Normal Planning for the Future

What do you do when you're not sure what you should do? Study and plan. In today's world, this alternative at least has the benefit of bringing more information to the table with which to make more informed decisions, hopefully.

There is a growing awareness of the importance of high-speed Internet connections, referred to as broadband. The path often starts when cities recognize a business reason to have a reliable, economical network to link their departments. Sharing complex information mandates a well-planned secure system with flexibility for upgrades that are coming at lightning speed.
Mayor Cities and Towns Must Fill the Broadband Void by Sonja Reece, Mayor Pro-Tem of Normal, Illinois

I first met Mrs. Reece and her husband at W2i's Digital Cities conference in Houston in spring 2006. As Chairman of the Information Technology and Communications Steering Committee of the National League of Cities (NLC), she has an influence far beyond her role on her city council.

Normal, a midwest city of about 50,000 that sits just north of Bloomington and about 130 miles southwest of Chicago, is no doubt like a lot of towns and cities in the US. In this article, Mrs. Reece has documented the prudent and deliberate steps that the city leaders in her city have taken to prepare for the unknown.

In the face of rapid technology change, Normal city leaders focused on what they did know, not what they were unsure of: technology and digital infrastructure, especially of the mobile kind, will be more and more important to citizens and city government. Knowing that, they came together as a community and crafted a plan that will position their city well, no matter which direction the future takes them.

I recommend you check out this article and share it in your community.

Posted on June 30, 2007 at 06:00 AM | Comments (0)

From Hot Spots to Hot Zones

Gabriel Brown, chief analyst for Unstrung Insider, reckons The Cloud will use wireless mesh -- a networking technique that uses cheap peer nodes to supply backhaul to other nodes -- on a case-by-case basis when it can't get cheap wired backhaul or good line-of-sight to fluff up its hotspots into hotzones. "The decision is really driven by the particular application, throughput requirements, and the availability of low cost backhaul, in the neighborhood where they're building out the access network," he says. "But certainly, the whole of London won't be covered by a mesh, and they're going to use a lot of DSL, some WiMax, and whatever else they can get, to connect the outdoor access points."
Unstrung, 2/6/2006

The Cloud Drifts Into Hotzones So many good points made by this little article...1) Hot Zones can be used to extend Hot Spots; 2) Wi Fi Mesh is flexbile technology that can be used when other forms of backhaul are not available; 3) Networking technologies such as fiber, DSL, WiMax, and Wi Fi Mesh are complementary technologies that will be combined to make custom metropolitan broadaband systems; 4) Large cities are more likely to see Hot Zones dotting the metro landscape than they are to see huge, continguous, city-wide clouds.

This article highlights the difference between city networks in the US and in Europe, where campus deployments are more likely than city-wide networks. The article also trumpets the alignment of regional Hot Spot player The Cloud and Wi Fi mesh pioneer and market leader Tropos Networks, and envisions the synergies and expanded service capabilities that will come their way through such an alignment.

The partnership with Tropos will also allow the operator to offer new services like mobile Internet access, wireless VOIP, remote wireless video monitoring, automated meter reading, and public safety applications.

Posted on February 06, 2006 at 05:37 PM | Comments (0)

Seeing RED, Seeing Green

"The problem is that some people are still chasing smokestacks, but that buffalo hunt is over," said Joe Max Williams, who as executive director of the South Central Tennessee Development District tries to save jobs in 13 rural counties and lure more. "Manufacturing jobs are leaving us, and if we want to replace them we've got to have high-speed Internet access. That's what potential businesses looking to relocate ask all the time: 'Have you got broadband, can you get me a fast connection to the Internet?' " the veteran economic development adviser said.

Broadband means jobs, money to small towns This is a great first-hand description of why cities in our heartland are looking for broadband solutions for their towns. It's about jobs, economic development, and in the end, survival. Rural Economic Development (RED) is constantly on the minds for those cities that are living on the edge, where one relocated factory can raise the local unemployment rate by double digits. It's no wonder they see green when they learn that high-speed access can be the difference between landing a new high-tech employer and having them move on to another region that does have the needed 21st Century infrastructure.

