COOPERSTOWN, NY  - A new method for calculating broadband take rates reveals that demand for broadband is significantly higher than it was thought to be – a finding that changes the business case for service providers considering further buildouts.

Consulting firm Brian Webster Consulting published a revised methodology for calculating broadband take rates in the United States. Using the approach described in Webster’s new white paper, the broadband adoption rate in areas where broadband services are available is 72.9 percent, or about 10 percent higher than currently accepted industry estimates. The report has a breakdown for each state.

Based on these higher take rates, broadband deployments or expansions may be economically viable in areas once written off due to low household density. More accurate data and the ability to identify exactly where unserved homes are located leads to better-informed deployment strategies and more effective use of funding to address unserved households.

“Combining the enhanced broadband take rate with other economic data and trends as input to return-on-investment models and analysis,” notes Haig Sarkissian, principal consultant at Wireless 20/20 LLC, “builds additional confidence for investors on the merit of the broadband deployment business case.”

Brian Webster Consulting teamed with data provider Gadberry Group to design and prototype an approach that provides near address-level provision for broadband consumption and take rates.

“Earlier this year we provided several first-round [stimulus funding] applicants with block-level demographics, including consumer broadband usage,” explains Gadberry Group principal Larry Martin. “Combining these data with innovative analysis techniques has led to this new perspective on broadband take rate.”

“By leveraging our years of mapping experience, we help our clients strengthen their business case and go-to-market plans, allowing them to present their cases more clearly with images as well as with hard data,” says Brian Webster, principal consultant. “With the new insight provided by the census block take rate, business case analysis is further enhanced, thereby reducing the risk in the broadband investment and deployment.”

The complete white paper is available on the WirelessMapping Web site .

WirelessMapping.Com has been providing wireless and geospatial mapping services for seven years, both with and without accompanying demographic reports that show the number of households covered or passed. Most recently WirelessMapping has been involved in census block level mapping and demographic support services to clients developing applications to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) stimulus funding through the NTIA BTOP and RUS BIP. Past and current clients include Lockheed Martin, EarthLink, Covad, Federal Engineering, Sprint PCS, ExteNet Systems, Southern California Gas and Electric, Strix, Thunder Bay Telephone Company and BroadbandCensus.com.

NORTHFIELD, MINN. (December 3, 2009) — Broadband stimulus grant applicants can cut proposal prep time, dramatically reduce their risk to challenges and create more accurate statewide broadband maps to support a national broadband strategy using the first national broadband database. BroadBand Scout℠ from data and analytics company ID Insight reports broadband connectivity and usage down to the census block, also helping broadband service providers open new markets.

BroadBand Scout provides instant access to the data required to successfully apply for grant monies from the $7.2 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 broadband stimulus program. This same data also allows broadband and wireless carriers to cost-effectively target new areas for service expansion and better research competitors.

BroadBand Scout was developed by a unique analytical survey process of accessing the millions of records in ID Insight’s proprietary databases that were initially assembled to track retail activity. By combining known Internet access information with address-related data, BroadBand Scout allows clients to see connectivity and usage at the most granular level. For more information, visit www.IDInsight.com/broadband.asp.

“Communities, carriers and states have been starving for this data,” said ID Insight president Adam Elliott. “Understanding current broadband usage by geography is an ongoing need for stimulus applicants as well as for the broadband and wireless carrier community. By creating easy access to extensive data and sophisticated analytics, we see a phenomenal opportunity for service providers and communities to develop a data-driven approach to planning so they gain access to grant monies that may have otherwise been impossible to get.”

One of the biggest frustrations of stimulus grant applicants is compiling the necessary broadband usage data as required by the federal agencies awarding the funds. They are further frustrated by the difficulty in defending proposals from challengers who claim incumbents already cover the areas where applicants plan to provide broadband. With BroadBand Scout, communities and companies are able to accurately identify broadband access and usage when requesting grants from the broadband stimulus program.

ID Insight is partnering with broadband industry expert Craig Settles, president of Successful.com, to deliver professional services that assist stimulus grant applicants prepare and defend their proposals, and help state broadband mapping teams effectively execute their projects. “The key to effective broadband strategy, both locally and nationally, is to capture accurate connectivity data directly from consumers and businesses,” said Settles. “ID Insight offers an excellent combination of expediency and accuracy that broadband project leaders need.”

