Wireless Tech Chat

By now you’ve undoubtedly read and heard about EarthLink’s announcement of a major restructuring which will include the elimination of 900 jobs–about half of its total workforce–and the shuttering of four regional offices. CEO Rolla Huff said that although the company will expect to lose up to $109 million this year, it will not abandon it’s pursuit of the muni WiFi marketplace.

Despite the difficulties, Earthlink says it remains committed to building the wireless networks in Philadelphia, Anaheim, and other cities it has already won the bids for, but other projects in Houston, Chicago, and possibly San Francisco are likely to fall by the wayside.

In addition, Huff said that the company will work on developing a new business model for muni WiFi, which will likely involve local governments assuming more of the financial risk as well as committing to becoming anchor tenants for the networks.

For a long time EarthLink was essentially the “Big Man on Campus” when it came to muni WiFi, and their recent actions certainly will not put a good light on the concept of citywide wireless networks. It remains to be seen if the company can pick up the shattered pieces and start anew, or this really is the beginning of the end, both for them as well as muni WiFi. There is an opportunity for other providers to zoom in and provide wireless services, but they’re going to have to do it in a way that will have to be financially and technologically prudent. Time will tell if this will come to fruition.

[Via InformationWeek]

Ocean City, New Jersey is one of my favorite vacation spots. It is one of the jewels of the state’s beach resorts, and is a major tourist attraction. It also is a rapidly growing community with more full-time residents moving in, so more municipal services are going to be needed and wanted as time goes by.

With that in mind, the city council recently issued a RFP for the development and deployment of a citywide wireless network. Plans call for a basic free service with enhanced fee-paid service tiers.

This could be a nice little coup for a muni WiFi provider because the city anticipates that the vendor could realize a profit potential of roughly $13 million over the first five years of network operation, and that could grow higher as the city continues to evolve into a year-round residence community.

The city is also going out about the right away with very specific and defnitive wants listed in their RFP. For example, they spell out theirrequirements for basic outdoor wireless service, guaranteed indoor wireless service, and government and public safety wireless service.

[Via MuniWireless.com]

The on-again, off-again wireless network proposed for Sacramento, CA is now back on again after the city council approved a plan this week to cover most of the city by the fall of 2009.

Plans call for free connections from locations covering 95 perecent of the city to an advertiser-supported network that will be built and managed by Sacramento Metro Connect. The city will buy service from the group and will allow equipment to be installed on city-owned infrastructure. In addition, enhanced service will be available for monthly fees ranging from $15 to $50 a month, depending on speed.

This project has had its share of ups and downs–last year, MobilePro Corp., which had the bid to build the network, pulled out because they did not want to build a free network, and the city had to basically start from scratch.

It remains to be seen if free municipal wireless networks will survive, but we’ll have a better idea in the near future.

[Via Sacramento Bee]

All eyes will soon be on Philadelphia in the near future as the city and EarthLink have announced they will be moving forward with their plans to connect the entire city to a wireless network.

Recently, a 15-square-mile pilot project was installed in a section of the city and according to city and EarthLink officials, all went well which prompted them to make the commitment to move ahead and build the network to cover the entire 135 square miles that make up Philadelphia.

Philadelphia has been in the citywide wireless network spotlight for a few years now, and it finally seems that all of the planning, talk, debate, and whatever else will finally be put aside and the real action will soon began. There’s no guarantee that this will be a slam-dunk win-win for everyone, but the concept of big-city wireless networking is about to face its biggest test, and it’s up to the city of Philadelphia and EarthLink to prove that the idea works.

Of course, there will be bumps and bruises along the way–in the pilot project, system availability was at about 74 percent, so there’s definitely room for improvement here. However, let’s understand that Philadlephia is a large city and that there is a lot of wrok that needs to be done in order to make the system work at a high level, so a level of flexibility is necessary in this instance.

In any case, the build-out of Philadelphia’s citywide wireless network is about to take place, and the entire muni WiFi world will be watching.

[Via Philly.com]

Claiming it to be the first of its kind in the nation, Boston’s police commissioner has announced a new text messaging system that will allow for the sending of anonymous tips to the police.

According to Commissioner Edward F. Davis, a tipster would dial CRIME (27463) and enter the word “tip”. The tipster then gets a message from the tipline to call 911, and then another message that asks for details on the incident (date, time, place, etc.). The tipster is also prompted to describe the type of incident by typing in a letter choice–A for violent crime, B for drugs, C for gang activity, or D for other.

The department stresses that all text messages are anonymous. Although the system is geared toward convincing younger people to send in information if they see something that would require a police response, anyone can (and is encouraged) to use it.

Other cities, including New York and Los Angeles, are experimenting with a similar system, but Boston is the first to actually put one in place.

[Via Boston.com]

The emerging city of Santa Clarita, California is considering the development and deployment of a wireless network that would cover the entire municipality.

