Busting the Myths: Wi-Fi, “Broadband”, and Cities

1. Busting the Myths:Wi-Fi, “Broadband”, and Cities Bill Schrier Chief Technology Officer, City of Seattle W2i Broadband Briefing - Seattle 13 September 2006

2. Steps to Broadband 1. Clarify your objectives 2. Assess the competition 3. Assess your assets and market 4. Get elected officials’ decision / support 5. Pursue the goal And remember – Technology Marches On ! W2i Broadband Myth Busters - Seattle

3. A Fable: It is 1890 in Seattle … • We’re planning for the future Seattle • Population 1890 is 42,000 • Population projection for 1930: 360,000 • A nearly tenfold increase in 40 years! What changes in infrastructure do we need? W2i Broadband Myth Busters - Seattle

4. Infrastructure Plan, 1890 We’ll need to build an immense horse transportation infrastructure! W2i Broadband Myth Busters - Seattle

5. Infrastructure Plan, 1890 • Wood • Cows and cow pastures, horse farms • Water troughs and water delivery • Railroad to Ellensburg (100 miles) for hay • Jobs and training: Grooms, stablehands, Buggy-makers, leather tanning • And, of course … W2i Broadband Myth Busters - Seattle

6. Horse By-Product Management W2i Broadband Myth Busters - Seattle

7. Now It is 2006 in Seattle • We’re the Tech Capital of the World • Our “cool” factor is off the charts (Quality of Life) • Population 575,000, 3 million in the region • Projection for 2040: 925,000 and 4.6 million How can we accommodate this growth and still be cool? W2i Broadband Myth Busters - Seattle

8. It’s 2006: What Changes in Infrastructure Do We Need? W2i Broadband Myth Busters - Seattle

9. 1. Clarify Objectives W2i Broadband Myth Busters - Seattle

10. The hype around Wi-Fi • Gee whiz the City of (fill in the blank) is doing it! • [Are your circumstances the same as the City of Blank?] • Low-cost Internet access is important to our City! • [But how about cable, two-way video, telephone, HDTV?] • It will be free! • [Who pays for 30 access points for square mile?] • We’ll bridge the digital divide for all our citizens! • [So where do the computers and Wi-Fi cards come from?] Comment: This is the latest hot, understandable, technology (PC’s, cell phones, e-mail, dot-com, web) W2i Broadband Myth Busters - Seattle

11. Seattle’s Task Force • Commissioned in 2004 - Citizens • Councilmember Jim Compton and Mayor Greg Nickels • Comcast, Qwest, 360 networks, others • Goal: Explore how the City’s assets could be used to create a broadband network • 7 months, 13 meetings Compton Mayor Nickels W2i Broadband Myth Busters - Seattle

12. What are we trying to do? • Consumers – triple-play, interactive gaming, two-way television, work/business at home • The Digital Divide • Economic development – small businesses, spin-offs, collaboration, educated workforce • Public safety – mobile, video, images • Public purpose – government services, interaction with elected officials, education W2i Broadband Myth Busters - Seattle

13. Technology Fit Summary • DSL – short term, short cable, short life • Cable – seems on top now, won’t support future two way HDTV applications • Wi-Fi – interesting for mobile, not for TV, video, interference, expensive in wide area • Wi-Max – new, may work for mobile, wide area • Fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) – the real solution, expensive, 40+ year life with new electronics W2i Broadband Myth Busters - Seattle

14. Task Force Results Within a decade, all of Seattle will have affordable access to an interactive, open, broadband network capable of supporting applications and services using integrated layers of voice, video and data, with sufficient capacity to meet the ongoing information, communications and entertainment needs of the city’s citizens, businesses, institutions and municipal government. W2i Broadband Myth Busters - Seattle

15. 2. Assess the Competition W2i Broadband Myth Busters - Seattle

16. Competition • The Cable Company (Seattle – Comcast) • The Phone Company (Seattle – Qwest) Task force comments: • Duopoly • Qwest not financially able to compete • Cable company won’t innovate here W2i Broadband Myth Busters - Seattle

