Municipal Wireless Research Articles

Profiling of a large-scale municipal wireless network

Pervasive connectivity is an essential underlying substrate for smart cities, leading municipalities to start programs where Wi-Fi is the fundamental building block to develop public Municipal Wireless Networks. Even though hundreds of cities around the world offer some form of Wi-Fi access, there are no widely available results regarding the network Quality of Service (QoS), user Quality of Experience (QoE), and overall utilization profile. The Municipality of São Paulo operates a free Wi-Fi Internet program in 120 public spaces called digital squares. We collected user connection data, network performance, and service availability for more than 2 years from the 120 squares and undertook experiments with video streaming in five squares. We used this unique large dataset to evaluate the impact of current admission control practices in public Wi-Fi networks on the network QoS, user QoE and service availability, also providing insights into the most common QoS/QoE issues and their causes. We also leveraged the data set to establish and verify a correlation between the number of users access in the network and specific events occurring in the area.

Compact dual‐band circularly polarised antenna with omnidirectional and unidirectional properties

A novel dual-band circularly polarised (CP) antenna is presented in this study. The proposed antenna is composed of a U-slot patch and four sequentially rotated shorted monopoles. Different from conventional omnidirectional CP antennas with shorted monopolar patches, a novel capacitively coupled technique is proposed to achieve good impedance matching, which makes it possible to generate unidirectional CP patterns simultaneously. This antenna can generate omnidirectional CP radiation patterns in the global positioning system L1 band (1575 ± 5 MHz) for navigation application and unidirectional CP radiation patterns in the 2.4-GHz industrial, scientific, and medical band (2.40-2.48 GHz) for municipal wireless networks. The dual-band performance can be tuned separately. Experimental results confirm the good performances of a compact antenna with the size of 0.26 λ 0 × 0.26 λ 0 × 0.026 λ 0 . The obtained 10-dB impedance bandwidths can cover the two required bands. The 3-dB axial ratio (AR) bandwidths cover the lower band and the upper band from 2.425 to 2.46 GHz. In addition, a wide 3-dB AR beamwidth of 200° is obtained at 2.45 GHz. The simple structure and good performances make this antenna a good candidate for handheld devices and vehicular applications.

What Drives the Partnership Decision? Examining Structural Factors Influencing Public-Private Partnerships for Municipal Wireless Broadband

ABSTRACT Municipalities across the United States are in various stages of wireless broadband implementation. Policymakers establish wireless broadband networks for a number of reasons, including promoting economic development, supporting internal operations, and providing affordable access to citizens. While some governments provide wireless broadband access as a public service, others partner with private firms. This article exploits the variation in approaches and examines the structural factors that give rise to public-private partnerships. The results show that partnerships for wireless broadband are more likely among municipalities with political-administrative autonomy and greater economic viability. For municipalities seeking to address inequities in broadband access, these results can have profound implications, as partnerships are often the most viable deployment option. In addition to examining determinants of wireless broadband partnerships, this study aids in understanding which municipalities are more likely to benefit from partnership approaches as this form of alternative service delivery increases.

Who Should Regulate Entry into IPTV and Municipal Wireless?

We are at an unusual moment in telecommunications. We have two very live cases of entry: Internet protocol television (IPTV) and municipal wireless broadband. IPTV will create new competition with cable, satellite and over-the-air broadcast TV, promising lower prices and new services. Muni wireless makes it possible for local communities to add new broadband capabilities to compete with DSL and cable broadband. Unsurprisingly given the newness of the services, there is substantial uncertainty about whether and how these services should be regulated, and we have seen legislative action at municipal, state and federal levels. To assess that, I set forth a general framework for matching jurisdictions to tasks and consider coordination costs; information aggregation; speed; tailoring; and competence, capture and corruption. I also set forth a typology of legislative approaches: mandatory federal; default federal; uniformity by choice; experimental labs and competitive federalism; and mixed jurisdiction regulation. I also consider specific regulatory issues for telcom entry control, namely, the extent of the natural monopoly and the desired level of cross-subsidization. I consider four prior of telcom entry and regulation: cable TV franchising; control over pole attachments; the local entry preemption provisions of the 1996 Telecommunications Act; and entry into satellite broadcasting. With that framework, I turn to muni wireless and IPTV. Muni wireless turns on decisions about quintessentially local assets, such as municipal light poles, and provision of the service involves few across-jurisdiction externalities. Plus there are a number of decisions regarding the service - tradeoffs between advertising and price and disagreements over the extent of the digital divide - that suggest we should see natural variation in the services. That makes local control appropriate and we should be critical of contrary state and federal efforts. For IPTV, a critical question is the required scope of entry: to what extent will an entrant be required to build-out services to serve an entire local area? Again that turns on contested conceptions about universal service obligations and would be best addressed locally.