In October 2009, the first grant application to receive funding was for statewide broadband mapping projects to support the FCC’s efforts to develop a national broadband strategy. BroadBand Scout enables states to launch their projects faster and execute with greater accuracy to meet the FCC’s requirements. Other stimulus funding awards should be announced in January 2010. There is one additional round of stimulus funding with all funds distributed by September 30, 2010.

ID Insight is currently licensing the data and information to companies, states and communities. The data is available in reports summarized at the state, county, tract, block group or block number levels. Using its patent-pending analytics system, ID Insight can also provide case-by-case consulting services to predict additional high-potential expansion markets. Besides grant applicants, these services are valuable to broadband carriers looking for insights, validation and competitive advantage for their plans to open new markets.

Broadband Webinar
Broadband industry expert Craig Settles and ID Insight president Adam Elliott are co-hosting a free Webinar to discuss the vital role accurate broadband usage data and coverage maps play in implementing an effective national broadband strategy on Wednesday, December 16, from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. Eastern. To register, visit https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/212771379.

About ID Insight
ID Insight, the innovator in Access-Point Intelligence, knows more about people and their access points — physical addresses, IP addresses, phone numbers and other points where fraud occurs — than any other identity-fraud risk-assessment company. Based in Northfield, Minn., the company combines its massive collection of data on people and access points with patent-pending analytics to help companies prevent fraud, reduce costs and capture more business. ID Insight provides next-generation market research, verification, authentication, and fraud solutions to financial services companies, credit issuers, retailers, online merchants and wireless providers nationwide. For more information, visit www.IDInsight.com.

About Successful.com
Successful.com has delivered community broadband services since 2006, though it provided services to technology companies and end-user organizations beginning with its inception in 1986. Previous needs assessment clients include the City of Glendale, Calif., the Little Tokyo area of Los Angeles and several cities in Santa Clara County, Calif. For over 20 years the firm’s workshops, consulting services and books have helped government and other organizations worldwide use technology to cut costs, improve business operations and increase revenue.

NORTHFIELD, MN  – A new set of nationwide broadband maps is now available from analytics firm ID Insight. According to the company, these maps enable broadband stimulus grant applicants to cut their proposal preparation time, reduce their vulnerability to challenges and create more accurate statewide broadband maps to support a national broadband strategy. BroadBand Scout from ID Insight reports broadband connectivity and usage down to the census block, also helping broadband service providers open new markets.

BroadBand Scout provides instant access to the data required to successfully apply for grant monies from the broadband stimulus program. This data also allows broadband and wireless carriers to cost-effectively target new areas for service expansion and better research competitors.

Spinoff From Retail Databases

BroadBand Scout was developed by an analytical survey accessing the millions of records in ID Insight’s proprietary databases that were initially assembled to track retail activity. By combining known Internet access information with address-related data, BroadBand Scout allows clients to see connectivity and usage at the most granular level.

“Communities, carriers and states have been starving for this data,” says ID Insight president Adam Elliott. “Understanding current broadband usage by geography is an ongoing need for stimulus applicants as well as for the broadband and wireless carrier community. By creating easy access to extensive data and sophisticated analytics, we see a phenomenal opportunity for service providers and communities to develop a data-driven approach to planning so they gain access to grant monies that may have otherwise been impossible to get.”

One of the biggest frustrations of stimulus grant applicants is compiling the necessary broadband usage data as required by the federal agencies awarding the funds. They are further frustrated by the difficulty in defending proposals from challengers who claim incumbents already cover the areas where applicants plan to provide broadband. With BroadBand Scout, communities and companies are able to accurately identify broadband access and usage when requesting grants from the broadband stimulus program.

ID Insight is partnering with broadband industry expert Craig Settles, president of Successful.com, to deliver professional services that assist stimulus grant applicants prepare and defend their proposals, and help state broadband mapping teams effectively execute their projects. “The key to effective broadband strategy, both locally and nationally, is to capture accurate connectivity data directly from consumers and businesses,” says Settles. “ID Insight offers an excellent combination of expediency and accuracy that broadband project leaders need.”

In October 2009, the first grant application to receive funding was for statewide broadband mapping projects to support the FCC’s efforts to develop a national broadband strategy. BroadBand Scout enables states to launch their projects faster and execute with greater accuracy to meet the FCC’s requirements. Other stimulus funding awards should be announced in January 2010. There is one additional round of stimulus funding with all funds distributed by September 30, 2010.