17. Competition Notes • Verizon – FIOS and Fiber-to-the-Premise • 3,000,000 homes passed in 2005, • 3,000,000 more in 2006 • The Fort Wayne story • Wall Street’s not convinced … • AT&T – Fiber-to-the-curb • Wi-Max and Clearwire and Sprint-Nextel W2i Broadband Myth Busters - Seattle

18. 3. Assess Assets and Market W2i Broadband Myth Busters - Seattle

19. Seattle • Tech savvy population – Microsoft, Amazon, etc. • 51% of adults college graduates • 83% households with home computers • 81% of employed have access at work • 76% have Internet access at home • 60% with home Internet have DSL or cable • Most literate and Internet literate city; • Intel: most “unwired” City W2i Broadband Myth Busters - Seattle

20. Seattle Wi-Fi 2003 Map W2i Broadband Myth Busters - Seattle

21. City of Seattle Market • 314,000 premises and units • Revenue per residential user in 2005: $43 voice, $48 video, $22 data • Revenue per business user: $252 voice, $213 long distance, $147 data • Take rate: 12% year one, 43% year 8 W2i Broadband Myth Busters - Seattle

22. City of Seattle Assets • 320 fiber-miles (over 24,000 strand miles) of fiber throughout the City – public partnership • 100,000 utility poles (Seattle City Light) • Rights of way, street lights, facilities • Fast-track permitting • Relationships with schools, universities, community organizations W2i Broadband Myth Busters - Seattle

23. Seattle Fiber Network W2i Broadband Myth Busters - Seattle

24. 4. Get Elected Officials’ Decision and Support W2i Broadband Myth Busters - Seattle

25. 5. Pursue the Goal W2i Broadband Myth Busters - Seattle

26. Next Steps • Detailed study of the potential market in Seattle, and network design – Dynamic Cities • Request for Interest (RFI): 28 respondents • Determine what incentives private partners need • Develop and franchise one or more partnerships to do FTTH within the City W2i Broadband Myth Busters - Seattle

27. Ideally, this means … • Build a fiber optic network to every home and business in Seattle • Provision it to allow multiple competing TV, video, telephone, data, Internet services • Network neutrality important to Microsoft, Google, content providers - public ownership? • Partner with private vendors and others to construct and operate W2i Broadband Myth Busters - Seattle

28. Seattle’s Wi-Fi Pilots UniversityAvenue DowntownHotspots Columbia City W2i Broadband Myth Busters - Seattle

29. Seattle’s Wi-Fi Pilots • Downtown: • Main library and several branches • City Hall • Four downtown parks • University Business District with University Chamber, Univ. Washington (7 APs) • Columbia City Business District with Rainier Chamber of Commerce, UW (3 APs) W2i Broadband Myth Busters - Seattle

30. Seattle Wi-Fi Goals • Enhance business revenues, by • Attracting customers, increasing purchases • Using online portal for marketing • Increase productivity of small business • Increase exposure/access to www.seattle.gov • Learn tech / operational requirements for Wi-Fi • Off-campus access for UW students, staff W2i Broadband Myth Busters - Seattle

31. Seattle Wi-Fi Statistics W2i Broadband Myth Busters - Seattle

32. Seattle Wi-Fi Evaluation • An imperfect technology! Coverage! (Outside and inside) Reliability! How to get help?!? • Monitoring, security, support. • Attracts customers and serves residents • Not a substitution for business Internet • High level of community support (now) • Improve the portal / splash page • Total ROI? Probably not. W2i Broadband Myth Busters - Seattle

33. This Century’s Killer Apps Two-way HDTV (6 megabits per second each) • Video conferencing, telecommuting • Education, Healthcare • Enhanced safety, improved life for seniors • Reduce commute trips, transportation req’ts • Interactive gaming, entertainment • Multiple streams per home W2i Broadband Myth Busters - Seattle

34. It’s 2006: What choices will we make? Or This? This? www.seattle.gov/doit W2i Broadband Myth Busters - Seattle