Public-Private Partnerships for Muni Wireless Evolving, Experts Say

The pendulum for public-private partnerships building sustainable municipal wireless networks may be swinging back toward center. That’s the overriding opinion expressed by presenters at this week’s Wireless Internet Institutes Digital Cities meeting in Tempe, Ariz.

It’s good news for service providers, which initially were threatened by the cities’ apparent efforts to get in the telecom business. RFPs for city-owned-and-operated wireless networks that characterized early initiatives seem to be on the downswing. But so too are models that are subsidized completely by the provider.

“Partnering is all over the map. In the beginning it was city-owned RFPs, but when EarthLink came along, the pendulum swung the other way,” said Bo Larsson, CEO for Firetide, a wireless mesh gear provider, referring to the ISP’s total ownership model. “I think it’s coming back to a happy medium.”

Motorola’s Brian Carlson, senior director of sales for worldwide municipal networks and enterprise, agrees. “EarthLink approached it differently,” he said, noting how the ISP’s win in the high-profile Philadelphia bid ultimately encouraged others to consider different approaches.

“The evolution continues from Philadelphia/EarthLink to service providers rolling out some city networks to some cities not getting responses to their RFPs because the business case doesn’t work,” Carlson said.

In much the same way that carriers practice success-based buildouts, they are increasingly expecting the cities to put some skin in the game, experts say. This can come in many forms, e.g. anchor tenancy or cash.

”Service providers and equipment providers are looking at having a sustainable business model. We are hoping that these services are going to be around a good long time. As such, it’s important for municipalities and service providers to reach sort of an equitable balance in terms of investment versus risk,” said Martin Levetin, vice president of carrier and municipal networks for Strix Systems Inc.

IBM’s Michael Dillon delivers a keynote address on public-private partnerships at W2I’s Digital Cities meeting in Tempe.

The meeting’s keynote speaker Michael Dillon, director of industry solutions for safety, security and community broadband at IBM, agrees. He told an audience of about 200 mostly city government CIOs that vendors will help finance their efforts if sustainability of the project is ensured by tenancy. “Putting the ownership burden on the vendor doesn’t work,” he said.

At the same time, other city officials present at the event noted they are under pressure not to spend money or increase the tax burden on their citizens while still attempting to deliver the economic development and digital inclusion benefits of offering a wireless network.

Dillon recommends combining two models – government use and community use – into one approach. This enables cost-saving and service improvement initiatives at the same time as providing public access to the network.

CIOs from five cities shared their experiences developing municipal wireless networks. From left, William Beck, deputy CIO, City of Minneapolis; Ron Braden, IT director, Town of Vail; Dave Heck, deputy CIO, City of Tempe; Thomas McQuillan, IT director, City of Grand Rapids; and Eric Norenberg, IT service leaders, City of Mesa.

As one example, the City of Minneapolis is working with U.S. Internet for its Wireless Minneapolis project. According to William Beck, deputy CIO for Minneapolis, the city is an anchor tenant, but U.S. Internet owns and operates the network. In addition, he said the city secured buy-in from the businesses (e.g., restaurants and coffee shops) looking for affordable access for their customers and got community support for its digital inclusion agenda. The city’s test was expanded to a 500-person trial in January. Six sections of the city will be built out by November and the city will migrate to the new network in December. “We are optimistic,” Beck said.

The Town of Vail, Colo., has a similar model. Its goals were to provide free Internet for residents and tourists without spending any money or getting in the wireless business (city regulations prevent it). Ron Braden, IT director for Vail, says CenturyTel was chosen as the owner operator and got the network up and running last November using equipment from SkyPilot. The “free” service is available for 60 minutes and then is available on a daily, weekly, monthly or annual subscription basis, so CenturyTel can make money. In just a few months, the service had thousands of subscribers, Braden said. In addition, Vail government is using the network for its voice services, surveillance cameras, and the 911 center it runs for Eagle County, among other uses.

Motorola’s Carlson says one of the keys to making the networks sustainable is to run applications over the top like VoIP and public safety. He says his company’s portfolio includes multiradio gear so that 2.4GHz and 4.9GHz public safety apps can be on the same infrastructure.

Now that some of the larger implementations finally are being built, Carlson said, the industry is at a pivotal point waiting to see if the business case will prove out.

Motorola’s Brian Carlson talks to xchange about his company’s role in helping cities and service providers develop municipal wireless networks.

CenturyTel Inc. www.centurytel.com
EarthLink Inc. www.earthlink.net
Firetide www.firetide.com
IBM www.ibm.com
Motorola Inc. www.motorola.com
SkyPilot Networks Inc. www.skypilot.com
Strix Systems Inc. www.strixsystems.com
U.S. Internet Corp. www.usinternet.com
Wireless Internet Institute www.w2i.org
Wireless Minneapolis www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/wirelessminneapolis/

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