Posted on August 31, 2005 at 02:25 PM | Comments (0)

If You Build It, They Will Come

TriCities.com | Broadband no panacea for economy You know, when I saw Field of Dreams, I thought it was enjoyable, a little wierd, but still, a good movie. Hard to argue with Kevin Costner, Ray Liotta, James Earl Jones, and Burt Lancaster...and baseball...and fathers and sons and dreams for a better life. But who knew back then that "Field of Dreams" and the "If You Build It..." line would enter the business lexicon as short hand for the potential and risk of speculative investment. You hear that almost as much as these days as bad impressions of Arnold's "I'll be back."

This editorial states that broadband is not a panacea, that there will be more heavy lifting after any network is in place. I agree. Also, if the new connectivity is only used for playing high-speed video games, the potential will be wasted. I agree again, but I think that is an extremely low probability. There are people who use their PCs as video game players, but few would make the argument that the PC was a wasted venture.

Infrastructure has always been an enabler. The railroads were built and provided for the movement of physical goods, and economies flourished along their routes - ask Chicago or St. Louis about the impact of railroads. The highways and Interstate system were built and provided for more movement of goods, and dramatic increases in personal mobility - ask Ford and GM about the impact of roads. Both infrastructures were enablers, and relative impact depended on where the routes went.

We all know about some roads that go nowhere, and the weeds grow on them, and we wonder how they got built. Often there were politics involved, which trumped good business planning. I think it comes down to sound business planning, with anticipated revenues planned out to cover costs. But broadband is a special kind of highway, and there is no chance that its roads will go nowhere. This highway connects the world, and it also can be used to create a local Intranet.

As the Qwest executive said the other day, words to the effect that "we don't need a superhighway when a sidewalk will do." While those are inflammatory words, I think the lesson holds that networks should be built to serve anticipated traffic and needs, with growth in mind. Not every town or region needs fiber. His words should ring true as a caution against overbuilding infrastructure in sparsely populated areas.

So, granted, broadband is no panacea and it will depend on what purpose a network serves, and if its capacity and cost match the anticipated uses. But show me any rich trade route in history that went unused, show me any communications network that did not follow Metcalfe's Rule by incressing in value as more people joined it. The nature of man is to connect with others - we are social. And in today's world, information is the be all and end all. History is in our corner on this one, and the odds are great that broadband will bring econmomic benefits to the regions that invest.

I think the bigger concern is paving the streets with gold, when blacktop will do. With the relatively low costs of wireless broadband, and the many uses it can find, its hard to think of a more sure-fire thing to come across the technology threshold in a long time. It's a conservative bet. In the case of wireless broadband, if you build it, they WILL come.

Posted on August 26, 2005 at 04:15 PM | Comments (0)

Intel et al Lend a Hand

Intel To Help Communities Worldwide Maximize Their Wireless Capabilities Intel, Cisco, IBM, Dell, and SAP have jointly created a Digital Communities program with 16 other wireless companies and Muniwireless.com to lend a hand to communities that seek to install a wireless network.

In this initiative announced one week ago, Intel Corporation said it would help communities use wireless technology and innovative applications to expand and improve services for municipal governments, businesses and citizens. Intel intends to make wireless access about more than checking emails and surfing the web. Those days are rapidly fading, as cities take a long, hard look at wireless networks as a means to improve their core tasks and business processes.

Under the "Digital Communities" initiative, Intel has gathered a diverse group of leading high-tech companies to help 13 "pilot" communities design, develop and deploy comprehensive solutions and services to enhance government efficiency, promote economic growth, foster greater community satisfaction and bridge the digital divide. The applications range from automating mobile workers such as meter readers and building inspectors to increasing the safety and enhancing resource management of first responders by remotely monitoring vehicle location to enhancing parent, teacher collaboration for improved student success.

In the US, Cleveland; Corpus Christi, Philadelphia and Portland, OR, are first up. Taipei, Taiwan stands out among the worldwide pilot communities using technology industriously today. These companies will provide services to these communities, and Muniwireless.com will track progress and catalogue applications and projected ROI benefits. It would be an understatement to project that this should prove a valuable tool for those of you planning networks. Way to go, guys!

Other companies participating in the Digital Cities Consortium include Accela, Airpath Wireless, Alvarion, British Telecom, CapGemini, CDW Government, Inc (CDW-G), Check Point, Civitium, EarthLink, iMove, Panasonic Computer Solutions Company, Pronto Networks, Szintezis Rt., Telindus, Tropos and Vertex.

