Municipal Broadband Snapshot Report - February 2006
What's the Price of "Free"
Abstract
In the discussion of municipal wireless, "free" takes on several forms. In one model, a city lets a private entity come in to build, own and operate the network with no money and little involvement from the city. Public access is either free or for a fee. With another model, cities form a partnership with a vendor or service provider in which both parties have management and operations roles, but the private company pays to build out the network.
Yet another model has the city paying for and owning the network to which it provides free access in an unlimited or a restricted manner. The city usually outsources customer service and network operations to private companies.
This month's Snapshot interviews 13 cities, vendors and others directly involved with municipal wireless projects. Cities represented directly or indirectly include:
| Addison, TX |
Boston, MA |
| Cleveland, OH |
Dayton, OH |
| Fremont, CA |
Milwaukee, WI |
| Orlando, FL |
St. Paul, MN |
| San Francisco, CA |
|
Vendors interviewed for this report are Cisco Systems, Midwest Fiber, Tropos Networks, MetroFi and OneCleveland.
What you'll find out from those interviewed is:
- put too much emphasis on free during the vendor search, you'll scare away what might be your best options for a quality network;
- all this talk about free can raise expectations among citizens that can't be met;
- it's free, what do they have to complain about" is a perception that will lead to needless headaches, rude awakenings and a possible regime change at City Hall;
- over emphasis on free can lead to inferior networks, inadequate maintenance and technology obsolescence;
- a hands-off approach to vendor relationships leads to hands-on aggravation when stuff hits the fan;
- don't pay attention to the financial well-being of your vendors, bad things can happen;
- "free now, pay later" brings out the worst in some politicians.
Some of the solid government business lessons coming from this group of respondents include:
- be realistic about the tradeoffs between free and quality of network service;
- if you prevent vendors from making a profit and watch their ability to service you account go straight out the window;
- be creative, think outside the box and you won't have to sacrifice capability and quality in the name of affordability and electability;
- follow the money trail - if your $15 million network is free, where's the vendor getting the money from;
- don't try to carry this financial burden alone
- in WiFi public/private partnerships, the silent partner risks getting the messy part of the stick.
In the final analysis, cities need to
- be clearer about what they're really doing with this network
- recognize the danger of unrealistic expectations
- know when to ask for a vendor's plan
- know your vendor's marketing plan
- see the vendor's technology roadmap
- learn how to expand their options
The frenzied focus on trying to get municipal wireless free is detrimental to the advancement of this trend, and it is putting cities in danger of missing the many opportunities the technology offers. Trying to get the best deal possible for a city and its citizens should always be the main goal, though. You do this through better planning, thorough assessment of your technology and end user needs and a more aggressive exploration of your options.
Read the complete snapshot.
For additional information, call 510-536-4522, or e-mail today.
