Wireless Cities. Jacksonville was the first one with plans. Now, nothing.

[stephendare]

Nine years ago, Alberta Hipps and I worked on a plan to make Jacksonville a Wireless providing City.

We sat down with Michael Molen from Sanswire and Walt Bussells who was the head of the JEA at the time and had serious talks about keeping Jacksonville current with the upcoming technology.

It was my posit then, as it still is, that development tends to follow the transportation routes that carry profitable products.

Cities developed at the intersections of trade routes.   Rivers, Trains, and in the 20th century, Highways.

I argued in 99 that the new money was being expedited over high speed internet lines and that Downtown was doomed if we didnt have internet capabilities there.

For the record, we didnt.  In 99 only the city buildings were equipped with high speed internet or even cable television.   In order to get my loft fitted with a cable modem, the stupid company wanted to charge us 20 thousand dollars in order to hook up our block.

Wireless Internet seemed to be the best option, and I was so excited with it that we proposed an idea to provide wireless internet as a municipal utility.

Bussells thought that we could use the electrical lines and poles to piggy back signals for high speed access, and we studied a proposal by Sanswire to provide a system for the downtown and surrounding areas.

James Higbee was working on a low tech proposal that he had installed at the beaches and the outcome was the WIZ areas (wireless internet zones)

After Superbowl and the election of Peyton, a lot of the progressive ideas seem to have simply disappeared from the dialogue, not the least of which is the idea of internet as a municipal utility.

Other cities took up the idea however, borrowing straight from the excitement garnered by Jacksonville.

But it appears that the projects are foundering.

What ideas does anyone have to solve the problems listed in the article?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/22/us/22wireless.html?_r=1&ex=1363924800&en=573f6f85da176b70&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin
 

Hopes for Wireless Cities Fade as Internet Providers Pull Out

By IAN URBINA
Published: March 22, 2008

PHILADELPHIA — It was hailed as Internet for the masses when Philadelphia officials announced plans in 2005 to erect the largest municipal Wi-Fi grid in the country, stretching wireless access over 135 square miles with the hope of bringing free or low-cost service to all residents, especially the poor.
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Jessica Kourkounis for The New York Times

Tomasa DeLaRosa and her brother Cesar have come to rely on the Wi-Fi access in Philadelphia that now seems threatened.
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Jessica Kourkounis for The New York Times

Greg Goldman is chief executive of Wireless Philadelphia, a nonprofit organization set up to help administer the program. He said that about $4 million was needed to cover the rest of the city.

Municipal officials in Chicago, Houston, San Francisco and 10 other major cities, as well as dozens of smaller towns, quickly said they would match Philadelphia’s plans.

But the excited momentum has sputtered to a standstill, tripped up by unrealistic ambitions and technological glitches. The conclusion that such ventures would not be profitable led to sudden withdrawals by service providers like EarthLink, the Internet company that had effectively cornered the market on the efforts by the larger cities.

Now, community organizations worry about their prospects for helping poor neighborhoods get online.

In Tempe, Ariz., and Portland, Ore., for example, hundreds of subscribers have found themselves suddenly without service as providers have cut their losses and either abandoned their networks or stopped expanding capacity.

“All these cities had this hype hangover late last year when EarthLink announced its intentions to pull out,” said Craig Settles, an independent wireless consultant and author of “Fighting the Good Fight for Municipal Wireless” (Hudson Publishing, 2006). “Now that they’re all sobered up, they’re trying to figure out if it’s still possible to capture the dream of providing affordable and high-speed access to all residents.”

EarthLink announced on Feb. 7 that “the operations of the municipal Wi-Fi assets were no longer consistent with the company’s strategic direction.” Philadelphia officials say they are not sure when or if the promised network will now be completed.

For Cesar DeLaRosa, 15, however, the concern is more specific. He said he was worried about his science project on global warming.

“If we don’t have Internet, that means I’ve got to take the bus to the public library after dark, and around here, that’s not always real safe,” Cesar said, seated in front of his family’s new computer in a gritty section of Hunting Park in North Philadelphia. His family is among the 1,000 or so low-income households that now have free or discounted Wi-Fi access through the city’s project, and many of them worry about losing access that they cannot otherwise afford.

Philadelphia officials say service will not be disconnected.

“We expect EarthLink to live up to its contract,” said Terry Phillis, the city’s chief information officer.

But when City Council leaders here held a hearing in December to question EarthLink about how it intended to keep service running and complete the planned network, the company failed to show up.

Officials in Chicago, Houston, Miami and San Francisco find themselves in a similar predicament with EarthLink and other service providers, and have all temporarily tabled their projects.

Part of the problem was in the business model established in Philadelphia and mimicked in so many other cities, Mr. Settles said.