ID Insight is currently licensing the data and information to companies, states and communities. The data is available in reports summarized at the state, county, tract, block group or block number levels. Using its patent-pending analytics system, ID Insight can also provide case-by-case consulting services to predict additional high-potential expansion markets. Besides grant applicants, these services are valuable to broadband carriers looking for insights, validation and competitive advantage for their plans to open new markets.

The Everything Channel Virtual Event SMBs: Ready For The Rebound allowed me to participate without leaving my office; I was able to join live seminars with the added value of knowing each session will be available for replay, visit each exhibitors booth, chat live with virtual sales agent, request information and chat with any participant in the event lounge by selecting individuals name from live listing of who is online based on people I may know, company they are with or information in their profile.

I have participated as a Virtual Sales Agent and Attendee in a few Virtual Events now and I wonder why more groups are using Virtual Events more. So I plan to look at the economics and update.

What do you think?

Three articles I want to point out to you that should get you thinking about the future of Wi-Fi:

(1) Andy Abramson’s long and thoughtful piece about sponsored Wi-Fi, sending party pays and the future of media in which he argues:

“Public Wireless” really takes hold, not from the telcos, or even the cable companies, but from the likes of Google, who understand how to monetize “free” better than anyone, and who also have the delivery billing system in place to bill back to a “sender” the same way they can bill back a click to an advertiser. Google, will then work with their “partners” in Clearwire, not to promote 4G WiMax as the pipe, but to use real WiMax in consort with companies like Comcast, Covad and TowerStream to deliver super fast Gigabit wireless to a series of access points around the country, where it then is distributed using WiFi. This is more than a likely scenario as Google has been a pioneer in Public Sponsored WiFi access for sometime, with their Mountain View WiFi network which has been up and running for a few years, surviving the failed Earthlink, MetroFi and other third party operator networks. By blending the “sponsored” public access model as Google has done with “sending party pays” the end user sees little or no cost.

(2) Network World’s eight ways 802.11n changes Wi-Fi

According to Network World, the approval of the 802.11n standard means improved security, higher data rates, better RF and interference management, use of Wi-Fi by devices never before associated with Wi-Fi, connecting to non-WiFi networks, personal area Wi-Fi (e.g. Wi-Fi Direct, which allows a Wi-Fi device such as the iPod Touch to connect directly to another Wi-Fi device such as a printer).

This is nothing new to those of you who have read Ken Biba’s articles on MuniWireless. If you have not read Ken’s articles, click on the links below:

The King is Dead, Long Live the King: 802.11n dramatically improves Wi-Fi outdoors

Real world measurements show muni Wi-Fi networks outperform WiMAX and cellular

(3) What Wi-Fi Direct means for Mac users: Glenn Fleishman has written a very informative article about how the Wi-Fi Alliance’s new Wi-Fi Direct standard greatly improves ad hoc Wi-Fi networking, that is, Wi-Fi connections between two devices (without the need of going through a base station).

via muniwireless.com

I was inspired to do a long article about Wi-Fi at conferences by Joel Spolsky’s article Wi-Fi At Conferences where he asks why Wi-Fi works so poorly at tech conferences. Muniwireless has organized conferences in the past and I won’t say that the Wi-Fi at our events has ben the very best either (however, it was better than at most events I’ve attended). You would think that by now, Wi-Fi access at conferences, especially tech events, would be something no one would even notice — that is, it should just work well. But that’s rarely the case.

Dewayne Hendricks (who has provided Wi-Fi at David Isenberg’s Freedom To Connect events in Washington DC, Social Capital 2009 in San Francisco, West Coast Green 2009 in San Francisco and others) pointed out that in many hotels and conference centers, the existing Wi-Fi network can handle only 20 to 25 connections at one time and the bandwidth for the network is barely enough for people who are downloading and uploading data. Conferences today have to deal with people who are updating blogs, Twitter feeds, and Facebook pages, and who are sending photos, video clips, and reports. Some attendees are also using Skype and other VOIP applications. Unfortunately, many venues are too cheap to install new 802.11n access points, and because the bandwidth that feeds into the network is too paltry, the conference organizer – if it wants to guarantee a good Wi-Fi experience – will have to bring in both the access points AND the bandwidth (for example, Covad). This dramatically increases the cost of hosting an event. (Note: Dewayne used Apple Airport Extreme 802.11n access points which worked very well at the Freedom to Connect event held in March 2009 at the AFI Silver Theater in Silver Spring, MD. I attended this event and would rate the Wi-Fi experience outstanding.)

