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Lead Analyst: Pam Duffey
Publication Date: 26/01/06
Pages: 137  

Description  
 
The emergence of Muni broadband offers opportunities as well as threats to your business.

For a large number of reasons, municipalities are considering the concept of a Municipal Broadband Network as the "fifth utility." These communities are choosing between deploying fibre and a wireless broadband network using Wi-Fi hotspots, mesh networks or pre-WiMAX technology, in many cases using different combinations. We believe that there will be a significant build-out, blending technologies and building on existing service, both wired and unwired. How will these deployments affect the market and your business? Buy this timely report to find out.

As of Q1 2006, there were over 100 operational city and regional wireless broadband networks worldwide, more than 40 of which were in the US. At least 300 US cities are in the planning stages with wireless networks, and the number will double in 2006 and accelerate further, making Muni broadband a very real and significant trend beyond mere hype. Despite legal opposition and pressure from incumbent telcos and cable companies, Muni broadband is coming and is here to stay.

While small town rural deployments were the beginning of the wave, the tide is now embracing large urban metropolises. New York, San Francisco, Rome and Paris are among the major cities planning wide-scale deployments, and more will follow. By 2010/2011, the majority of cities and townships in the US will have a municipal wireless network in place. Find out how these networks will evolve and what impact they will have on the telecoms market by purchasing this report.

This 130+ page report answers questions, such as:

What is driving Muni broadband deployments and what are the applications enabled?
Why have some deployments succeeded and others failed?
What are the Muni broadband business models and what are the advantages and disadvantages to each one? How are fee-based services priced and what has been their take-up?
How should incumbent telcos and cable companies, as well as mobile operators, position themselves in the face of Muni broadband?
What impact have current deployments had in their markets?
What technology options exist for delivering community services and how do they compare in terms of cost? Is wireless necessarily more appropriate to FTTH?
How can value-added services provisioning offset the economics of free broadband access?
How much is being spent on Muni broadband rollouts and what service revenues are being generated, in 2005 and by 2011?
Why you should buy this report:

Wireless ISPs: Gain understanding of the potential barriers and challenges faced by municipalities and their partners. Read about case studies into successful and failed projects, and the reasons behind them.
Fixed-line telcos and cable companies: Discover how Muni networks will affect your business and the market as a whole. Learn what countermeasures and defensive strategies can be employed – Muni broadband is as much an opportunity as it is a threat.
Mobile operators: Obtain analysis into the future evolution of the market and what municipalities embracing LBS, Wi-Fi handsets, VoWLAN and WiMAX will mean to your business strategies.
Vendors: Gain insight into the revenues to be made from partnering with municipalities and the critical considerations when planning Muni networks. Identify opportunities that exist for partnering with municipalities planning broadband networks, as well as the business models and potential pitfalls to watch out for.
Municipalities: This report provides lessons to be learned from past and current deployments, outlining the factors necessary to facilitate a successful deployment. Find out about the various technology options open, the pros and cons of each approach, and the capabilities of the vendors operating in this space.
Investment companies: Learn which Muni deployments are likely to succeed and where investment opportunities lie.

Table of Contents   
 
Chapter 1 Executive Summary

1.1 Municipalities are considering Broadband Networks as the "fifth utility"
1.2 A left-wing vs right wing debate
1.3 Municipal broadband networks are an increasing reality
1.4 The race is on and positioning is imperative
1.5 Success factors and issues to consider
1.6 FTTH or Wireless?
1.7 Impact on cellular and wireline carriers
1.8 Market barriers and challenges
1.9 Muni broadband evolution and forecasts