In Philadelphia, the agreement was that the city would provide free access to city utility poles for the mounting of routers; in return the Internet service provider would agree to build the infrastructure for 23 free hotspots and to provide inexpensive citywide residential service, including 25,000 special accounts that were even cheaper for lower-income households.

But soon it became clear that dependable reception required more routers than initially predicted, which drastically raised the cost of building the networks. Marketing was also slow to begin, so paid subscribers did not sign up in the numbers that providers initially hoped, Mr. Phillis said.

Prices for Internet service on the broader market also began dropping to a level that, while above what many poor people could afford, was below what municipal Wi-Fi providers were offering, so the companies had to lower their rates even further, making investment in infrastructure even more risky, he said.

[downtownparks]

Thats odd... when I worked for MediaOne in 1999, I spent a good amount of my time replacing one way high speed technology (cable DL, modem upload) with two way highspeed... (ll Cable) I wouldnt say the city was saturated, but there was a decent amount of residential high speed... I had it at my house, in fact...

The technology that was rolled out at the landing in 2001 to provide the WIZ zone that was touted, was almost obsolete 5 years later (802.11b). This is the problem with Wide Area Wireless internet. Anything you roll out today, will be obsolete by the time you finish rolling it out.

I personally think that its best left to free enterprise. I know Google is working on solving this question...Do we need to get tax money wrapped up in technology speculation?

[stephendare]

Actually, Dan.  the technology that was rolled out in 2001 to provide the WIZ was obsolete before it was installed.  The city went with the inferior proposal because it was provided at no cost to the city.  It was the wrong way to go then and there was ample discussion as to why.

Media One certainly wasnt installing ANY two way anything in the city core in 99.  And the majority of the HS cable was available on the southside.  And while you are correct that the city wasnt exactly saturated, it also was inadequate for the needs of businesses.   The amount of T1 speed access available to commercial usage was wholly inadequate and confined mostly to the FCCJ/UNF Corridor.   I remember the maps provided by Bell South, ATT and Media One pretty vividly, since we went over them countless times in committee.

At that time, Bellsouth, ATT and Media One were doggedly committed to providing High Speed Access via a cable rollout that they had just financed and were in an uncomfortable quandary about wireless internet.  To this day, the fastest wireless signals are either broadcast on the 3.5 or the 2.4 gh wavelength, hardly a difficult medium, nor one susceptible to obsolescence.   As you know, what makes a system obsolete is the underlying digital splitting technology.

I guess its something I picked up from the developers of the technology in a really cool little chat I had with the VP of ATT International while we were flying to Athens together to offer a system for the Olympics....which while not installing cable for media one, I would guess has a weight of its own..

Perhaps reading the article would help, as its about how to provide the internet----now a basic survival skill---to ALL of our city, not just the people willing to spend the unreasonably profitable monthly fees on the 'free market' system.

Trying to create a private public partnership seems to be having its own drawbacks, the question is how to solve them.

So, thanks for the 'free market' suggestion.  It will go right next to the "power of prayer' suggestion.

[downtownparks]

Stephen, I worked in Telecom all through that period of time starting with MediaOne. When I left MediaOne for greener pastures (just before they were bought out by AT&T) I went to work for a CLEC, and installed not only co-located Phone, ISDN, PRI, and T-1s, but DS3 and Wireless DS3 Microwave shots all through downtown. We had two main downtown Nodes. One in the Old Prudential Building and one in the Modis Building. In fact, in part, this was how I came to start paying attention to downtown. I know we weren't the only ones in the market, or even downtown. Telecom was a close knit industry, so we were all very aware of what the other company's were doing.

As far as the wireless technology you are talking about, you are talking strictly about consumer wireless. To correct you, Its the 2.4 Ghz range, and the reason its used is that band is free for public use, and is commonly also used by cordless phones and microwave ovens, among other consumer wireless products. The only Wifi Product, so far, that has used anything different was the Old 802.11a, which died in part to the cost of the bandwidth licensing.

I was installing 16gig, 23gig and24 gig point to point and point to multi point shots all over downtown in 1999-2001. This allowed us to provide service to any building in town that we had line of sight to. We provided phone, PRI, and Internet via a network of ATM over wireless DS3 nodes.

The real problem was, the demand just wasnt there, thus the telecom bust of 2001. The CLECs dried up not because of the phone services they provided, but because they based a lot of numbers on revenue in relation to the DOT Com bubble, and what was believed to be an expansive user need. Sadly, they all over shot the perceive desire of the service.

I know you like to act like you know everything about everything and had your hands in it in some capacity, but your information is just wrong in regards to what was available.

As far as free market vs publicly funded, thats more philosophical, and you are more than welcome to think that our taxes should be used for wifi rather than schools and police. I just disagree with you.