Here is a sample quote (dated September 2009) from a well-known bandwidth provider for bringing in (wireless) bandwidth into a venue (each amount quoted below is a one-time fee). This is just the bandwidth; it does not include the access points, the fee charged by the Wi-Fi service providers for installing the access points, managing the event’s Wi-Fi network, dealing with problems and meltdowns, etc.

• 5 Mbps: $3999
• 10 Mbps: $5999
• 20 Mbps: $9999
• 30 Mbps: $11,999
• 45 Mbps: $16,999

Andy Abramson, founder of Comunicano, agrees with Dewayne’s assessment of hotel Wi-Fi and adds that most hotels have less than 5 MB of connectivity. Some hotels limit the number of users to 250 concurrent users. Andy believes that hotels have not realized how much Wi-Fi means to an event’s (and the hotel’s) reputation. Most conference attendees rate Wi-Fi connectivity as one of the three most important needs at a conference.

Q&A with Tim Pozar on how to improve conference Wi-Fi

I wanted to unravel the mystery surrounding what it takes to bring good Wi-Fi to conferences by asking Tim Pozar, a network engineer who has been hired by conferences such as TechCrunch 2009, Intel Developers Forum, SNAP and more. Below is our Q&A.

(1) Why is Wi-Fi service so horrible at most conferences, including at hotels where there’s already Wi-Fi and/or wired broadband? What can you do to improve Wi-Fi service?

There are several reasons. In the case of built-in Wi-Fi at hotels, they really don’t design it for conferences. They design it for general guest use around the hotel. They install a minimal set of access points and don’t use a number of the tricks we have used for conferences. Also, on-site hotel staff usually do not have technical expertise to address issues. Most of these installs were done by third parties that may not currently have a support contract with the hotel. If they do, or if the hotel supports it, it is done off-site by some remote network operations center (NOC).

Where a conference organizer brings in an company to provide Wi-Fi access and the network fails, it can be for a number of reasons. Typically I see small companies that are trying to grow larger and don’t test the deployment or think through all the failure points that can happen with a large-scale deployment. When I was called in to solve the Wi-Fi problems at TechCrunch 2008, the wireless provider had some serious problems, not the least of which was the DHCP server they were running, which only supported 250 or so leases. Needless to say, that alone stopped the use of the wireless network pretty early on in the conference until I came in to fix it.

I also notice that many vendors just don’t understand RF propagation and how to manage it. They think that more is better: more access points and/or more power. In most cases, this is the opposite of what you want to do as it just congests the spectrum even more. There are a number of tricks that we use at MSI to try to manage the spectrum.

Redundancy plays a big part of a deployment. If you have a conference that depends on broadband for the success of the event, you can’t have a single point of failure. Having multiple transit providers, DHCP servers, etc. are critical as things fail all the time. Having any service fail will likely make the deployment unusable and worthless for the event organizer.

(2) Why haven’t hotels and conference centers done much to improve the quality of wireless broadband for conference organizers who are already paying a lot of money to host events at these locations?

Good question. It seems that large hotel chains could make this a profitable item, but as with most hotels, they figure they have a captured event and don’t need to put any more effort into this. Also, as mentioned above,
they have had third parties come in and do the deployment. One size does not fit all events and they almost never have technical staff on site to address the problems of this deployment because it costs too much to keep them on the hotel’s payroll.

(3) Why do most conference organizers fail to provide good Wi-Fi? Ignorance? Cheapness? Both?

Both. You get what you pay for. MSI’s deployments include a significant staff that can deploy and address problems during the event quickly. The network engineers that MSI uses (including me) are veterans of decades of networking experience. I have seen a number of wireless providers who think all they need is a broadband connection and some access points thrown around the location. Of course, it is much more complicated than that.

Event organizers don’t have the technical background and skills to do the “due diligence” to see if a vendor has the ability to pull of a deployment. They really need to look at the vendor’s track record with similar deployments and many just don’t have the time. In other cases, the event organizer will choose the wireless vendor who is offering the cheapest solution.

(4) What advice would you give conference organizers? What should they look for, what questions should they ask the hotel or the company they are hiring to bring in Wi-Fi to the conference?

As mentioned above, look at the track record of the company. Ask for references. Ask for previous event’s reports. (MSI always creates daily reports on an event, including bandwidth and number of users. It also includes problems encountered.) Ask them about their technical qualifications. Have they done similar events? How many people attended these events? Were they “tech” events where everyone shows up with multiple devices — laptops, smartphones, etc.?