The Southern California Edison utility company is seeking state approval to have cities place wireless antennas on light poles, and if no opposition by the public is entered into the record within 90 days (as of May 23), Santa Clarita, among other SoCal cities, can explore launching a WiFi network.

Since Southern California Edison would charge cities for the space on the poles for these antennas, it would stand to reason that access to these networks would entail user fees. But as the shift toward paid access to citywide networks has progressed without too much of a hitch, it would seem likely that Santa Clarita, among others, will soon go wireless.

Can LA itself be far behind?

[Via LA Daily News]

Commuters in parts of the Bay Area are in line to be the recipients of a new WiFi network that will give them information such as real-time traffic reports and weather updates as they make their way to their destinations behind the wheel.

If approved by the various municipality and county boards (at a cost of $150 million dollars to be underwritten by the likes of IBM, Cisco Systems, among others), the network will cover every city in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, which equals about 1,500 square miles. It will be accessible to all households, businesses, and emergency response agencies such as police and fire departments.

Transponders will be placed in about 40 different locations tretching from El Camino Real to San Francisco. Here’s the key question: How will drivers view this information? Will it be sent to their cellphones, or will they have to have a special viewing screen placed inside their vehicles?

This is an important consideration because there are many complaints about drivers being distracted by being on their cellphones and/or sending text messages while they’re driving. This sort of system could be the cause of numerous accidents caused by careless drivers. It might be worth testing this system under all types of conditions before deploying it to the masses.

[Via ABC7News.com]

The state of West Virginia has approved a wireless system to help emergency responders track and communicate with trapped coal miners. The system will soon be ready to be used in the state’s 177 coal mines.

This all has come about since the tragic deaths early last year of 12 miners who were trapped at the Sago Mine. An investigation later revealed that faulty radio communications was largely to blame for the inability for rescuers to get to the victims in time to save them.

The system will be provided by Canada’s Varis Mine Technology Ltd., but certainly other companies will begin marketing their services to mining companies throughout the U.S.

What makes this bill tougher is that all West Virginia state minesmust submit plans for wireless communications and tracking by July 31, so there will be no room for excuses.

This is good news and will hopefully prevent any tragedies like the one at Sago.

[Via The Times West Virginian]

It seems there’s a lot going on in San Antonio, Texas these days. The Spurs are on their way toward winning another NBA title, and now the city has announced it will partner with AT&T to build a wireless network in the downtown area with plans to expand it to the rest of the city.

City officials gave their approval this week for a test project to be conducted over the next 18 months to see if a wireless network will benefit users. If successful, the network will be rolled out to the rest of the city and will join other Texas municipalities, including Austin, Corpus Christi, and Houston as wireless network adopters.

During the trial period, AT&T will offer free basic service at peeds up to 200 kbps. For faster access, there will be a charge, but the company hasn’t announced a pricing model as of yet.

Couldn’t AT&T do a little better on the speed of the free version? Granted, we’ve said here before that the free muni WiFi model should be shown the door, but if you’re going to try to enduce people to opt for your service, you can do a bit better on the sales job.

In any event, downtown San Antonio should be hooked up fairly soon, and we’ll keep an eye on this development to see if muni WiFi passes muster there.

[Via KRIS-TV]

It seems that in at least one corner of the U.S., citywide wireless usage seems to be on the rise.

MetroFi reports that last month in Portland, Oregon, over 11,000 users accessed the free network, which represents 56% of the nearly 20,000 people who signed up for the service since its launch last December. In addition, MetroFi says the usage total is a 40% increase from April’s numbers.

The network is still in the early stages of development–roughly 20% of the city is covered as of now, and expansion is in the works for the rest of this year into 2008. MetroFi and city officials are looking to deliver access to all of Portland’s 500,000 residents and visitors with content and services provided through an alliance with Microsoft.

As with most networks of this type, the free service comes with ads while the user is logged on. An enhanced service that eliminates ads is available for a $19.95 monthly fee.

It’s still early in the process, but MetroFi and Portland city officials have to be encouraged with the usage data so far. Is this a vindication of sorts for the citywide wireless network concept? It would be a stretch to say so, but muni WiFi seems to be developing a wider degree of acceptance, especially if cities and providers work together to bring access to users that is reliable and affordable.

[Via PR Newswire]

If you watch TV (and who among us doesn’t?), you no doubt know what the Nielsen Ratings are. If your favorite show has a high Nielsen rating, it’s going to be on the air for a while to come. If it doesn’t, then it won’t–simple as that.

This week, the Nielsen Company has launched Nielsen Wireless, which is a service that will track how cellphone users use their devices to access content, such as the web and streaming video, among others. According to most estimates, there are currently 230 million cellphone users in the U.S.

The company says it will begin marketing its service to wireless carriers and mobile content providers, and will also look to sell it to potential clients such as traditional media vendors, agencies, and advertisers.

