If you have not been following the story, here’s a recap: DHB took over the citywide Wi-Fi network built and run by Kite Networks (which went out of business) in Longmont.  Unfortunately, Kite owed back taxes to the county and DHB had unwittingly taken over Kite’s tax obligations, which DHB was unable to pay. Boulder County seized DHB’s property – the access points and other equipment – and sold them to cover those tax obligations. The sole buyer happened to be an investor in RidgeTelView, who turned around the hired the company to keep the network up and running. So Longmont will continue to have citywide WiFi after all.

© 2009 MuniWireless. All Rights Reserved.

For the very densely populated areas, ARCEP also requires any in-building operator to meet “reasonable requests from alternative operators to roll-out extra, fiber lines on condition that the requesting operator is willing to co-invest. Additionally, ARCEP defines where the in-building fibre connection point must be located.”

The European Commission has agrees with ARCEP’s measures and asks ARCEP to monitor carefully the rollout of FTTH in France and to verify whether these regulations alone ensure competition or whether ARCEP should impose other remedies on the dominant operator, for example, unbundled access to the fiber loop.

The Commission’s letter sent to ARCEP will be made available at:
http://circa.europa.eu/Public/irc/infso/ecctf/library?l=/commissionsdecisions&vm=detailed&sb=Title

© 2009 MuniWireless. All Rights Reserved.

Below is an excerpt from the RFP:

Anoka County is seeking to enter into a Public Private Partnership with a proposer representing one or more qualified network service providers to support our efforts to obtain funding from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), or other funding sources, for the provision of broadband services in Anoka County.

A Public Private Partnership Application will be made to the NTIA under its authority to grant funds under the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. NTIA grant funding will be requested to support the installation of a fiber optic broadband infrastructure to meet the needs of the County. In the event NTIA funds are unavailable, the County will analyze other possible funding alternatives.

The selected Proposer will enter into a Public Private Partnership contract agreement which will secure the opportunity to construct, implement and operate a Community Broadband Network (CBN). This RFP is designed to identify qualified potential Private Partners, and solicit creative broadband technology infrastructure solutions, sound business models and plans.

Proposers must submit detailed plans stating how they intend to perform the services required and identify an initial schedule for the project. It is the County’s preference that for any Broadband services proposed, the Proposer is currently providing such services to customers. For expanded descriptions of the County’s departments, structures, and administration, please visit the following website: http://www.co.anoka.mn.us. For information on the County’s Broadband project visit: http://www.ConnectAnokaCounty.com.

If all you want to do is to view the main RFP document, click here.

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“A market that appeared to be languishing due to revenue shortcomings has found a renewed life force,” says Frank Dickson, In-Stat analyst. “Mobile operators have become increasingly involved in the hotspot market globally as they assess the potential of hotspots to offload wireless data traffic from overburdened 3G networks. Also, mass market adoption of Wi-Fi-enabled smartphones has significantly altered hotspot usage, with these devices accounting for the majority of access sessions in some locations.”

In-Stat estimates that:

• Total worldwide hotspot venues will reach 245,000 locations in 2009.
• AT&T is on course to experience 500 percent usage growth for 2008 versus 2009.
• Asia-Pacific will experience the greatest growth in venue deployments over the next few years, largely driven by large-scale deployments in China.
• Survey results suggest that security concerns by individuals, not corporate users, are limiting hotspot usage.

In the last two weeks, companies have been rushing to sponsor free Wi-Fi in airports and on flights. Yahoo is sponsoring free Wi-Fi in Times Square (New York City). In places like Bali, free Wi-Fi is just about everywhere.

I love how industry analysts keep repeating “carriers love Wi-Fi because they can off load data traffic from congested 3G networks” without carrying this thought to its logical conclusion: if the carriers (and service providers) keep installing Wi-Fi hotzones, why would most people bother with a long-term (post-paid) mobile phone plan?

