MuniWireless

As I sit here at the United Nations attending a U.N. sponsored event entitled United Nations Meets Web 2.0 and ICT Entrepreneurs, I am reminded of the movie Groundhog Day where Bill Murray’s character, Phil Connors, is given innumerable days to put all the pieces together to ultimately win the affection of his co-anchor. I am a speaker at this event where I explain the role that broadband wireless can play in the development of an emerging country. Everyone in…

Ontario has budgeted $10 million to expand broadband access in the southern rural reaches of the province. Leona Dombrowsky, minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, called the initiative a priority for the government.Ontario has budgeted $10 million to expand broadband access in the southern rural reaches of the provinces. Leona Dombrowsky, minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, called the initiative a priority for the government.

Dombrowsky “s department and the Ministry of Small Businessand Entrepreneurship are spearheading the initiative.

Gerry…

Smaller cities and rural communities face special challenges when it comes to muni deployments. And yet, some of the more innovative business models discussed at the MuniWireless Conference in Massachusetts this week grew from the creativity of those communities to deploy networks in areas that incumbents and service providers normally shy away from.

Some of these were showcased in our Tuesday session on rural deployments. I’ve written and heard much about the difficulties of these towns in getting incumbents and competitive…

Ofcom, the UK telecoms regulator, will allow wireless broadband operators to increase power levels for wireless nodes operating in the 5.8 GHz band. While the rule applies to all operators in the UK, it will have a more significant impact on rural wireless broadband networks. The new Ofcom regulations increase the maximum power limit from 2 to 4 Watts (EIRP). The rules cover the 5.8 GHz band, which is currently used by a number of operators to provide fixed wireless…

An interesting report in Agri-News focuses illustrates the digital divide by focusing on rural Minnesota where the household adoption rate is 39.4 percent, compared to the metro rate of 57 percent in the state.An interesting report in Agri-News focuses illustrates the digital divide by focusing on rural Minnesota where the household adoption rate is 39.4 percent, compared to the metro rate of 57 percent in the state.

The story cites the 2006 Minnesota Internet Study from the Center for Rural Policy…

Here is another sorry report on the failure of U.S. efforts to bring broadband to underserved communities. A U.S. House of Representatives’ committee is investigating allegations that money from a program to bring broadband to rural areas has mostly been spent to enhance services in areas that already have it.Here is another sorry report on the failure of U.S. efforts to bring broadband service to underserved communities. The U.S. House of Representatives’ Agriculture Committee is investigating allegations that money from…