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Fixed Wireless 101: County and Municipal
Opportunity Overview
by
Rory Conaway
Triad Wireless
County and Town Infrastructure
Internet Delivery Options
END USER
DIAL-UP
DSL
CABLE
DSL Technology
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DSL – Bandwidth provided over old telephone lines
• Typical speed ADSL/3-7Mbps and possibly affected by
rain in some areas
• Maximum speed up to 40Mbps – no plans for faster and
dependent on distance to Fiber or CO
• Telecom is abandoning the technology for fiber
DSL carriers
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CenturyLink
Frontier
AT&T
Verizon
Cable Technology
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Cable Internet
• Speeds up to 150Mbps down – Limited by
cable technology although 1Gbps being tested
• Expensive with constant price increases
• Almost as high Capex as fiber
Cable Carriers
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Cox
Time-Warner
Comcast
Fiber Technology
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Fiber
• Speeds up to 1Gbps
• High-Capex and deployments are cherry-picked in
high income areas
• No fiber deployment in the country is profitable,
even with subsidies
Fiber Providers
• Google
• Time-Warner
• Cox
• CenturyLink
Cellular/Mobile Wireless Technology
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Types of Cellular
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Voice
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Data
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GMS – Europe
CDMA - Verizon/Sprint/Virgin Mobile
WiMax – up to 40Mbps
LTE – 4G up to 40Mbps
Monthly Data Caps -UBB
Fixed Wireless Technology
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Fixed Wireless
• Speeds up to 80Mbps today and 350Mbps within
6 months
• MU-MIMO and other innovations still being
developed
• Low-Capex
• Fast deployment
• Limited to LOS or NLOS
What is a “ISP”?
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ISP – Internet Service Provider
Provides last mile connectivity between the
Internet and residential/business customers
Last mile delivery technologies includes
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DSL – twisted pair/phone lines
Cable - Coax
Fiber
Wireless
What is a “WISP”?
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Wireless Internet Service Provider (“WISP”)
Users get small, outdoor antennas mounted by installation
technicians
3,000+ WISPs in the U.S. today
Largest growth segment in ISP market
“WISP” cost of build-out is substantially less and faster than
any other technology
Cost per residential installation
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Wireless - $250-$400
Fiber - $7-$10K
Cable - $600-$100
Market Growth
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U.S. residential broadband market is
expected to grow at a 14.3% compound
annual growth rate.
•
North American “WISP” market will increase
from approximately 30,000 connection
installed bases in 2006 to over 21 million in
2015.
There are over 500 million Internet-connected
devices now in American homes and
businesses.
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Reasons for WISP Growth
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Nobody installing copper any longer
Fiber to the Home expensive in suburban and
rural areas
Wireless speeds are improving to 300+Mbps
WISP Financial Challenges
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Mainly small, capital limited early-stage businesses
Lenders don’t understand the industry - traditional
finance channels are very limited
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$250K-2M required (depending on growth rate)
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Profitability 10-14 months – ROI 18-36 months
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Reasonable costs vertical assets
Revenue Projections
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Bandwidth costs are $.50 to $15 per MB
Average user 400Kbps
Revenue per user ranges from $10-$100 per
user
5000 users can generate $150k per month
ISP/WISP Skill Sets
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ISP Skill Sets
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Business
Network Engineering
Server Management Linux/Windows
Installers
Technical/Desktop Support
WISP
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RF Engineering
Why?
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Why isn’t internet better, faster, cheaper?
Why isn’t there more competition?
Why get involved?
Why cross the line between public and
private?
Why public/private partnerships work?
Why they don’t?
What?
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What are the residential needs
for faster internet?
What are the business needs for
faster internet?
What information is needed to
make a decision on how to
proceed?
Municipal Options
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Build to Own – Have a contractor Design, Engineer, Build, and operate
the system while training staff for operational takeover.
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Vendor Owned – Find a company that has a plan that fits your
municipality’s goals.
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Joint Venture/Vendor Owned – Find a partner that can provide
technical infrastructure and/or funding and will share
operational/management control.
• Design & Engineering of WISP System
• Build/find towers/vertical assets and NOC (Network operations
center)
• Install Customer Premise Equipment
• Deployment of infrastructure
• Sales and Marketing of services
Municipal Options
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Identify the greatest needs in your city
Create programs that make it financially
feasible
Lower barriers to municipal vertical assets
Coordinate with Business and Education
Leaders
Coordinate with other city communication
needs
Focus on local company purchases
Summary
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WISP market is an excellent growth market for small
towns or high-cost areas
Proven history of performance since 2002
Opportunity to participate in a high yield income
stream with significant participation upside
Job creation
Contacts
Rory Conaway
Triad Wireless
rory@triadwireless.net
602-426-0542
Ed Vitalos
Broadband Implementation
Coordinator, ESRGC
(M-1) 410.713.9790
(M-2) 410.804.7477
ecvitalos@salisbury.edu
greywave1@gmail.com
Mary Buffington, GISP
Eastern Shore Regional GIS Cooperative
Maryland Broadband Cooperative
Cell: 443.397.5662
Office: 410.548.3844
mebuffington@salisbury.edu