Go short, the long haul is already covered
When you look at pre-bid broadband stimulus grant requests, doesn’t it seem odd to you that so many rural areas are looking for long haul build outs? In most cases, grant applicants are looking only at private carrier assets and, if there is nothing available, they request grant assistance for a long haul connection. Few grant applicants recognize the availability of greater distance wireless point-to-point technologies as noted in the MuniWireless article. Even this is minuscule compared to the tremendous amount of long haul assets available in public sector emergency communications, utility and transportation fiber optic and wireless networks facilities (including large amounts of unused wireless spectrum).
Now is the time to revisit the availability of previously paid for public sector communication assets for use in supporting these networks. At a recent meeting in Florida (W2i Tallahassee: Broadband Wireless and the Role of State and Federal Government), attendees realized that it is increasingly unaffordable to operate private, closed network municipal, county and state communications systems. The discussion in that meeting suggested that private sector partners need to be found to support these existing networks. The other alternative is to eventually get out of the communications business altogether rather than try to operate these expensive and outdated systems.
There is a big opportunity for the public sector grant applicant if it leverages the use of existing public communications assets to build and expand wide-area broadband networks:
- The grant applicant can use what public assets are available as its 20% in-kind grant contribution. This could potentially position the grant applicant to be 100% federally funded.
- Pooling existing multi-agency public sector assets would offer higher quality completed networks while lowering existing recurring communications operating expenses.
- Private sector investors would be more likely to partner with the public sector if these assets were offered.
- More secure and innovative communications infrastructure could be built to support networks for use by the public and local governments. These dual-use networks could generate enough savings to make upgrades to newer technologies more affordable.
- Network grant support could be directed towards improving broadband local asset infrastructure and location-based services. This is where the real job creation and economic applications are found.
To offer the best national broadband communications network at an affordable price, all public sector agencies need to do is sit at the same table. They must at a minimum take an inventory of their assets and share that information, then cooperate on new shared network designs. The advantages to public sector agencies would be better networks with lower capital and recurring costs.
These may seem like common sense solutions, but getting all public sector agencies that own or lease communications network facilities to just sit at one table is quite a task. Tough times, though, may offer the need for public sector networks to be consolidated while finding ways of supporting these infrastructures with the private sector. The current technology and economic conditions demand some creative alternatives from both the private and pubic sectors in expanding and improving broadband networks. Right now is the time to leverage what we have and build on newer wireless broadband technologies.
About the author
Larry Karisny is the director of the ProjectSafety Business and Technology Cluster. ProjectSafety is a technology and business non-profit focused on the deployment and future proof testing of municipal broadband wireless networks. ProjectSafety’s unique broadband wireless Community Network Integration (CNI) model addresses both technology requirements and business needs in a single network solution for both the public and private sectors.
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