[stephendare]

Dan.  You were a cable installer.   Its similar to your claim that since you do IT work for Gannett, that you are somehow privy to the underpinnings of the newspaper industry.

You make claims based on whatever company you are working for, and oftentimes don't really know what you are talking about.

In 99, there was only one POP downtown.  The old ATT Building.   (Point of Presence)   The only place that beamed down satellite for transfer outwards was at the one building.

Most of the tcomm downtown was still being run over copper wire.  I know this because I went down to the narrow tcomm easements with the VP of SouthernBell to have a look at them myself.

Derek Igou was in charge of the city's contract with Media One at the time, and if you remember, Media One's performance was so bad that the City SUED them.

There is a fundamental difference between the kinds of cable that you were installing and wireless internet.   I really don't know why you are weighing in here as 'the cable guy'.

If you were installing wireless shots for your new company, I can guarantee you that it was after 99.  Which obviously you already know, although you have been careful to not sound as though you are contradicting yourself.

And you really, really don't know what you are talking about.   Downtown lost perhaps 20 small company relocations because it was impossible to get high speed connection.   It also had a huge attrition of people who would move in, then move out because of the internet situation.

And again, noted your 'philosophical' difference.  I certainly hope that you are consistent with your 'philosophy' when it comes to parks and recreation.

Anyways, you know the old saying.   Never argue with a pig.   You arent going to change its mind, and you might just make it mad.   So in that spirit, Im not going to argue with you further.

[downtownparks]

I was never a "Cable Guy" you ass, I was actually in MediaOnes newly launched phone division before I went to work in Telecom dealing both with customers and backend installation. I will never claim I was an engineer (or a lawyer), but at least I worked in the industry, with, and on the equipment.

But I do have to say, nice work with your typical response of trying to neutralize the person, rather than strengthening your argument.

[Jimmy]

As interesting as this digression has been, no one has spoken to the issue raised by the original poster.  As a known tech-geek-lawyer, I have some insight.  First, I remember when the City was investigating and working on launching the WIZ.  Reggie Fullwood was one of the principles pushing the technology at the time and deserves as much credit and blame as anyone else who bungled the implementation.

Free Wi-Fi was never going to work in Jacksonville.  Geographically, we're too large.  Anytime a city brings in a new utility, there's an implicit obligation to provide it to everyone in the City.  I can't imagine a system that equitably serves Baldwin, Oceanway, Downtown, and South Jax Beach.  That was problem 1.

Problem two was that, in 1999, very few consumers in Jacksonville had a computer capable of receiving a wireless internet signal.  The 'b' standard was pretty new at the time and the vast majority of people were still on their 56k modems.  Consumer routers and access cards using the 802.11b standard weren't in the marketplace until early 2000.  And the most insidious issue at that time was that even if some "rich" people downtown and in surrounding communities had high-tech computers that could receive a wireless internet signal -- the people who WIZ was being touted for -- low-income inner-city folks -- certainly didn't even own a computer in the home.  (Now, I know, low-income folks were being used by the powers that were to justify this scheme -- they were never the actual intended beneficiary!)

Moving on...  the b standard is ancient.  As is the g standard that followed it.  N is the new gold standard for consumer/business wi-fi, but that will soon give way to a technology called WiMAX, currently being led and promoted by Intel.  WiMAX has the potential to span the distance of Jacksonville, delivering wireless internet access at high speeds over great distances.

But then the question is of whether, in this lean budget year, Jacksonville should be deploying its own wireless internet utility?  And the answer to that question, for me at least, is no.  The market has passed us by.  In the years since 1999, Jacksonville has become saturated with business and consumer high speed internet options.  Even Baldwin and Oceanway can be reached by cable modem.  Where cable modems can't go, AT&T has ADSL.  The technology that we lack -- though will soon get -- is Verizon's FIOS fiber optic solution.

DSL can be had from AT&T for $10 per month.  I don't believe that the City could design, build, deploy, and maintain a new internet utility for less than this cost per subscriber, per month.  As Dan correctly pointed out, others in the market are seeking an even better end-cost for users.  Google is experimenting with WiMAX-based networks that are free to the end user, paid for by targeted geographic-based advertising.  Google is an advertising company and they're gotten very good at appearing not to be one.

If Jacksonville wants to do something in this arena still, it's time to get with the times.  We have too many do-overs here.  We can't in 2008 go back in time and fix the mistakes of 1999.  How I wish we could!  If we wanted to tackle the current problem, that comes down to getting lower-income folks online at home.  Walk through an inner-city library.  What's getting the attention?  The banks of computers.  Walk through an Oceanway library or the library in Maxville.  Same result.  We should look at OLPC, http://laptop.org/.  We should find a way to get surplus equipment into the hands of people who could use it.  Find a way to subsidize that $10 AT&T DSL cost, since there's no way we'll do it cheaper. 