Other countries in the first phase include Mangaratiba, Brazil; Dusseldorf, Germany; Gyor, Hungary; Jerusalem, Israel; Principality of Monaco; Seoul, South Korea; Osaka, Japan; and Westminster, United Kingdom.

Posted on August 25, 2005 at 11:23 AM | Comments (1)

Wired? Unwired? What's the Difference? It's All About Connectivity

Wired and Unwired. These terms get used a lot these days, but I believe they mean different things for different people. I remember when I was in college, wired meant something altogether different, but that's a rabbit trail I'd rather not go down. Back to the topic at hand, I believe the common definition for both terms has to do with the concept of connectivity.

A recent study by Forrester Research, cited in Thursday's Austin American-Statesman (my hometown paper) Keep Austin Wired: We're nation's No. 1 sets Austin as the standard by which other cities are rated when it comes to being wired. The study looked at the most wired cities in the US, ranked by a composite of PC ownership, proportion of residents who go online, and how many use broadband at home, among other things. The surprise at number two was Hartford, Connecticut, and Austin's city list doppelganger, San Jose, CA, came in at number three.

Living in a town where the airport has a sign welcoming visitors to the "Live Music Capital of the World" and where the University of Texas lights up its tower with a number one symbol every time one of its teams wins a national championship (which is amazingly frequent, though alas, not yet for football - Go Longhorns!), we tend to take these lists and rankings perhaps a little more seriously than we should. But what does it mean, to be at the top of a Most Wired City list, short of putting another arrow in the Chamber of Commerce quiver? I've been pondering this topic for two days, given that I have this new blog that seeks to help cities to unwire.

Starting from the unwired perspective, I Googled most unwired cities. At the top of the list was Intel's 3rd annual survey released June 7, Wireless Internet: Intel Ranks the 100 Most Unwired U.S. Cities, which ranks cities by greatest wireless Internet accessibility (the number of commercial and public or "free" wireless access points (hotspots), airports with wireless access, and broadband availability). Hot Zones and metropolitan wireless broadband networks can be expected to contribute heavily to Intel's 4th annual survey next year. The top three (hold on to your hats): 1. Seattle-Bellevue-Everitt-Tacoma (which is a pretty long name for a city); 2. San Francisco-San Jose-Oakland; and 3. Austin-San Marcos.

The Intel press release trumpets Seattle Is 'Most Unwired City' In America and makes two key points. First, the association between wireless access and quality of life. "Wireless is becoming a fundamental part of how we live," said Bert Sperling of Sperling's Best Places, which conducted the surveys. "The ability to access information and entertainment when and where you want it is simply irresistible to business people seeking greater productivity and consumers who live an on-the-go lifestyle."

When it comes to Hot Spots, something tells me there is a correlation with the number of coffee shops, which I hear Seattle has a few of. While I don't get out to Seattle (short name version) or the Bay Area all that often, I do know Austin like the back of my hand. We earn that wireless ranking not only by the use of broadband, but also by the number of Hot Spots we have - seriously, you can't swing a cat without hitting a hot spot in this town. You grow used to it and it really smarts when you go on the road and have to, well, actually work at finding a Hot Spot. Still.

The other key point the press release makes is that public wireless is appearing in more diverse locations, citing these locations:

* Legacy Golf Resort - Phoenix
* Kansas Speedway - Kansas City , Kan.
* Chelsea Piers - New York
* Loveland Ski Area - Georgetown , Colo.
* SBC Park - San Francisco
* Dirtwood Skatepark - Houston
* King County Library - Seattle
* Waveland Bowl - Chicago

Let's go back a couple of years for some perspective. This April 29, 2002 article in Realty Times cited a survey by The Media Audit, which found the number of adults logging on the Internet increased 8.5 percent last year (i.e., 2001) in the 85 metro markets surveyed by the firm. Media Audit also reported that the median age of Internet users is increasing, and the median income is decreasing.

"It's looking more and more like a very essential utility for people of all ages," said Bob Jordan, cochairman of The Media Audit, in a company press release. Media Audit's report determined how "wired" cities were by how many adults have access to the Internet.

