Alan's Networking Analysis

IEEE ComSoc Newsletter of Telecom and Networking Technologies- 4th Edition

Note:  This free newsletter is mailed out to IEEE ComSoc SCV members on our mailing list.  This author is Program Chair and Secretary of  IEEE ComSoc SCV.  Please see: http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r6/scv/comsoc/chapter.php

Abstract:  In this issue, we take a critical look at Municipal WiFi networks, revisit the mobile broadband and WiMAX markets, check out VoIP and IEEE 802.11n developments.  We also report on a new startup pursuing services for rural broadband customers.  Finally, we quote  the opinions of Vince Cerf on the Internet remaining open (now working for Google, he is obviously a proponent of net neutrality).---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.  Will municipal wireless networks survive? 

Last week was a horrible week for Municipal Wireless network providers (e.g.Earthlink) and the mesh WiFi vendors involved in their build outs.  Muni WiFi networks in San Francisco, Chicago, and Springfield, IL were cancelled.  While those projects unravelled, another high-profile deal in Houston neared a breaking point with a very uncertain future.

A year ago, it seemed like just about every major U.S. city was drawing up ambitious plans to build wireless Internet networks so that more people, both rich and poor, could have online access wherever they wanted.  Now, economics is blurring the Utopian vision as city leaders and the companies proposing to build the Wi-Fi networks haggle over whether the projects make financial sense.

A raft of articles have appeared which chronicle what went wrong and analyze what must be done going forward to make muni wireless networks financially viable.  Is there a sustainable business model to be found here?

Readers may pick and chose from the following links to read more:

http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9726651

http://www.cbronline.com/article_news.asp?guid=ADADD5A7-AAA5-4FFC-AD19-4E7D14A9DE75

http://www.unstrung.com/document.asp?doc_id=132807

http://www.cedmagazine.com/Chicago-opts-out-muni-WiFi.aspx

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/28/AR2007082801332.html

http://forums.cnet.com/5208-10152_102-0.html?forumID=97&threadID=262017&messageID=2572188

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070829-chicagos-decision-to-drop-muni-wifi-symptomatic-of-a-troubled-sector.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20070829/tc_infoworld/91402;_ylt=A9G_Rz4s4NRGDAABCxgjtBAF

http://www.muniwireless.com/article/articleview/6364/1/23/

http://www.muniwireless.com/article/articleview/6366/1/23/

http://www.muniwireless.com/article/articleview/6372/1/23/

http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20070829/tc_infoworld/91402;_ylt=A9G_Rz4s4NRGDAABCxgjtBAF

http://wifinetnews.com/archives/007871.html

http://www.freepress.net/news/25840

2.  Mobile Broadband and the WiMAX Market

a] Network World has an interesting opinion piece titled: "Get ready for multimegabit
 mobility."  It may be downloaded from:
http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2007/083007johnson.html?nlhtw=0903wirelessalert1&&nladname=090407wirelessal

b] While Muni WiFi has had great difficulties recently, the ultra hyped WiMAX market may
finally be living up to its potential in the not too distant future.  WiMAX seems to be building market momentum as deployment plans advance.  Please refer to the links below for a WiMAX market roundup:

http://www.viodi.tv/2007/08/27/wimax-market/

http://www.viodi.tv/2007/08/13/mobile-broadband/

3.  Startup goes after rural broadband space

Telecom veterans Dan Caruso and John Scarano have launched Zayo Bandwidth, a new company designed to deliver bandwidth in underserved areas. The company has acquired several regional fiber networks and lined up $225 million  in financing as it aims to target "high-bandwidth consumer customers." Please refer to: 
http://telephonyonline.com/home/news/zayo_broadband_fiber_083007/

4. VoIP advances:  Verizon, Open Source, and IBM

a]  Verizon Business expands wholesale VoIP offering

Verizon Business intends to offer its SIP Gateway VoIP customers a slew of new features,
including customization, pricing flexibility and fraud detection. SIP Gateway Service Inbound Complete will also be offered with metered or unmetered pricing.

http://us.f817.mail.yahoo.com/ym/ShowLetter?MsgId=9703_13245323_900_1772_10591_36756_221899&sbox=&Idx=0&pos=0&Search=1&box=@S@Search&&
 

b]  The next era of VoIP may be based on open source systems

Communications professionals are collaborating to develop open-source VoIP systems, and progress is being made, according to this article. Open-source technology is already being used by some small and large universities in the U.S. to serve faculty and staff.   To read about open source VoIP and campus, please see:

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/59076.html

c] IBMs Unified Communications and Collaboration

During last month's VoiceCon show, IBM launched the next phase of its Unified Communication and collaboration (UC2) strategy by expanding its IBM Lotus Sametime software with new telephony integration software; it announced a deal with Siemens to license elements of Siemens’ OpenScape technology; and it announced plans to acquire WebDialogs. For more info, please visit:

http://www-306.ibm.com/software/lotus/unified-communications/

5. IEEE 802.11n Developments

a] Can the iPhone Make 802.11n Popular or is it the other way around?

Until June 2007, the greatest problem with IEEE 802.11n was uncertainty, since the IEEE 802.11 committee had  stated it would not finalize the 802.11n standard until March 2009. But the emergence of 802.11n-enabled devices forced the market’s hand. With too much invested in the technology to risk bad performance of uncertified 802.11n devices, the Wi-Fi Alliance began to draft certifying products.  They have now completed their second draft.
Will Apple's iPhone soon support 802.11n?  Read on to get one pundit's projections:

http://www.dailywireless.com/features/can-iphone-80211n-popular-082907/

b]  Study: IEEE 802.11n Wi-Fi to make inroads against gigabit Ethernet

A new Burton Group report suggests that companies should begin migrating their wired local networks to wireless. The study, which compared gigabit Ethernet with the 802.11n Wi-Fi standard, predicts that the wireless technology
will make a significant impact in the market shortly.  To read further, please check out:

http://news.com.com/Report+Wi-Fi+to+supersede+wired+Ethernet/2100-7351_3-6205010.html

For a more cautious view of the 802.11n enterprise network market, please refer to:

http://www.viodi.tv/2007/07/09/wireless/
 

6.  Internet Has to Stay Open, says pioneer Vincent Cerf

The Financial Times - August 31, 2007- U.S. issue page 19 reports: 

Any threat to open access to the Internet would be "a hazard to innovation" and a deterrent to investment, one of the founding fathers of the Internet has warned.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fc7d2cb8-5725-11dc-9a3a-0000779fd2ac.html

http://www.ft.com/cerf

Because of repeated problems with opening this link, we reproduce the article here:

Freedom key to web evolution, says guru

Cerf warns of danger to internet
Entrepreneurs have to experiment

By Andrew Edgecliffe­Johnson in London

Any threat to open access to the internet would be “a hazard to innovation” and a deterrent to investment, one of the founding fathers of the internet has warned.
   Vint Cerf,Google’s vicepresident and chief internet evangelist, said in a video interview for FT.com that the internet’s capacity to cope with an ever-growing number of users and amount of content carried over the network was a lesser issue than security, stability, reliability and privacy.
   “The most important thing is to make sure we have a secure and stable network. There are ways to attack the system which we need to defend against,” he said.
   Weighing into the debate about “net neutrality”, Mr Cerf said he hoped it was more likely that the internet would remain open than that broadband providers would move to block applications that use large amounts of bandwidth or discriminate between content providers.
   However, he warned: “If we ever move into a regime where the providers of basic internet services have control over what users or entrepreneurs can put on the network then I see a potential hazard to innovation.”
   He urged regulators around the world to recognise “the importance of keeping the network open and generally neutral, and allowing the entrepreneurs to try out their ideas”.
   Mr Cerf,who in the 1970s helped create the TCP/IP protocols on which internet communication is based, said that if the use of the internet were to be controlled by “monopoly broadband providers”, the investments in data centres and other infrastructure necessary to expand its reach would not be made. “No one would be willing to make any investment at all because they wouldn’t have access to the net in such a way as to make a return,” he said.
   Mr Cerf,who joined Google two years ago, has acted as an adviser to its senior management when evaluating acquisitions and investments in new technologies, and spends time with research engineers “explaining what research problems need to be answered”.
   After addressing the Edinburgh International Television Festival this week, Mr Cerf argued that media companies would begin to see more consumers willing to pay for their content online.
   “I do think that as time goes on, the consumer will understand the value of the content and be willing to pay,” he said. “But here we still have some education to do.”