We shouldn't argue about who screwed up the most in 1999.  We all did.  Let's move on.

[JeffreyS]

We already have wimax in Jacksonville it's called clearwire and my receiver works in my office downtown and my home on oakleaf. You guys are talking about a problem that does not exist in one of the nations only wireless cities.

[Jimmy]

Actually, not to quibble, but Clearwire isn't based on WiMAX.  It's based on a precursor to WiMAX known as Expedience, and uses cell towers, and broadcasts in the 2.5-2.6 GHz spectrum.  It's not actual WiMAX.  CW had entered an agreement with Sprint to deploy WiMAX, but the deal fizzled at the end of last year.  Clearwire is still in the hunt, but WiMAX could find itself delivered in Jacksonville by a company other than CW.

[tufsu1]

personally I'm impressed that Stephen pioneered wireless internet here in Jax....along with seemingly anything and everything else cool that happens here....what would we ever do without him?

[stephendare]

personally I'm impressed that Stephen pioneered wireless internet here in Jax....along with seemingly anything and everything else cool that happens here....what would we ever do without him?

dude, whats that about?
would you rather that no one do it?

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/092500/met_4160437.html

Monday, September 25, 2000

Story last updated at 10:54 p.m. on Sunday, September 24, 2000

Officials studying best way to wire city

By Steve Patterson
Times-Union staff writer

Like homeowners studying a shorted-out socket, City Hall officials have been pondering how to tap into the growing Internet access industry without risking a financial shock.

Since mid-summer, city offices have received a steady trickle of unsolicited proposals from companies promising to help consumers and businesses access computer networks faster or cheaper.

But each plan deals with a different side of a fast-changing industry. And in a business where technologies come and go with stunning regularity, City Hall's first question is sometimes what exactly a company does.

"We're doing some research to figure out, how does this technology work," JEA spokesman Bruce Dugan said, describing his agency's review of a partnership proposal from a wireless Internet company.

The company, Atlanta-based Sanswire.Net, held initial talks last month about installing equipment that would let its customers use the Internet with wireless laptop computers anywhere between downtown's business district and the 20th Street Expressway.

The company had hopes of expanding service over large parts of Jacksonville -- but it wanted JEA, the city's main water, sewer and electricity provider, to handle billing and other office services in return for a share of revenues it said could top $100 million.

Dugan said his agency is still evaluating that idea, but it also has to figure out whether the company would need a city franchise similar to that held by cable television firm AT&T Broadband, formerly called MediaOne.

A handful of companies have made tentative inquiries about launching rival cable operations, which could offer broadband Internet access as part of their service. However, a company would need to make large investments to launch any such operation, likely spending tens of millions of dollars to place underground equipment.

If those plans move forward, cable companies might end up paying rent on conduits that City Hall expects to install under many of the roads that will be torn up for construction in Mayor John Delaney's Better Jacksonville Plan, said Susan Wiles, Delaney's chief of staff.

A Missouri-based company, EagleCom Inc., also told City Hall it may want to install its own system of underground ducts downtown, expecting to market those later to companies installing fiber-optic cable for individual businesses.

Meanwhile, the city's technology chief and some business leaders have begun exploring the possibility of Jacksonville obtaining a massive switching center that would serve as a regional hub for Internet traffic. There are currently only a handful of switching centers -- called network access points -- nationwide, and launching one locally would make Jacksonville an attractive spot for Internet-dependent companies to start or expand operations.

The city's broadband access, combined with easy availability of a network access point, would make it easier for a company to expand its activity over the Internet with less expense, said Libby Clapp, chief of the city's information technologies division.

The Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce's economic development arm recently began exploring what an access point would entail, but needs more time to study whether it should pursue such an operation, said Sally Patch, a chamber vice president.

[xjm8611]

OK, to the guy who thinks he's clearwire is wimax...uh! Go to http://www.Clear.com to see clearwire's real WiMax side. I do believe that WiMax is the future of wireless, data and telecommunication. And that's not enough said check this site out http://www.enterprisenetworkingplanet.com/netsp/article.php/3642721.

[lindab]

Several years ago I was in Gainesville in the vicinity of their main library. There is a small park fronting the library and it was full of people using the free wi-fi being broadcast to the area.

You could attract a lot more people to downtown and to Hemming Park if wi-fi were made available to the park . Nearby restaurant customers, library patrons, city hall workers, visitors would all make use of the park. The whole use of the park would change and wi-fi could be more important for that change than having cop cars parked on sidewalks.

[JagFan07]

Not a WiFi solution, but I think Utilizing JEA's current infrastructure would be the best bet to bringing internet to the majority of Jacksonville homes. It is already being done elsewhere.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/17/technology/17powerlines.html