Dublin, Ireland has issued a tender seeking a consultant to provide advice on the feasibility of providing free wireless broadband access, similar to San Francisco’s plan. The estimated cost of the network is between 12 million EUR and 20 million EUR (according to this article).
Download the tender document from here.
I can already see one regulatory barrier to this plan. Dublin, Ireland has issued an RFP seeking a consultant to provide advice on the feasibility of providing free wireless broadband access, similar to San Francisco’s plan. The estimated cost of the network is between 12 million EUR and 20 million EUR (according to this article).
Download the tender document from here.
I can already see one regulatory barrier to this plan. Under EU rules, governments cannot spend public funds on projects that compete unfairly with private enterprise. In the case of broadband infrastructure, wired or wireless, the European Commission prefers the model where the local government is a passive owner and invests in the infrastructure as if it were a private company (and preferably together with private firms).
I have posted numerous articles on Muniwireless about the European Commission’s investigation into the Amsterdam fiber-to-the-home project (Citynet).
Amsterdam is an investor (and minority shareholder) in a limited liability company called Citynet BV. Although the city is a passive owner and has invested under the same terms as the private companies that are also shareholders, the deal received full scrutiny from EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes. The cable incumbents were the main opponents of the project and argued that Amsterdam violated the EU’s state funding rules. Never mind that the network will never be operated by the city itself and there are private companies that will run the network and deliver services to end users.
In the end, the European Commission allowed the project to go through on grounds that the city was not competing unfairly with private enterprise. But the entire process took time and money, and created some uncertainty about the model that cities can follow in Europe.
I am certain that Dublin’s plan will receive similar scrutiny.
I’ve just forwarded the tender document to you via email.
Having been discussions on this matter with some members in the city council for some time I can confirm that a variety of options are being considered:
[quote]
Model 1
A city council bears the full cost of the implementation, estimated between €4 Million and €20 million, and takes ownership of the Citywide Wireless infrastructure, which is then made available to provide a free of charge or commercially available service via ISP’s. Funding for this model can be achieved through central government or via a supplier who can provide the service without direct cost by achieving other revenues.
Model 2
The city council contracts with a single supplier to provide the service based on either a charged or combination of charged and free services to users. The council would provide the supplier with access to its infrastructure such as lampposts and buildings.
Model 3
The city council sets up an independent body to build the system utilising the assets of the council and allows any ISP to utilise the service. The independent body can include other agencies, educational and commercial organisations and would be required to raise the capital and operate on a not for profit basis.
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I have not fully scrutinised every line in the tender document however it looks like a well put together document.
I just hope that it doesn’t become subject to the curse that has affected most Irish government run projects sofar.
Evert.