I’ve been on a prepaid T-Mobile plan for years and I’m finding it even less necessary now to get a post-paid plan with any carrier. I have an iPod Touch which I take on long trips, such as when I went on holiday to Bali in September, and I can make calls via Skype. How close are we to a world where Wi-Fi will be the default way of connecting and 3G will be the network you use to “fill-in” the gaps, the one you connect to when there is no Wi-Fi? For me this is already happening. This “fill-in” network is rather expensive, isn’t it?

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(2) The U.S. Mobile Web Market: Taking Advantage of the iPhone Phenomenon

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© 2009 MuniWireless. All Rights Reserved.

Granted, Clearwire did have the helping hand of a lot of new markets in Q3 as well as the reseller power of Sprint and Comcast — no details on those numbers in the press release but maybe more “color” is coming in the conference call, which starts in 15 minutes. According to the release, Clearwire lost 5,000 subscribers from its pre-WiMAX service, putting the total net adds for Q3 at 44,000 — still a healthy jump. We’ll update this post afterwards.

UPDATE: From the conference call, Clearwire CEO Bill Morrow said “it’s still too early” to break out wholesale subscriber numbers, but at least this time he spun the reason as being too early to allow financial analysts to build stable, predictive models on any wholesale subscriber numbers. Fair enough. Of more import, Clearwire did announce a bond offering and debt restructuring that will roughly give the company another $200 million in usable capital. Clearwire said on the call that the $1.54 billion raised in its latest financing round (which was confirmed officially today as expected) and the cash from the bond offering will allow it to finance its current build-out plan for 2010 “without any hiccups.”

© 2009 MuniWireless. All Rights Reserved.

Nokia has never been strong in the US, but its dominance even in Europe is seriously at risk because it has failed to create a device that is as well designed and easy to use as the iPhone. The iPhone has been such a game-changer in so many ways. AdMob, an advertising platform for mobile/smart phones, was acquired by Google for $750 million this week. AdMob’s CEO says that his company became successful because of the iPhone. He had started two other mobile advertising companies in the past but because he had to go through the carriers and handset manufacturers (which were also tied to the carriers in so many ways), his previous business ventures did not succeed as well as AdMob. Anyone who dismisses the iPhone as a toy or as a device that is somehow unsuitable for serious business cannot ignore the fact that the iPhone has created an entirely new ecosystem that is fun and profitable at the same time.

© 2009 MuniWireless. All Rights Reserved.

Yahoo has agreed to provide free Wi-Fi for an entire year (not a week or 2o-minuntes) starting today in New York City’s Times Square. They must have seen Google’s deal with Virgin America, and Microsoft Bing’s tie-up with JiWire. What makes me wonder about Google: what happened to their Wi-Fi ambitions? They have a citywide network in Mountain View, but after that, there has been no momentum. However, they have decided to sponsor free Wi-Fi in 47 US airports until 15 January 2009; in Burbank (CA) and Seattle (WA), Google is sponsoring the free Wi-Fi indefinitely.

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(2) The U.S. Mobile Web Market: Taking Advantage of the iPhone Phenomenon

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The NTIA and RUS have received more applications than they have money for and they’re struggling to review all of them. For the next round, they want to make the grant application procedures more friendly to applicants (and obviously for their own reviewers). They want to hear your suggestions on how to get there.

Here is an excerpt from the NTIA/RUS press release:

“Stakeholders will have the opportunity to provide us with well-informed feedback on how the first round worked for applicants, the agencies will be able to make improvements to the process, and potential applicants will gain more time to form partnerships and create stronger project proposals. Ultimately, this approach can help us run the programs with increased efficiency and produce better results for the American public,” Strickling said.

In a Request for Information (RFI) released today, the agencies are seeking feedback on procedural and policy aspects of BIP and BTOP. While inviting general input on the programs, the agencies identified specific areas for comment.

In terms of procedural matters, for example, the RFI seeks input on ways to streamline the application process while still ensuring that the agencies obtain the information necessary to make awards in accordance with statutory requirements.  The RFI also asks whether the agencies can better balance the public’s interest in transparency and openness with stakeholders’ legitimate interest in maintaining the confidentiality of proprietary data.