According to survey results, the top three cities were:

1. Madison, Wisconsin - 73.4 percent
2. Washington, D.C. - 73.4 percent
3. Ann Arbor, Mich. with 70.2 percent.

But the article goes on to contrast adults with Internet access to households with Internet access, citing a May 2002 Forrester Research study. Now the top three change, and Madison, DC, and Ann Arbor fall out of the Top Ten.

1. San Francisco, CA - 78.8 percent

2. Austin-San Marcos, TX - 76.5 percent

3. Oxnard-Ventura Counties, CA - 72.9 percent

But, there's more, as the article goes on:

Using a variety of metrics, including population, number of business domains, net use, user expertise, and local available content, Yahoo! Internet Life composed its own list of the most wired cities. The top three?

1. San Francisco,CA

2. San Jose, CA

3. Austin - San Marcos, TX

Time for analysis and conclusions. The first thing that pops out to me is that these cities tend to have more young people and universities and to be more on the cultural leading edge, which connotes vibrancy and weighs heavily as an indicator for quality of life. When it comes to economic development, quality of life matters. But its not as linear as all that. It's not like you can put up a wired or wireless network and you will get quality of life and a strong economy. Just like you could not expect cities to be functional without a good transportation network, increasingly, the same can be said for high-speed Internet connectivity. These networks are a tool. But just because you have a hammer and nails, doesn't mean that you have a new kitchen cabinet.

So, do you want a wired network or an unwired network for your city? In the end, telecommunications networks are about bringing people together, and the technology is just a means to an end. The advent of affordable, scalable wireless solutions has caused us all to take a closer look at wireless as a connectivity solution, and that's what led me to launch this site. But when it gets down to the brass tacks of business planning and developing a business case, two things stand out: 1) what do you want to do (what is the business purpose?) and 2) what's the most effective combination of technologies to help you reach your business goals and objectives?

If your dream is to see your city at the top of one of these lists, I recommend you start with your communities, because those people will tell you what they would use a network for. Don't get too far out in front of your communities of interest in your network planning. By engaging with the communities that make up your city or town, you will find out what gaps can be filled to raise the quality of life, and where a network can contribute.

This blog is already too long, so look for my next blog on Community Involvement, coming soon.

Posted on July 09, 2005 at 11:34 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Municipal Networks Get Thorough Coverage from Financial Times

FT.com / FT-IT review In this series of articles on municipal wireless, the Financial Times Wednesday IT section covers metropolitan wireless from mesh to Wi Max. This series of articles provides a great overview for the novice reader with the very high quality, concise writing expected of the Financial Times.

In Cities Look to the Sky for Broadband Revolution, the first article, the author details the progress of vendors in the US and the political situation, then describes a recent IDC report on municipal networks in Europe, concluding with a vision of integrated networks in the future that use each different technology where appropriate for the most economic and efficient network, a refreshingly different approach from the somewhat tiring war of my technology can beat up your technology that is all too common these days.

Freedom to Roam Makes New Pioneers provides a detailed account of the Chaska, Minnesota wireless mesh deployment, one of the most bally-hooed wireless mesh deployments in the US to date. They did it on their own, they brought $16.95/month broadband to their residents, and by gum, it works.

The Complete Wireless Alphabet provides a concise explanation of the 57 confusing varieties of the alphabet soup that represents wireless standards in the narrow spectrum of Wi Fi and WLAN alone.

Ways to Keep Hackers at Bay gives a thorough review of wireless security issues, concluding that wireless and wireline security is a necessity, but ironically, wireless security gets more attention, so it ends up being more secure.


Integrated Plan Keeps Costs Down gives a great overview of planning issues for the enterprise, including the city government planner. As the author states, mobility strategies require specific management software and IT skills. This is a helpful planning document.

Posted on June 15, 2005 at 08:39 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

ROI for Muni Networks

Muniwireless: Jonathan Baltuch on ROI from municipal wireless networks

MRI president Jonathan Baltuch does a good job of describing the many purposes to which a municipal network can be put, and actually does some ROI analysis. Note the rebuttal comment at the end of the article by Frank Coluccio of DTI Consulting. Frank takes Jonathon to task (gently) for not including capital costs, etc. in his ROI calculation. This will be a topic that will get a lot more coverage over time in this section.

Posted on June 14, 2005 at 12:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack