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Business Opportunities: Community Wireless Networks July 2005 Author:   Michael Gold About This Report Table of Contents   Download the full report About This Report Worldwide, more than 100 local governments, nonprofit organizations, and cooperatives are deploying wireless broadband technology in their communities. We expect more to follow in coming years. In many cases, governments enter into partnerships with private companies to provide coverage where incumbents have not done so, to encourage downtown visitors, to connect public-safety agencies to the Internet, and more. Suppliers of equipment and services enjoy opportunities to help local governments achieve their broadband goals. Makers and integrators of outdoor-ready, meshed Wi-Fi solutions—often, start-up companies and small to midsize enterprises (SMEs)—directly benefit from these deployments. Large information-technology companies such as Dell, Intel, and Microsoft benefit indirectly by increasing the attractiveness of their technologies. Innovative service providers—often, SMEs that specialize in serving rural customers—directly benefit from various kinds of public-private partnerships. Larger Internet-service providers may see increasing opportunity in serving such SMEs. Will these markets constitute a niche or a mass market in five years? No one knows yet. But clearly, pent-up demand exists for broadband service in underserved regions worldwide. And even in large cities, notebook-PC users surely would prefer unmetered wireless access via Wi-Fi to slower, often metered, data rates promised by 3G. Significantly, compressed voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) may require very little bandwidth relative to the total that a Wi-Fi access point provides—so VoIP over community wireless networks could be attractive to users and thus create a significant opportunity for technology companies—including the opportunity to facilitate handoff among meshed Wi-Fi access points. The combination of unmetered broadband access plus nomadic VoIP could constitute a competitive threat to incumbents, especially telcos and cellcos—so expect technology companies and service providers to engage in political lobbying for and against community wireless networks. We welcome feedback about this report and the program, and we encourage you to contact us with any questions or suggestions. For more information, contact Michael Gold at telephone: +1 650 859 6354; fax: +1 650 859 4544; e-mail: mgold@sric-bi.com. We appreciate your support of our program and look forward to working closely with you as a Wireless Futures sponsor. Table of Contents About This Report ii Wireless Infrastructure: The Role of Communities 1   An Evolutionary Development with Potentially Revolutionary Implications 1   A Key Justification: Low-Cost Infrastructure 2   Infrastructure Sharing: A Near-Zero Cost Option for Communities 3   Answer to an Objection: "Wi-Fi's Range Is Too Limited" 3 Varieties of Community Networks 5   New Publicly Owned Wireless Utilities 6   Public Wireless Utilities in Communities Operating Public Electric Utilities 6   Municipally Sponsored Free Public-Access Hot Zones 7   Government-Led, Privately Owned Infrastructure Projects 8   Wireless Networks Dedicated to Public Safety 10   Other Government Wireless Operations: A Platform for Public Access? 12   Government as a Broadband Wholesaler 14 Nongovernment Community Wireless Projects 15   Ad Hoc Volunteer Groups 15   SparkNet: A Novel Wireless Cooperative 15 Concluding Perspectives 17   Vendor Opportunities 17   Implications for Users 18   Political Advocacy and Opposition in the United States 20   Cooperatives: The Wild Card 22   Figures Antenna Sites: A Key Resource That Cities Can Provide 2 Varieties of Community Networks 5 Public-Private Wireless Partnerships: What Each Side Has to Offer 9 Supply Chain for the Garland, Texas, Network 11 Supply Chain for the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Network 12   Box A National-Private Partnership 14

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