Among policy matters raised, the RFI seeks comment on how to best target the remaining funds to achieve the goals of the Recovery Act. Commenters proposing a more targeted approach are asked to quantify the impact of their proposal based on metrics such as the number of end users or community anchor institutions connecting to service, the number of new jobs created, and the projected increase in broadband adoption rates. The RFI asks whether to focus second round funding on projects that create “comprehensive communities” by installing high capacity middle mile facilities between anchor institutions that bring essential health, medical, and educational services to citizens. The RFI also invites input on various other issues, including whether the definition of “remote area,” which is used to determine grant eligibility under BIP, is too restrictive, how the agencies can best ensure that investments are cost effective, and ways the programs might impact regional economic development and stability.

RUS and NTIA will utilize the feedback received in response to the RFI to set the rules for the second funding round, which the agencies expect to announce through a Notice of Funds Availability early next year.

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Today, Boingo Wireless, an operator of Wi-Fi networks in airports, announced that recent Wi-Fi access sampling campaigns have generated up to 35% increases in revenue at select airports, while delivering click-through rates of up to 39% for sponsors.

These marketing campaigns are sponsored by national hotel chains, search providers that want to fuel trials of their newly launched search tool, and by consumer electronics manufacturers whose products are targeted at early adopters.

“Sponsored access works on many levels by providing a great amenity for passengers at no cost to them, and delivering a short-term boost to an airport’s paid Wi-Fi concession through incremental sponsorship dollars,” said Jim Janowiak, vice president of business development for airports at Boingo Wireless. “Because of the high value, the associated fees are significantly higher than traditional online advertising buys, which is what helps preserve overall revenues for the airport in light of cannibalization of core offerings during sampling campaigns.”

While sponsored access does not replace airport revenues associated with for-pay Wi-Fi networks, it does provide the airports the best of all possible worlds: ongoing revenue from the paid Wi-Fi network, plus incremental revenue during sponsored campaign windows. These promotional marketing programs usually run from one week to one month and tend to focus on a single airport or be targeted to several airports simultaneously that match up to a brand or product demographic or test market scenarios.

How it Works

Boingo’s sponsored access program gives advertisers a way to reach business travelers by subsidizing their Wi-Fi sessions. According to Boingo, these sponsored sessions last typically 15 to 20 minutes, but the user has to watch a 30-second video.

This works with people who are not in a hurry trying to catch a flight, otherwise it is extremely irritating and will turn people against the advertiser. The context matters. On a ten-hour flight, I would not mind watching a 30-second ad if I know I’m getting free Wi-Fi for the entire journey. As for Boingo’s suggestion that advertisers use customer surveys, downloadable content and location-based searches, instead of a 30-second ad, I think it depends upon the context.

Boingo maintains that their Wi-Fi sampling program provides a “deeper level of interaction than traditional online display advertising.” That’s true. But it also has a greater capacity to irritate people and turn them against the brand. So companies need to be careful about where and how they advertise: 30-second ads in airports is a bad idea, but it’s acceptable on long-haul flights.

Ad-supported Wi-Fi is no long-term solution; we don’t ask companies to sponsor electricity

There is, of course, a downside to the popularity of free (ad-supported) Wi-Fi. When people get used to having free Wi-Fi everywhere, they will be outraged when they can’t get access for free and the target of their wrath will be the operator — a company like Boingo or the airline or even the airport.

Because Wi-Fi has become such a must-have for people with iPhones and other portable devices, it’s like electricity. We don’t expect to pay for electricity each time we plug in our devices to an airport’s electrical sockets. We would find it silly to have electricity sponsored by advertisers. We’re getting to that stage with Wi-Fi.

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(1) Guide to the WiMAX Band (2.5 GHz): the technology, license holders and future prospects

(2) The U.S. Mobile Web Market: Taking Advantage of the iPhone Phenomenon

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• Google sponsoring free Wi-Fi on Virgin America
• Toyota Lexus and American Airlnes
• Yahoo providing free Wi-Fi in Times Square

© 2009 MuniWireless. All Rights Reserved.