all the answers, and anything put into print would risk being out of date before the ink dried, so fast is the pace of change. What to do?

Once again, technology to the rescue: on-line wikis provide a way to collaborate and work together on a document, in this case, an on-line manual to share lessons learned with each other. Using an open-source wiki software, I've put together www.wikimetronet.com, a website that features an outline for a User's Manual, which I've started to fill in. I'll keep working on adding content, but this is a far more ambitious project than I can handle alone. It's not perfect, but it's not supposed to be - it's just a start, and an invitation to make it better. It should change as more and more content is added, growing before our eyes.

I'm sending this email to the friends in this industry whom I've met over the past three years and to a few other friends. This project is an experiment to see if there's sufficient interest to create and develop such a shared on-line resource. This email is not just an announcement - it's also an invitation for you to check it out and join in adding text. I've never started a Wiki, so I'm not sure of the "right" way to do it, but this seems as good a way as any to get started. That's part of the fun of this business, you can just jump in and try new things! So go ahead - jump in.

What's a Wiki?

What better place to go to find out than to the phenomenal on-line encyclopedia Wikipedia, which in just a few short years has gone from relative obscurity to a top ranking on Google, demonstrating the power of the Web and of collaboration using Wiki software? The definition of a Wiki then:

A wiki (wee-kee) or (wick-ey) is a type of website that allows users to easily add and edit content and is especially suited for collaborative writing. The term Wiki also sometimes refers to the collaborative software itself (wiki engine) that facilitates the operation of such a website (see wiki software).

In essence, a wiki is a simplification of the process of creating HTML web pages combined with a system that records each individual change that occurs over time, so that at any time, a page can be reverted to any of its previous states. A wiki system may also provide various tools that allow the user community to easily monitor the constantly changing state of the wiki and discuss the issues that emerge in trying to achieve a general consensus about the wiki content. Wiki content can also be misleading as users may add incorrect information to the Wiki page.

What's the Plan?

By using a Wiki for this document, we'll be able to track and promote development in this industry, capturing input not only from subject-matter experts in the industry, but also from city officials at all stages of the process. From investigating to planning, from designing to deploying, from operating the new networks to employing network applications to innovate government and civil functions, the vision is for this site to be a place where we all can share our collective knowledge, real-time, as it develops. Because this is such a new and dynamic area, it just made sense to use a dynamic, on-line tool to spread a wide net and capture the best knowledge and lessons learned about the process, the technology, etc. This will be an exciting project. Please email me at john.cooper@metronetiq.com if you would like to discuss, or if you need advice on how to get going. I'm eager to find contributors for this project to get it jump started - and that's contributors as in ideas and time, not money.

How do you launch a Wiki?

I've created the beginning outline with nearly 200 line items, and added topics and sub-topics to get us started - I've set it up so that the first contributor for any page signs their work as "Originator," and subsequent contributors sign as "Editors." By contributing, each of you can identify yourself to the world as a subject matter expert, choosing those areas of most interest to you. I'll follow up this email with a campaign to spread the word to city officials and staff - please help me by passing along the news as well. This should prove to be a good way for public officials and staff to identify and share information and resources. It's pretty easy to compose new content and very easy to paste content from elsewhere, then adapt it with simple formatting changes. Anyone can read what's on the site, but to edit, contributors will need to register. I hope that city officials and staff will begin to add content as well.

How do you get a quick start?

First, check out the pages under the Home Page banner, register as a contributor, and add some paragraphs to the About WikiMetroNet Perspectives section - stand up and be counted, so to speak. I'd like to see all my friends up near the top, and order is based on when entries are logged in, so please don't jump the queue, and please do this step first. After you've done so, go ahead and send me a logo and I'll add it to the sidebar to identify your company as a contributing sponsor. (see below).

Second, see the House Rules section - I'd appreciate your feedback on the mechanisms that I set up to organize this joint effort.

Third, add content after you practice a little in the WikiSandbox.

Fourth, link this site to yours, blog about it, tell a friend - pass on the good news.

What's in it for me - and you - and all of us?

- Help to pick up the pace in this industry
- Raise the level of debate
- Dispel rumors based on bad information
- Improve the quality of RFPs
- Promote Digital Inclusion
- Share what you've learned to help others
- Stand out and be recognized for your hard-earned subject-matter expertise
- Promote your commercial products and services
- Place your logos on the right sidebar
- Place a listing in the opening About section
- Enter content wherever you choose, with your name and contact information as Originator or Editor
- (When website traffic is sufficient, I'll ask for a small sponsorship fee for the logos, but initially, all I ask is that you contribute content and promote the site).
- And finally, when we have lots of content gathered together, I hope you and others will use this site as a primary resource to write books and produce other types of resources to raise public awareness and network knowledge even further.

Posted on April 05, 2006 at 09:24 PM | Comments (0)