Meet with the company and discuss the event’s requirements. Ask them how they would deploy the network in detail: where they would place access points, how they are going to bring in bandwidth. Ask them about
redundancy such as transit providers, equipment, staffing. Ask if the gear they are going to deploy has been used at events of similar size recently. Ask them about how they will deal with outages and problems. Will they provide a high-level network engineer at all times? How will they be reached during the event?

(5) In terms of costs for providing Wi-Fi at an event, how much should a conference organizer budget (taking into account  the number of attendees, size of venue, type of event — obviously a conference around streaming video/entertainment would suck up more bandwidth)?

This can vary greatly from $2000 a day for a small event (up to 300 people) and no redundancy; to $100,000 and more per day for larger events (up to 30,000 people) that could take over a conference hall like Moscone Center in San Francisco, and a serious build out that would address multiple failure points.

Tim Pozar has been a network and RF engineer for more than 20 years. Past projects, besides broadband deployment for conferences, are a 30Mb/s, 50Km connection the the Farallon Islands to support personal on the island and a live streaming camera for the California Academy of Sciences. Currently he is designing and deploying a city wide fiber network for the City of San Francisco. Pozar also designs and deploys VoIP networks for national teleconferencing companies and high reliability Internet networks for enterprise and ISP companies.

I have made this article into a PDF file posted on Scribd so you can download it, print it, send it around.

via muniwireless.com

LAPTOP’s Guide to 4G from LAPTOP Magazine on Vimeo.

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA – Customers are more satisfied with residential high-speed Internet this year than they were last year, mostly because of higher connection speeds and fewer service outages.

Every year, J.D. Power and Associates asks consumers to evaluate their Internet service providers based on performance and reliability; cost of service; customer service; billing; and offerings and promotions. This year, overall satisfaction reached 639 on a 1,000-point scale – 22 index points higher than in 2008. Satisfaction with performance and reliability now averages 687, a 43-point increase from 644 in 2008.

In many instances a household’s Internet connection acts as the backbone of its voice, video and information services, making the provider’s ability to provide a fast, reliable connection particularly critical,” says Frank Perazzini, director of telecommunications at J.D. Power and Associates. “As households become more dependent on services provided via the Internet, eliminating outages and providing consistent connection speeds will become necessities in Internet service providers’ business models.”

J.D. Power found that consumers are becoming more interested in bundled telecom services, with the proportion of customers saying they will probably or definitely bundle services in the next year increasing to 52 percent from 43 percent in 2008. The most popular telecom bundle is a video/Internet combination, selected by about a third of customers who bundle services. Triple-play (voice, video, data) bundles increased from 16 percent in 2008 to 19 percent in 2009.

“Internet service may be considered the linchpin of the bundled offering, serving to drive both customer loyalty and incremental sales opportunities,” said Perazzini. “As competition for new customers increases among Internet service providers, retaining the existing customer base while promoting additional voice and video will continue to be critical.”

The highest-rated ISPs included Verizon in the East, Bright House Networks in the South, WOW! in the North Central region and EarthLink in the West.

The study findings include the following key trends:

The proportion of high-speed Internet service customers loyal to their provider has increased by two percentage points from 2008, to 32 percent in 2009. Additionally, 66 percent of customers state they “definitely will” or “probably will” recommend their provider to others in 2009-an increase of four percentage points, compared with 2008.

Among customers who contacted their service provider to resolve a problem or question, average hold times have decreased by nearly 30 seconds in 2009, compared with 2008.

While Hispanics trail other U.S. populations in overall access to the Internet, they also are among the most avid users of mobile broadband, a new report finds.

In fact, 53 percent of Hispanics use mobile broadband, compared to 33 percent of whites, according to the report, published Wednesday by the nonprofit Hispanic Institute.

Hispanics also outpace the general population when it comes to digital media consumption, with 42 percent accessing and downloading digital media, compared to 35 percent of those in the general population.

The report notes that there are 48 million Hispanics living in the U.S. with 81 percent of them concentrated in 10 states, including Florida, which has 20 percent of the Hispanic population.

The report suggests that policymakers consider Hispanics’ concerns as they develop a national broadband strategy.

It recommends, among other things, that broadband access be expanded, and that consumer-friendly tax policies be implemented to ensure that not only Hispanics, but other minority and lower-income populations, can continue to afford wireless broadband services.

