Busting the Myths: WiFi, Broadband, and Cities

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Busting the MythsWi-Fi, Broadband, and Cities

• Bill Schrier
• Chief Technology Officer, City of Seattle
• W2i Broadband Briefing - Seattle
• 13 September 2006

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Steps to Broadband

• 1. Clarify your objectives
• 2. Assess the competition
• 3. Assess your assets and market
• 4. Get elected officials decision / support
• 5. Pursue the goal
• And remember
• Technology Marches On !

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A Fable It is 1890 in Seattle

• Were planning for the future Seattle
• Population 1890 is 42,000
• Population projection for 1930 360,000
• A nearly tenfold increase in 40 years!

What changes in infrastructure do we need?
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Infrastructure Plan, 1890
Well need to build an immense horse
transportation infrastructure!
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Infrastructure Plan, 1890

• Wood
• Cows and cow pastures, horse farms
• Water troughs and water delivery
• Railroad to Ellensburg (100 miles) for hay
• Jobs and training Grooms, stablehands,
  Buggy-makers, leather tanning
• And, of course

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Horse By-Product Management
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Now It is 2006 in Seattle

• Were the Tech Capital of the World
• Our cool factor is off the charts
• (Quality of Life)
• Population 575,000, 3 million in the region
• Projection for 2040 925,000 and 4.6 million

How can we accommodate this growth and still be
cool?
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Its 2006 What Changes in Infrastructure Do We
Need?
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1. Clarify Objectives
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The hype around Wi-Fi

• Gee whiz the City of (fill in the blank) is doing
  it!
• Are your circumstances the same as the City of
  Blank?
• Low-cost Internet access is important to our
  City!
• But how about cable, two-way video, telephone,
  HDTV?
• It will be free!
• Who pays for 30 access points for square mile?
• Well bridge the digital divide for all our
  citizens!
• So where do the computers and Wi-Fi cards come
  from?
• Comment This is the latest hot,
  understandable, technology (PCs, cell phones,
  e-mail, dot-com, web)

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Seattles Task Force

• Commissioned in 2004 - Citizens
• Councilmember Jim Compton and Mayor Greg Nickels
• Comcast, Qwest, 360 networks, others
• Goal Explore how the Citys assets could be
  used to create a broadband network
• 7 months, 13 meetings

Compton
Mayor Nickels
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What are we trying to do?

• Consumers triple-play, interactive gaming,
  two-way television, work/business at home
• The Digital Divide
• Economic development small businesses,
  spin-offs, collaboration, educated workforce
• Public safety mobile, video, images
• Public purpose government services, interaction
  with elected officials, education

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Technology Fit Summary

• DSL short term, short cable, short life
• Cable seems on top now, wont support future
  two way HDTV applications
• Wi-Fi interesting for mobile, not for TV,
  video, interference, expensive in wide area
• Wi-Max new, may work for mobile, wide area
• Fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) the real solution,
  expensive, 40 year life with new electronics

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Task Force Results
Within a decade, all of Seattle will have
affordable access to an interactive, open,
broadband network capable of supporting
applications and services using integrated layers
of voice, video and data, with sufficient
capacity to meet the ongoing information,
communications and entertainment needs of the
citys citizens, businesses, institutions and
municipal government.
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2. Assess the Competition
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Competition

• The Cable Company (Seattle Comcast)
• The Phone Company (Seattle Qwest)
• Task force comments
• Duopoly
• Qwest not financially able to compete
• Cable company wont innovate here

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Competition Notes

• Verizon FIOS and Fiber-to-the-Premise
• 3,000,000 homes passed in 2005,
• 3,000,000 more in 2006
• The Fort Wayne story
• Wall Streets not convinced
• ATT Fiber-to-the-curb
• Wi-Max and Clearwire and Sprint-Nextel

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3. Assess Assets and Market
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Seattle

• Tech savvy population Microsoft, Amazon, etc.
• 51 of adults college graduates
• 83 households with home computers
• 81 of employed have access at work
• 76 have Internet access at home

• 60 with home Internet have DSL or cable
• Most literate and Internet literate city
• Intel most unwired City

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Seattle Wi-Fi 2003 Map
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City of Seattle Market

• 314,000 premises and units
• Revenue per residential user in 2005 43
  voice, 48 video, 22 data
• Revenue per business user 252 voice, 213 long
  distance, 147 data
• Take rate 12 year one, 43 year 8

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City of Seattle Assets

• 320 fiber-miles (over 24,000 strand miles) of
  fiber throughout the City public partnership
• 100,000 utility poles (Seattle City Light)
• Rights of way, street lights, facilities
• Fast-track permitting
• Relationships with schools, universities,
  community organizations

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Seattle Fiber Network
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4. Get Elected Officials Decision and Support
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5. Pursue the Goal
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Next Steps

• Detailed study of the potential market in
  Seattle, and network design Dynamic Cities
• Request for Interest (RFI) 28 respondents

• Determine what incentives private partners need
• Develop and franchise one or more partnerships to
  do FTTH within the City

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Ideally, this means

• Build a fiber optic network to every home and
  business in Seattle
• Provision it to allow multiple competing TV,
  video, telephone, data, Internet services
• Network neutrality important to Microsoft,
  Google, content providers - public ownership?
• Partner with private vendors and
• others to construct and operate

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This Centurys Killer Apps

• Two-way HDTV (6 megabits per second each)
• Video conferencing, telecommuting
• Education, Healthcare
• Enhanced safety, improved life for seniors
• Reduce commute trips, transportation reqts
• Interactive gaming, entertainment
• Multiple streams per home

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Its 2006 What choices will we make?
This?
Or This?
www.seattle.gov/doit