Chapter 2 Municipal marketscape and drivers

2.1 Defining Broadband
2.2 The broadband landscape is in a state of flux
2.2.1 The conversion to all-digital broadcasting
2.2.2 VoIP
2.2.3 Wi-Fi handsets
2.2.2.4 WiMAX
2.3 Types of Connections
Table 2.1: Strengths and weaknesses of various broadband access technologies
2.3.1 DSL
2.3.2 Cable Modem
2.3.3 Wireless
Table 2.2: WiMAX compared to WiFi and 3G
2.3.4 Satellite
2.3.5 Fiber to the home
2.3.6 Broadband over Power Line
Chart 2.1: Public power systems offering community broadband services, 2003-2004
2.3.6.1 BPL case study
2.3 Muni broadband as the Fifth Utility
2.3.1 Benefits and applications enabled by Muni broadband
Table 2.3: Muni broadband drivers and applications
Chart 2.2: Muni network use by application (%)
2.3.1.1 Businesses
2.3.1.2 Education
2.3.1.3 Healthcare
2.3.1.4 Emergency services
2.3.1.5 LBS on citywide WiFi networks
2.3.1.6 Gaming on citywide WiFi networks
2.4 The Regulatory / Political Environment
2.4.1 Incumbents vs municipalities
2.4.1.1 Aggressive lobbying has resulted in several bans
Table 2.4: States with legislation that restricts municipalities from creating wireless broadband networks
2.4.1.2 Vocal opposition comes from many quarters
Table 2.5: Major Opponents to Muni Wireless
2.4.1.3 Municipalities are making progress through Federal legislation
2.4.1.4 Community Broadband Act will ensure future survival
Chart 2.3: Broadband penetration by technology, top 20 countries (January 2005)
2.4.1.5 Muni broadband is here to stay
2.5 Reality Versus Perception
2.5.1 Is the need for Muni broadband real?
2.5.1.1 Why the Orlando business model failed
Table 2.5: Orlando Muni network statistics
2.5.1.1.2 Lessons learned
2.5.1.2 Russel County - Success factors
2.5.2 Large city deployments have exarcebated the debate
2.5.1.3 FCC stance and objectives with broadband services
2.5.1.4 Philadelphia deployment is stoking the fires
Table 2.7: Philadelphia network costs and service pricing
2.5.1.4.1 Positioning of two camps does little to benefit either side
2.5.1.4.2 Telcos may win battles, but not the war
2.5.1.4.3 European and Korean models
2.6 Municipal Broadband Drivers
2.6.1 ISPs
2.6.1.1 DSL resellers are forced to forge new partnerships
2.6.1.2 ISPs will compete to partner or fund Muni networks
2.6.1.3 What effect will Google have on the Muni market?
2.6.2 WiMAX
2.7.1 Pre-WiMAX Muni projects and pilots
2.7.2 Benefits of WiMAX to municipalities

Chapter 3 Risks and issues to consider

3.1 Multiple factors determine the success or failure of Muni broadband
Table 3.1: High-profile US cities deploying Muni Networks
3.1.1 Capacity
3.1.2 Spectrum constraints and interference
3.1.3 Competitive concerns
Table 3.2: Global spectrum available as result of deregulation
3.1.3.1 Sprint-Nextel and MBWA
Table 3.3: US WiMAX trials by incumbents
3.1.4 Scalability
3.1.5 Mesh infrastructure
3.1.6 Logistics
3.1.7 Security issues
3.1.8 Budgets and financing
3.1.9 Defining a clear business case
3.1.10 Costs
3.1.10.1 Wireless
Table 3.4: Wireless network deployment costs (per sq mi)
3.1.10.2 Fiber Deployments
3.1.10.3 Fiber vs Wireless
Chart 3.1: FTTH cost per home, 2000 and 2005
Table 3.5: Fiber vs wireless network cost comparison, by household density
3.2 Muni Network trends
3.2.1 Deployments will double in 2006 and continue accelerating
Chart 3.2: Muni network deployments, 2005-2011
3.2.2 Muni broadband will become ubiquitous
Chart 3.3: Muni network service revenues, 2005-2011
3.2.3 A seamless international system is on the horizon
Table 3.6: Muni broadband SWOT analysis
3.2.4 Internet2 and NGI will drive growth further

Chapter 4 Muni network trials and deployments

Chart 4.1: Municipal wireless broadband networks in operation worldwide
4.1 US
4.1.1 San Francisco, California
Table 4.1: Likely winners of San Francisco project
4.1.2 New York City, New York
Chart 4.2: Current broadband use in NYC
4.1.3 Scottsburg, Indiana
4.1.4 Chicago's Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority
4.1.5 Lee County, Georgia
4.1.6 Maine
4.1.7 Diamond Bar, California
4.1.8 Carlisle, Pennsylvania
4.1.9 South Texas
4.1.10 Riverside County and San Bernardino County, California
4.1.11 Boulder City, Nevada
4.1.12 SUNY, New York
4.1.13 Portland, Oregon
4.1.14 Farmers Branch, Texas
4.1.15 Cody, Wyoming
Table 4.2: Cody network details and pricing
4.1.16 Akron and Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
4.1.17 Tempe, Arizona
Table 4.3: Tempe network features
4.1.17.1 Nation's Largest Contiguous Border-to-Border Wireless Network
4.1.18 State of Michigan
4.1.19 Adel, Georgia
4.1.20 Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Table 4.4: Milwaukee network pricing and details
4.1.21 Boston, Massachusetts
4.1.22 North Carolina
4.1.23 Frankfort, Kentucky
4.1.24 Jackson, Tennessee
Chart 4.3: Top 5 US Cities for Number of Hotspots
Table 4.5: Number of hotspots in US by state
4.2 Europe
4.2.1 UK
4.2.2 France
4.2.3 Norway
4.2.4 Italy
4.2.5 Russia
4.2.6 Czech Republic
4.2.7 The Netherlands
4.3 Africa/Middle East
Chart 4.4: Broadband users in Africa, 2005-2006
4.3.1 Abuja, Nigeria
4.3.2 Kuwait
4.4 North, Central and South America
4.4.1 Canada
4.4.2 Colombia
4.4.3 Venezuela
4.4.4 Dominican Republic
4.5 Asia-Pacific
4.5.1 Taiwan
Table 4.6: Taipei network details
4.5.1.1 Challenges
4.5.1.2 Early success factors
4.5.2 Japan
4.5.3 Philippines