In addition, the report recommends that Lifeline/Link-Up programs continue to offer discounts to qualified, low-income wireless customers. “These policies are essential to help Hispanics make a complete transition to mobile participation in the new American innovation economy,” the report states.

Click here to read the full report.

Yesterday, the Feds awarded $3.4 billion to 100 smart grid projects across the U.S. There were about 400 total proposals. Since these are 50-50 matching grants, that means total dollars being queued up by these entities for smart grids is quite substantial.

For public and private sector organizations seeking broadband ARRA grants or planning to build networks without these grants, this smart grid investment could have stimulating effect. Those who stand to really benefit are urban areas submitting broadband adoption and public computer center proposals, and urban areas that may have given up on ARRA altogether after seeing the NOFA rules.

Big picture view

The best way to describe things so you see why yesterday’s news is important is to break down a smart grid into its main components.

There is the smart meter device that’s attached to (or built into) water, gas and electric utility meters at commercial and residential buildings to collect data on energy usage. The data collected can help utility companies manage their energy resources more effectively. Utilities can also communicate with these meters, sending data, commands to turn down air conditioners, queries to find the source of water leaks, etc.

Smart meter devices generally have their data aggregated to another computing device mounted at some point in the neighborhood, maybe one aggregation point per 100 dwellings (a hypothetical number). Then all of the aggregation points have to traffic their data back to the utility or wherever else it needs to go.

Overall, the smart grid can also be tapped to manage mobile utility workforces who can communicate with office staff and smart meters, as well as access office computer networks, via wireless mesh built into the grid and handheld mobile devices. The grid is also envision as a cost effective way to move energy such as that collected on windmill farms from one point of the country to another.

A primary intersection between smart grid and broadband potentially exists through the data backhaul infrastructure of the grid. A community’s fiber network can provide the backhaul for this aggregated data. Or a utility can build its own fiber backhaul and determine how to make that fiber available for local government and other institutions for their use. These stimulus grants went to public utilities, so local government and the community can have some influence in a discussion on the matter.

The mechanics of this whole smart grid are complex, but you get the big picture view. All of the things people are talking about doing with smart grid, such as moving “green” energy from windmill farms and proactively managing energy usage, require at some point a fast data connection. That means fiber (the ideal) or possibly super-fast fixed wireless.

How to leverage the opportunity

Community broadband projects that survive the first phase of cuts in the NOFA round 1 funding process will soon go into a due diligence phase where NTIA/RUS will ask applicants to clarify and fine-tune their proposals. If an applicant is in an area that won one of these smart grid grants, they need to get with the smart grid winner ASAP and determine how the broadband proposal can be tweaked to incorporate, or integrate with, aspects of the smart grid project.

The end goal for NOFA applicants would be to strengthen the business case or the technology strategy of the broadband proposal. For the smart grid grant winners, this collaboration can lead to a better overall infrastructure that moves their data more efficiently. You can even contact the 300 applicants that didn’t win a grant. Smart grid is pretty important in utilities’ future plans, so they should at least listen to what you have to say.

Urban areas definitely need to jump on this opportunity with both feet. Public utilities in Philadelphia and Baltimore are just two major cities that won big grants, and these are areas that have little or no chance at getting an infrastructure grant. But if big cities have broadband adoption and/or public computer center proposals in the queue as Philly does, they possibly can work out a way to tap into aspects of the smart grids wireless network or backhaul. Because the network infrastructure would already be paid for, NOFA applicants can make a stronger case for financial sustainability of the project.

The devilish details

When contemplating the details of making this work, the first thing I always consider is the politics. Big utility companies in big cities mean potentially big political headaches trying to integrate the efforts needed to make this whole vision work. On the other hand, no risk, no reward, no pain, no gain.

There are a number of technology and potentially complex standards issues at play that have to be worked out. Different smart grid companies use different technologies for the devices that sit on meters, and this can play havoc with getting the data to a standard backhaul pipe such as a fiber or a WiMAX network. Not all of those devices are built around IP-based technology.

While those who understand WiFi networks’ potential to improve utility meter management praise the use of wireless mesh by some smart grid companies, some of these companies use different wireless than 802.11. Looking at which smart grid projects receive funding will help determine what standards should start to shake out. Did the IP-based projects get the lion’s share of the awards?

Bottom line? It’s clear where there is the potential for an intersect, and why it behooves broadband stimulus applicants to meet with utilities winning smart grid grants. But everyone involved must be prepared for a lot of work to make the integration happen.