Municipal wireless deployments picking up in steam in 2007

Approximately 325 municipal wireless networks will be under construction in 2007 - about 300 in the US, the remainder in Canada - with each one having its own particular objectives. Speakers at the Wireless Cities Summit in Toronto this week emphasized that there isn't a one-size-fits-all solution for successful municipal wireless network deployments - in fact, most require a custom solution tailored to local requirements. Cities and communities such as Hamilton ON and Harlem NY are gearing up for launch and are testing to determine what future services will be offered. Others such as Westminster UK and Taipei, Taiwan are in full swing, providing communications cost-savings to municipal services such as garbage collection and transportation. Still more, such as the wireless network in Fredericton, were designed for municipal services but now provide free wireless Internet access to people in the Atlantic Canadian city. Catherine Middleton, associate professor at Ryerson University's School of Information Technology Management, said during a keynote presentation that each municipal network deployment has to have its own objectives and can't simply copy one that is already up and running. "What works in one community may not work in another community, so it's important to understand the differences in different projects," she said. One of the most important things to explore when considering a municipal wireless deployment are the reasons why the municipality is going wireless and what the goal of creating such a network is. Referring to drivers of the network deployment, she added, "What's important here is the vision, and understanding the purpose for your own community." Middleton noted that a municipal wireless network is less about technology and more about utility. "It's about understanding what the technology can do for your local community, for your municipality, so is absolutely essential." This vision must be able to answer a number of questions regarding the primary users of the network and the main purposes for it: What is the network going to be used for? Will it be for improving the efficiency with which the city delivers services or is the network going to provide under-served members of the community with a reliable Internet connection? "It's very important to understand what the primary objective is because it the network is built and how it might be used," Middleton said. The technology used does play a critical role in the network as it will determine to a large degree the quality of service to be provided. As it stands, Wi-Fi is by far the technological leader in this area because it is inexpensive and is standardized. Perhaps down the road the technology of choice will be WiMAX, but it's too early to say when that will take place and if WiMAX equipment will be economically viable for municipalities to purchase. While she downplayed the role of technology in the whole equation, Middleton noted that having an existing backbone is critical to ensuring a successly municipal network deployment. " became increasingly evident to us, as we started to talk to people who were doing this and look at case studies...that you need to have a backbone in place. You need to have a network service to the community before you can start talking about building out a wireless service. So you need to have controlled access to that underlying network." There are other elements to consider before embarking on the deployment of a citywide wireless network, according to Andrew Clement, a professor in the Faculty of Information Studies at the University of Toronto. He explained that there are 16 elements that every municipal wireless network proposal should include (see box below). Not all of these items will apply to every municipal wireless network, but there are certain items that should at least be apparent depending on the objective of the network, he said, adding that if the network is going to provide an essential service, then it should be ubiquitous, affordable, reliable, healthy and secure. The large number of municipal wireless network deployments on the books for this year has some calling 2007 the year of muni-wireless. Mark Vanderheyden, VP of carrier networks for Siemens Canada Ltd. said there could be upwards of US$1.2 billion spent on building out muni-wireless networks by 2010, and that there will be more than 100 million dual-mode cellular/Wi-Fi handsets in the market by 2009. The next issue of Report on Wireless will have more information from the Wireless Cities Summit that took place in Toronto on January 23 and 24. Municipal Wi-Fi Deployments in the United StatesType of NetworkJuly 2005Feb 2006Apr 2006June 2006Sept 2006Dec 2006Citywide385658596879City Hotzone222932324349Muni or public safety283235353536Planned deployments345969121135149Total122176194247281312Source: Presentation from Catherine Middleton and Andrew Clement at the Wireless Cities Summit on January 23 in Toronto 16 Key ElementsUbiquitousOpenAffordableNeutral and non-discriminatoryReliableHigh qualityHealthyPrivacy enablingSecureAccessible and useableWidely usefulCommunicative commons enablingCost effectiveCivically orientedConvenient and ready to handAccountable and responsive

Municipal wireless deployments picking up in steam in 2007

News | 01/26/2007 5:00 am EST

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