An example of the type of data Nielsen Wireless will be providing includes information that for the first quarter of this year, 25 percent of 18-24 year olds used their cellphones to connect to the Internet. In addition, data reveals that nearly half (46 percent) of the audience that views mobile video is at least 35 years of age or older. This is a bit of a
surprise, because the conventional wisdom was that mobile video was being targeted more toward a younger demographic.

In any event, it will be interesting to see if the cellphone companies as well as mobile content providers will opt to get the Nielsen Wireless service and subject themselves to the whims of the ratings system.

[Via AdWeek]

This Friday is the deadline date for responses to the request for information (RFI) issued by OpenAirBoston on how to contribute to Boston’s emerging citywide wireless network.

Boston is going about it in a different way than what we’ve seen since the muni WiFi phenomenon took flight a couple of years ago. In this their model, a nonprofit corporation (OpenAirBoston) would manage the overall program, but providers will be able to get space on the open network to offer wireless access to users. Of course, they have to show they have the ability to do so (hence the RFI), but this is a different approach than the typical model of one company building and managing the network to an entire municipality.

A pilot program that will cover a little over one square mile in the Grove Hall neighborhood of Boston is scheduled to go live by the end of this month, and plans call for the entire city to be covered by the end of next year. The big question is whether the “open network” approach will afford users the kind of reliable access they would expect for a fee-paid wireless network. Time will tell…

[Via Boston.com]

We’ve heard for a while now that RFID technology is finding its niche in supply chain management and inventory control applications by many companies, especially those in the retail sector.

We’ve also heard for a while now how critics of RFID technology believe that companies will abuse it and do everything possible to get personal information from their customers and clients so they can bombard them with endless marketing messages to get them to buy their goods and services.

It’s a fine line that adopters of RFID have to walk to convince others that they will not misuse it and invade other peoples’ privacy in order to gain a competitive edge, but it’s as much a selling job as anything else.

With that in mind, Best Buy’s CIO Bob Willet said this week that the retail industry has to do a better job to explain to consumers that retailers will not exploit their personal information, and must show how RFID can be used to improve a customer’s shopping experience. Examples include making it easier to find items in a store, and speeding up the checkout process.

In fact, Willet said he hopes to see RFID eventually eliminate checkout lines, but it remains to be seen how this can be done. Most likely it would entail more consumers having RFID-enabled smartphones they can swipe at various locations throughout a store to pay for items.

This is the type of informational “sales pitch” that companies, especially retailers, have to do in order to “sell” the use of RFID technology in their consumer-targeted operations. There still will be privacy concerns, but if examples like the ones mentioned above can be demonstrated to customers, some of those same fears may lessen considerably.

[Via PC World]

With all of the talk recently about citywide wireless network deployments, we sometimes have to take a step back and realize that in order for these networks to provide service to its users, the equipment has to function on a reliable and consistent basis.

This week’s MuniWireless New England Conference has had its fair share of company announcements and press releases, but this one, although maybe not terribly sexy, may end up being quite meaningful to municipalities and service providers who are in the process of planning the infrastructures necessary to keep things moving.

Claiming an industry first, Canada’s BelAir Networks has announced a Service Level Agreement (SLA) for broadband wireless equipment in citywide wireless networks. What this means is that cities seeking to deploy wireless networks will now have the ability to specify and attain certified performance levels, provided that they are built using BelAir’s Certified Network Design Program.

An example is the current deployment of a wireless network that will be covering the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, which US Internet is building with BelAir’s mobile broadband mesh networking solution. BelAir says that as more muni WiFi networks are deployed, and as the industry itself matures, both cities and the service providers they choose to manage these networks need to be able to guarantee a sophisticated level of performance to their users, which includes offering high-level voice, video, and data services that require connections speeds up to 4 Mbps.

BelAir makes a good point, but it should already be understood that as the free wireless network access model begins to fade out and the paid-access model takes center stage, that users should have a reasonable expectation they will receive a consistent level of service for the daily/weekly/monthly access fees they will be shelling out. If it takes an announcement such as this to get cities and service providers to get them thinking along this track, then something good will come out of this in the end.

Nortel announced at the MuniWireless:07 New England event this week that they have partnered with two separate ISPs to offer citywide wireless service to a number of municipalities in both North North Carolina and Colorado.

Together with Front Range Internet, Nortel will be developing and deploying wireless networks in about a dozen communities just outside of Denver. Working with WindChannel Communications, the company will look to build a network to cover downtown Greenville, North Carolina.

This represents a major step into the muni WiFi marketplace for Nortel and the move could position the company as an eventual competitor to EarthLink, MetroFi, and Kite Networks. However, as the talk begins to subside and the reality begins to set in, we’ll soon find out if these networks actually do provide economic benefits and streamlined services to the public–the entire sector is banking on it.

[Via ZDnet]