Nortel turned a rare triple play today, announcing three municipal broadband projects involving IPTV, wireless library services and wireless resort services. Reinforcing recent market trends, the municipal broadband projects focus on targeted, well-defined applications rather than broad, vague citywide efforts.
Nortel turned a rare triple play today, announcing three municipal broadband projects involving IPTV, wireless library services and wireless resort services. Reinforcing recent market trends, the municipal broadband projects focus on targeted, well-defined applications rather than broad, vague citywide efforts.
The latest Nortel wins involve:
- Denver Central Library and 22 branch library locations, which will soon allow users to access e-mail and other Internet services from their laptop computers using a municipal wireless network from FRII (Front Range Internet Inc.) and Nortel.
- The Commonwealth of Kentucky, which is deploying wireless mesh across 22 state resort parks. The effort seeks to attract more tourists to the park by providing free WiFi, VoIP and E911 emergency service in all of its resort park cabins and guest rooms, as well as remote point of sale at cafeterias, gift shops and golf courses. Kentucky has also deployed a fixed WiMAX broadband wireless solution as a cost-effective means of doubling broadband network capacity for government-owned buildings, beginning with historic Hoge House in Frankfort, the state’s capital city.
- Regional service provider Kerman Telephone (KermanTel) has selected Nortel to roll out wireless data and IPTV services to customers in Kerman, California. Future plans may also include fixed and mobile VoIP as well as integrated multimedia to complete a quadruple-play offering of telephone, Internet, TV and wireless services, according to Nortel. KermanTel is also negotiating to add the City of Kerman as an anchor tenant on its mesh network.
The Bottom Line
For bulls and bears alike, this is a critical time for the municipal broadband market. Nortel and other mesh wireless providers will spend the next two days meeting with customers and service providers at our MuniWireless 2007: Silicon Valley conference in Santa Clara. Most of the conference speakers are describing real world applications rather than network theory.
Nortel’s three wins today — coupled with forthcoming announcements from its rivals — set the stage for the next chapter of the municipal broadband market… a chapter focused on application-specific opportunities.
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