Complex city systems: Understanding how large technical systems innovation arises in cities

Information and communications technology (ICT) is being exploited within cities to enable them to better compete in a global knowledge-based service-led economy. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, cities exploited large technical systems (LTSs)—such as the telegraph, telephony, electrical networks, and other technologies—to enhance their social and economic position. This paper examines how the LTS model applies to ICT deployments, including broadband network, municipal wireless, and related services, and how cities and city planners in the twenty-first century are using or planning to use these technologies. This paper also examines their motivations and expectations, the contribution to date, and the factors affecting outcomes. The findings extend the LTS model by proposing an increased role for organizations with respect to an individual agency. The findings show how organizations form themselves into networks that interact and influence the outcome of the system at the level of the city. The extension to LTS, in the context of city infrastructure, is referred to as the complex city system framework. This proposed framework integrates the role of these stakeholder networks, as well as that of the socioeconomic, technical, and spatial factors within a city, and shows how together they shape the technical system and its socioeconomic contribution.

Milano Digital City: Planning the Municipal Wireless Network of Milano

Planning municipal wireless access networks is a challenging task, since many optimization choices must be taken in large metropolitan areas while, in turn, the number of free variables is very large, on the order of several millions. The aim is to optimize the position of wireless access points, as well as their connection to the backbone network. This paper is focused on the Digital City project, i.e. the municipal wireless access network of Milano. We formalized the problem of choosing appropriate access points' locations and connecting the wireless access network to the backbone network. We designed an optimization algorithm, based on a fast heuristic approach, and applied it to a real-world scenario: the 51-km2 city area of Milano (Italy). The proposed heuristic algorithm was extended to support mobility. Results show that the additional cost for supporting user mobility is limited to few percent.

Learning processes in municipal broadband projects: An absorptive capacity perspective

Effective knowledge management is important to the success of information technology projects. This research applies the integrated lens of the absorptive capacity theory and the social process model of information system development projects to examine the dynamic of knowledge activities concerning broadband infrastructure development in the context of municipal broadband networks. The research questions are: (1) What is the extent of the dynamic of knowledge activities involved in the development process?, (2) What are the events that trigger knowledge activities in municipal broadband development?, and (3) How does a city create and utilize new knowledge in the development process? This study examines municipal wireless projects in three cities (Chaska, MN; Hermosa Beach, CA; and Fredericton, Canada). Events that trigger knowledge activities are assignment of personnel, physical system construction, performance problems, resistance, and reassignment of organizational roles. Four factors that influence knowledge activities and project performance are the dynamic of technology development, partnership commitments, limitation of external knowledge and learning-by-doing, and political dynamics. The study has policy implications for cities that are in the process of planning and deployment. A good project planning, user expectation management, systematic performance evaluation, a careful partner selection process, and the use of service level agreements are important to project success. In addition, cities need to take into consideration that the technology is not a plug and play technology and that considerable efforts are needed to integrate the technology with other solutions to deliver broadband services as well as to configure the system according to topologies, street conditions, buildings, density of trees, among others.

Dis-Connected City: Is Municipal Wireless Right for New York?

The history of municipal wireless projects in the United States has been a mixed one, with success dependent on the type of operating model and a variety of local factors. This paper reviews a number of these projects and examines the policy rationales behind providing municipal wireless services. It then looks at the state of wireless and broadband accessibility in New York City, and considers how the City might promote accessibility in keeping with the policy rationales identified.

E-Accessibility and Municipal Wi-Fi

One of the typical design objectives of municipal Wi-Fi systems is the free or low-cost provision of connectivity for citizens, including people with disabilities and others impacted by the digital divide. This paper examines a range of municipal Wi-Fi implementation models for potential impact on e-accessibility. A comparative analysis was undertaken of sample U.S. and European municipal Wi-Fi systems to assess the business model and stakeholders involved in municipal wireless initiatives and to examine the degree of accessibility to or sensitivity of, municipal wireless systems for people with disabilities. As many people with disabilities are currently affected by social disparities in education and income, further marginalization of their communication and information access creates additional access barriers to critical information and full participation in community life.

The Future of Municipal Wireless in the United States and Europe

As the information age progresses, the need for cheap, easy Internet access increases if we want citizens to be able to participate in the global economy. In both the United States and the European Union, cities have taken the lead in attempting to provide Internet access via wireless Internet networks. So far, these efforts have met with limited success at best, and, at worst, have ended in utter failure. Nonetheless, the need for access to the 21st century's most important means of communication continues to be a pressing need. In this paper, I will examine past efforts by both American and European cities to develop municipal wireless networks, and will discuss several projects on the horizon. As technology advances, it will become easier and cheaper for cities to develop wireless networks. Although a low-cost (or free) citywide network has the potential to interfere with the private market for Internet service, the public good inherent in universal service outweighs these negative consequences when the private market would under-serve a certain community. When, however, the private market has provided the means to connect in a competitive marketplace, the role for city governments may be more limited. The existing laws in the both the EU and the United States implicitly recognize that government intervention is appropriate only where private market development has been impeded, and thus correctly shapes future wireless broadband development projects. Please note: This is a work in progress. Comments and criticism are welcome and may be directed to karenchesley@gmail.com.

