Broadband picture not finished

Many cities launching systems have not done the work needed to have an effective plan

BY JON VAN

FROM CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Chicago's decision last month to back away from building a citywide wireless broadband network was correct and should be followed by a full assessment of how to promote broadband connectivity, both wired and wireless, said Chris O'Brien, who once served as the city's chief information officer.

Now a partner at Diamond Management & Technology Consultants, O'Brien and his colleagues issued a report last week suggesting that the preoccupation with municipal Wi-Fi systems that has spread across the country mostly misses the point.

Even though an estimated 450 cities have either launched such systems or are studying them, few have done the spadework necessary to produce a comprehensive broadband strategy, the report finds.

This would include doing an inventory to determine which areas of a city are underserved with high-speed Internet and assessing a city's goals in promoting broadband.

An edited interview with O'Brien follows:

Q. What have been the drawbacks to municipal Wi-Fi systems?

A. Nationally a lot of cities looked at this as a one-size-fits-all approach. They didn't have options because the data isn't there or there was political pressure to do something. They didn't step back to see what problems they wanted to solve. Some cities did that and it served them well.

Q. Should Chicago have considered Wi-Fi?

A. It was right for Chicago to pursue this. There's a compelling interest to make high-speed Internet available to all quarters. Chicago got two strong finalists: EarthLink and AT&T. But the wind went out of the sails at EarthLink, which got into too many projects. Once EarthLink backed away there wasn't much reason for AT&T to negotiate with the city. AT&T was defending its territory.

Q. How does a city avoid a one-size-fits-all approach?

A. The problem cities face is that carriers don't want to give you any detail where they provide service. The Federal Communications Commission gathers data, but with a broad standard. It's by Zip code. So if even one home in a Zip code has broadband, the entire area is said to have it.

A lot of cities go only on gut feel. If a politician or cabinet member hears that residents say they have trouble getting coverage they can afford, that passes for a fact base. Diamond has tools to mine sources almost address by address to assess broadband coverage. Not a lot of cities take that approach.

Q. Should Chicago do that?

A. If I gave the city advice, it would be to develop a comprehensive broadband strategy. Assess by neighborhoods what the needs are. One is economic development and quality of life. You want broadband to support jobs and make the city an attractive place to live.

Second is tools and access for low-income people, helping them get an education and find a job.

Third are municipal needs, supporting public safety and field-based workers.

It's optimistic or short-sighted to think one system can meet all those needs.

Q. In Chicago, AT&T estimates that 1 in 10 residences is too far from its central office to get high-speed service. How can a city address that?

A. That's the reason you need data. Ten percent without DSL is fairly constant across cities. We found that what that means is that in a vast majority of neighborhoods, 95 percent of homes have access to DSL, and in some pockets only 65 percent do. When you think of the case for municipal action, cities need to find residences that cannot get DSL.

They don't always line up with low-income areas. Some high-income neighborhoods actually don't have DSL coverage. That is really the reason cities need to have data where things are.

If you're a resident without DSL, you have only the cable option, which is more expensive and may require you to buy the TV service. You face dwindling options.

Q. Some years ago Chicago looked at something called CivicNet, a proposal to get fiber connections to city offices, schools, fire stations and the like. But it never happened.

A. It was an idea ahead of its time or mistimed. When [it] came up the [telecom] industry went into a severe contraction, which made doing anything difficult.

Q. Should the city look at reviving CivicNet?

A. Fiber is a real play. When you look at bandwidth demand, it's ratcheting way up. Fiber is the only thing that will meet the consumer demand that's coming in the next three to five years. Cities needn't take this on all by themselves. Carriers are pushing fiber deeper into neighborhoods. The city's role is in oversight, making sure the fiber rolls out in an even way, reaching all neighborhoods.

Too few policymakers recognize that investment in broadband is as important as roads and bridges. Survivability of a city depends upon its ability to import and export ideas. U.S. cities, compared to international cities, are behind in this. It's getting to be more of a problem.

Q. Why is that?

A. We have no national broadband policy. Paris has outstanding broadband coverage because France has that policy. Our federal government has taken a hands-off position, leaving it to telecom providers. That is a mistake both for the providers and for their customers.

jvan@tribune.com

SOURCE: CHICAGO TRIBUNE