Chapter 5 Muni broadband business models

5.1 Wholesale business model
5.1.1 Wholesale model variants
5.2 Retail model
5.3 Wholesale Business Model Examples
5.3.1 Local Consortium Scenario: Utopia
5.3.1.1 Utopia's targets
5.3.l.2 Utopia's financing
5.3.1.3 Implementation timeline
5.3.1.4 UTOPIA's Business Model Analysis
5.3.1.4.1 Benefits of this approach
5.3.1.4.1.1 Minimizing administrative and operational costs
5.3.1.4.1.2 Leveraging costs across multiple system users
5.3.1.4.1.3 Competitive service rates
5.3.1.5 Interlocal Agreement Empowers Individual Cities
Table 5.1: UTOPIA Membership
5.3.2 ISP Partner Models
5.3.2.1 ISP Partner Scenario: Philadelphia
5.3.2.2 ISP Partner Scenario: Anaheim
5.3.4 Telco Partner Scenario: Lexington
Table 5.2: Lexington service pricing
5.3.5 Base Business Model
5.3.5.1 Base Model Scenario: Mountain View
5.3.5.2 Base Model Scenario: Tucson
5.3.5.2.1 Applications
5.3.5.2.2 Mesh networking
5.3.5.3 Base Model Scenario: Lompoc, California
Table 5.3: Local demand for broadband
5.4 Hybrid Business Model Examples
5.4.1 Burbank
5.4.1.1 Network usage
5.4.1.2 Benefits
5.4.1.3 Features
5.4.1.4 Solution
5.4.2 Detroit

Chapter 6 Vendor solutions and technology options

Chart 6.1: Municipal spend on broadband networks, 2005-2011
Table 6.1: US Muni broadband deployments and vendors behind them
Table 6.2: Global Muni broadband deployments and vendors behind them
6.1 Airspan
6.1.1 Company Profile
6.1.2 Product portfolio
6.1.3 Recent activity and outlook in Muni broadband
6.2 Alvarion
6.2.1 Profile
Chart 5.1: BWA market shares by vendor, 2005
6.2.2 Product Portfolio
Table 6.3: Alvarion’s product description
6.3 5G Wireless
6.3.1 Profile
6.3.2 Product Portfolio
6.3.3 Muni Broadband activity and plans
6.4 Tropos MetroMesh
6.4.1 Profile
6.4.2 Product Portfolio
6.4.3 MetroMesh Programme
6.4.3.1 Partners
Table 6.4: Tropos partners
6.4.4 Solutions for Municipalities
Figure 6.1: Tropos access point
6.4.5 Metro-scale Muni deployments
Table 6.5: Cities using metro-scale Wi-Fi mesh networks
6.4.5.1 Mesh network economics
6.5 Motorola's Canopy
6.5.1 Canopy features and performance
6.5.2 LoS Backhaul Solutions
6.5.4 OFDM backhaul
6.5.4 Deployments
6.6  Wireless Facilities (WFI)
6.6.1 Profile
6.6.1 Emerging focus on Muni broadband
6.6.3 New Site Services
6.6.4 Physical Site Surveys
Table 6.5: WFI’s WiFi project management capabilities
6.7 Cisco
6.7.1 Mesh networking strategy
Image 6.1: Cisco Aironet Bridge Antenna
Image 6.2: Cisco Aironet Access Points
6.7.2 Product portfolio
6.8 Strix Systems
6.8.1 Product Portfolio
6.8.2 Deployments
6.8.3 Salient features for Muni networks
6.8.4 Enabling Muni applications
Table 6.7: Product features
6.9 Proxim
6.9.1 Profile
Figure 6.1: Proxim’s multiple connectivity solution
6.9.2 Deployments
6.10  MobilePro
6.10.1 Profile
6.10.2 NeoReach Wireless
6.10.2.1 Deployments
6.11 IP3 Networks
6.11.1 Profile
6.11.2 Deployments
6.11.3 Salient features

Chapter 7 Recommendations

7.1 Fixed Line Carriers
7.2 Cable Companies
7.3 Mobile Operators
7.4 Investment Companies
7.5 Municipalities

Appendix A Lead author’s profile

Appendix B About visiongain

Appendix C Report evaluation form