Municipal wireless broadband: Lessons from San Francisco and Silicon Valley

In December 2005, the city of San Francisco issued a request for proposal (RFP) for a community wireless broadband network. This initiative received significant national and even international attention, largely because of San Francisco’s visibility in the high tech world, and the involvement of Google in the consortium selected to build and operate the network. However, the project died without any network being built. In the past year, several other US municipal wireless initiatives have floundered or died. This article analyzes municipal broadband through a case study of the San Francisco’s project, examines the reasons for its demise, and compares San Francisco’s approach with other models for municipal wireless adopted by nearby Silicon Valley communities. It concludes with lessons and unresolved issues from the San Francisco experience and neighboring projects relevant for other municipal broadband initiatives and for broadband community access in general.

A study of e-government infrastructure through WiFi implementation: strategic pricing to recover costs

As cities saw the need to improve communication capabilities for their employees and to serve economically disadvantaged residents, several US municipalities responded by deploying a citywide WiFi network. Nevertheless, the cost and the price of municipal wireless service is a major factor in the transition to e-government. A problem for municipal wireless providers is competition from commercial broadband providers. The authors surveyed the current status of municipal wireless networks and compared it to the introduction and adoption rate of commercial 3G technologies. Game theory analysis was used to determine an effective and competitive price.

Deploying for Deliverance: The Digital Divide in Municipal Wireless Networks

The use of information technology (IT) is growing; access and use differ among those from different races, ethnicities, income and education levels, jobs, ages, and genders. Although some argue that broadband technology could be the platform for universal access, the benefits are still debatable for municipalities providing access. The authors discuss how public officials have decided to lead, support, and usher in an era of rapid IT development through wireless broadband networks to address digital divide concerns, and how these claims may meet—or fail to meet—expectations. The purpose of this paper is twofold: (1) to propose a fruitful investigative overview of U.S. cities claiming that a municipal wireless network will bridge the “digital divide”; and (2) to employ discourse analysis to examine the digital divide language 24 municipal wireless networks (MWNs) use.

Anytime? Anywhere?: Reframing Debates Around Community and Municipal Wireless Networking

Over the past three years, cities across the United States have announced ambitious plans to build community and municipal wireless networks. The phrase ‘anytime, anywhere’ has had a powerful impact in shaping the way in which debates about these networks have been framed. However, ‘anytime, anywhere’, which alludes to convenience, freedom and ubiquity, is of little use in describing the realities of municipal wireless networks, and, more importantly, it ignores the particular local characteristics of communities and the specific practices of users. This paper examines the media representations and technological affordances of wireless networks as well as incorporating the practices of those that build and use them in an attempt to reframe these debates.

Why Should Governments Support Broadband Adoption?

Governments justify support of Internet diffusion on two grounds: (1) to overcome a persistent digital divide in broadband availability and (2) to facilitate online activities that are socially or economically desirable. This paper assesses both these claims. Using individual-level data from Forrester Research, the analysis finds significantly lower residential broadband adoption in lower-income and lower-density zip codes, controlling for individual characteristics. Further tests show that lower adoption in these areas is evidence of a persistent digital divide in availability. The analysis then assesses how broadband adoption changes individuals’ usage of online activities. Broadband adoption increases individuals’ frequency of researching health information online, but there is no evidence that broadband adoption increases usage of online job sites or online government services. Localities currently considering municipal wireless (Wi-Fi) initiatives should focus on digital divide justifications rather than expecting to raise usage of a wide range of online activities perceived to be socially desirable.

Municipal Wi-Fi: big wave or wipeout?

This article describes some contemporary cases, explores the perspectives of municipalities, providers, and legislators, and examines some examples that could synchronize the various stake-holders' positions. We focus here mostly on US cases. Deployment of wireless services to cities and towns has become a topic of considerable controversy. At the center of the debate is the decision by municipalities to offer low-cost service to citizens who would normally be excluded from the Internet. This "digital divide" justification often pits large cities against incumbent telecommunications providers. Legislation at the national and state levels has been somewhat favorable to the providers so far, but this bias might be shifting as more large providers join, rather than oppose, municipal wireless projects.

Making IT work for municipalities: Building municipal wireless networks

Abstract The lack of widely available, affordable broadband Internet access has spurred a movement in which municipalities are rolling out wireless broadband networks. This movement has raised a number of questions including: Why are municipalities acting as the early adopters of wireless broadband technology? How does increased state regulation of municipal broadband networks affect this trend and how can cities respond? As cities use wireless broadband technology to enhance services to citizens, the growth of municipal wireless deployments has transitioned from linear to exponential. In response, many states have passed laws to regulate and restrict cities' ability to own, operate, deploy, or profit from either telecommunications or information services. Current and pending laws will be examined to understand how cities can deploy a wireless broadband network under these regulations. An analysis of municipal facilities and technology expertise illustrates the opportunity for public–private cooperation in wireless deployments. This paper will show that cooperation is beneficial in many cases. Finally, current business models will be examined for their ability to foster cooperation between the public and private sectors, bridge the digital divide, and create competition among private sector providers.

Municipal wireless networks open new access and old debates

Around the world, ever-increasing numbers of government agencies are either deploying 802.11 wireless networks for public and administrative uses or studying how to do so. However, the booming popularity of municipal wireless networks has also amplified an ongoing public policy dispute, especially in the US. The author discuss the new access supports and the old debates of municipal wireless networks.