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State-wide Wireless Broadband Access

MuniWireless points out that U.S. governors began rolling out their political agendas this week with inaugural addresses. Vermont Governor Jim Douglas is going for the gold — statewide wireless broadband.

While we take incremental steps to build a hard-wired network, the wireless world moves ahead.

Homes that do not have broadband available are becoming increasingly difficult to sell. Entrepreneurs looking to start a new business will barely consider breaking ground in a community without good cellular coverage I propose that by 2010, Vermont be the nation’s first true “e-state” – the first state to provide universal cellular and broadband coverage everywhere and anywhere within its borders.
When you turn on your laptop, you’re connected. When you hit the send button on your cell phone, the call goes through. There would be no more endless downloads, no more hopeless hellos, and no more “can you hear me now.”
This goal is within our grasp if we move quickly and decisively during this legislative session.
To facilitate the creation of our “e-state,” I propose a Vermont Telecommunications Authority that will partner with private enterprise to build a next generation infrastructure that supports universal broadband and cellular coverage. The state will back $40 million of bonding by the Authority, which will leverage more than $200 million in private investment.
The Authority will serve as a bridge between public sector efforts and private sector investments and will seek to complement – not replace – the role of service providers and infrastructure developers.
To support the work of the Authority, we need to reduce the time it takes to build a truly modern infrastructure. I will be proposing a series of responsible modifications to Vermont’s permitting laws that will balance our environmental values with the need to move rapidly. Those measures will include using state-owned structures and rights-of-way to speed required construction.
The advantages of a state-of-the-art telecommunications platform extend well beyond the economic value of the Vermont Way Forward. A true “e-state” enhances our public safety network, extends the reach of health care, and improves the education of young Vermonters.

Vermont may have company.

New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, now Governor of the State of New York, has a plan to provide affordable broadband to all citizens of the Empire State.
Rhode Island plans a state-wide WiMAX network. The $20 million border-to-border Navini network would allow collaboration and increase innovation between industry, and the public and private sectors.
Wireless Silicon Valley in California, gathers 41 cities together to deploy a wireless network that will cover nine counties over a 12,000-square-mile area, including Sacramento County, and over 30 municipalities with a combined population of about 3 million, including the city of Sacramento (pop: 450,000).
Ten Colorado cities are creating a vast wireless broadband network for residents, businesses and visitors. The anticipated release for the Colorado Wireless Communities RFP is January 2007 with vendor selection immediately following and project deployment by Fall of 2007.
Just south of Seattle, the Pierce County Wi-Fi network – at roughly 1,500 square miles – may rank among the largest in the country. The Rainier Communications Commission, a countywide consortium of municipalities, voted to give a contract to CenturyTel to provide WiFi service to Pierce County’s 754,000 residents.

C/Net has an interactive U.S. Map of City-wide Broadband & Wifi Projects.

The City of Grand Rapids Michigan and Clearwire are working together to bring high-speed wireless Internet services to their community. The deal trades the cost of publically-owned infrastructure and other fees normally charged to Clearwire in exchange for delivering wireless public safety and municipal services.

Meanwhile, Sprint has committed $800 million this year and up to $2 billion next year to build out its WiMAX network, starting with Chicago and Washington DC. Kirkland-based Clearwire has already started to roll out a fixed, proprietary version of WiMax. To date, it has launched in about 34 markets and covers about 8.6 million people.

WiMAX is taking off, outside the United States. Pakistan’s nation-wide network uses Motorola mobile WiMAX gear.

The ideal band would be 700MHz - it might deliver 3-4 times the range of 2.5 GHz WiMAX. WiMAX has 2-3 mile (3-5 km) cell radius, compared to WiFi’s 1000 feet (300 meters). At 700 Mhz, WiMAX should deliver 8-12 mile voice and data connectivity. More with an external antenna.

If Clearwire and Sprint bought up the remaining 12MHz and 18 Mhz slots in the lower 700 Mhz band in 2008, for example, you could get inexpensive, state-wide coverage. The Highway Patrol might host it on their current radio towers (in exchange for services).

Qualcomm already bought channel 55 (for MediaFLO) and Charles Townsend’s AlohaPartners bought channels 54 and 59 (for Hi-Wire’s mobile TV).

Is that a triple-play package or what?

Perhaps the Oregon Statewide Interoperability Executive Council could deliver better service for less taxpayer dollars using 700 MHz broadband. It would be interesting to hear their opinions (and your states’ Interop Committee). Maybe consumer lobbyists ought to team up with industry lobbyists to hatch a statewide broadband wireless plan.

Call it — Statewide Access Free & Everywhere (SAFE).