GTA Wi-Fi network a natural extension of utelcos presence in region

Toronto Hydro Telecom president Dave Dobbin says it makes sense to build out a Wi-Fi network covering the entire Greater Toronto Area. Dobbin made the comments at last month’s UTC Canada conference in Vancouver on March 28. In his presentation covering new revenue opportunities for utelcos, he highlighted a number of revenue-generating and worker productivity opportunities that arise from the implementation of a citywide Wi-Fi network by Toronto Hydro Telecom, the utility telecom provider arm of the city’s hydro company. For instance, city workers who travel around in vans with maps of the region’s infrastructure could be outfitted with wireless laptops and access applications such as the utility’s geographic information, workflow management systems and even electronic versions of the maps. But Dobbin was most bullish on simple Internet access. "Why are we building it?" he asked. "There is a massive revenue opportunity from commercial and residential users." He cited such statistics as Toronto’s more than 4.27 million residents – of which 1.25 million are downtown – 71,000 establishments, 35,000 hotel rooms, 8,000 restaurants and eight hospitals as proof of an addressable market. There has been a lot of speculation about the viability of municipal Wi-Fi networks. While much attention is focused south of the border on San Francisco and Philadelphia, here in Canada Fredericton and Calgary led the pack. Fredericton’s municipal network, which is free to users, was built to improve productivity of city workers. The municipality believes the network is a service provided to residents much in the same way as other municipal services. Calgary, on the other hand, built a core network in the downtown core to allow other Internet providers to interconnect to as they built out their own networks. Dobbin believes one of the more compelling features of the network will be user mobility. The network will allow the user to login at their home, a café and a streetcar with the same username and password. "We think that’s a compelling value proposition that makes this easy to sell to the user," he said during his session. The Toronto Hydro Telecom president also believes there’s an opportunity to save companies substantial amounts of money in wireless airtime. Wi-Fi phones, which have only recently started to get some traction in the market, serve as desktop extensions and can eliminate cell phone charges. "You’ll never have to pay another minute of cellular airtime," he said. "I think that’s a selling proposition. I see users there." Opponents to the plan start to make noiseNot everyone is excited about Toronto Hydro Telecom’s decision to blanket the City of Toronto with a Wi-Fi network. According to Dobbin, the country’s national wireless operators, all of which have a vested interest in maintain revenue generating customers in Canada’s largest city, weren’t so excited after the announcement was made. But, he added, relations have warmed between the two sides and the operators now want to connect to the GTA Wi-Fi network. Dobbin noted that some parties have ramped up their lobbying efforts in opposing the network. "There already been calls by the big carriers to the Ontario Energy Board to reopen Toronto Hydro’s rate case based upon this venture," he said. This isn’t going to deter Toronto Hydro Telecom, he added, noting that the company "is a competitive subsidiary, so there is very little risk it’s not at all associated with the electricity company."

GTA Wi-Fi network a natural extension of utelcos presence in region

News | 04/06/2006 4:00 am EDT

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