Home > Market Research > Broadband & Fixed > Guide to Municipal Broadband Network Projects 

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Market Study
Published: September 2006
Pages: For full details, please email keithw@cmsinfo.com
Tables: For full details, please email keithw@cmsinfo.com
From: GBP 1750.00   Buy Now!
Research from: Pioneer Consulting
Sector: Broadband & Fixed

The issue of the "Digital Divide" has arisen as the Internet has rapidly spread throughout the world and the benefits of being connected to the Worldwide Web have become more apparent. In more developed markets, this issue has been given a new dimension by the arrival of broadband connectivity, offering users a much-enhanced browsing experience. However, for a number of reasons, the availability of broadband in these markets is by no means ubiquitous. In municipalities where economics, demographics, or topology have discouraged the traditional providers of Internet services from investing in broadband, constituents have begun to lobby their politicians for access to what is quickly becoming regarded as a utility and an essential service, rather than a luxury that low-income communities, small populations, or remote locations must forego.

Spurred by the desire to benefit the community they serve and by the threat of losing votes (not to mention the potential for supplementing the public coffers), municipal authorities, particularly in the United States but also in Europe and Asia, have launched "municipal broadband" initiatives.

This report presents case studies of various municipal initiatives around the world, highlighting the issues and challenges that the municipalities concerned have had to face. The various solutions they have chosen to address such issues as, "Who should own the network?", "Who should operate it?", and "How much control over pricing and coverage should a municipality be allowed to have", are described in this report.

The report also profiles key contractors and equipment suppliers and describes the various wireless and fiber technologies that are being applied to this market.

The purpose of this report is to provide municipalities with a comprehensive understanding of the technologies and the issues that they will likely face. In particular, there is much debate over the benefits and dangers of local government becoming involved in commercial markets and the implications that this has for fair competition. The report looks objectively at each of the arguments for and against municipal involvement in broadband access provision and separates out the real issues from the "red herrings". A detailed description of state and federal legislation dealing with municipal broadband in the United States is also provided.

The report concludes with a set of detailed guidelines on the various stages of managing a broadband network project based on the experiences, gathered through Pioneer's primary research, of real people who have been involved in such projects. Pioneer has built these experiences into a spreadsheet investment model with indicative values which can be altered to satisfy the circumstances of a particular municipality. This model is available for free to purchasers of the multi-user version of the report and at a small additional cost to the single user version.

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - Executive Summary

1.1 What is Municipal Broadband?

1.2 Report Structure

1.3 Report Purpose

1.4 The Technologies

1.4.1 FTTH

1.4.2 Wireless

1.5 Business Models

1.5.1 Municipal Wireless

1.5.2 Municipal Fiber

1.5.3 Hybrid Model

1.5.4 Types of Business Models

1.6 The Market

1.6.1 Deployments

1.6.2 Vendors

1.7 The Ownership Question

1.8 Regulations

1.8.1 US

1.8.2 Europe

1.9 Guidelines

1.9.1 First Steps

1.9.2 Do Homework and Identify Community Needs

1.9.3 Generate a Consensus, Identify Business Models and Technology

1.9.4 The RFP Checklist

1.9.5 The Deployment

Chapter 2 - Introduction

2.1 Municipal Fiber

2.1.1 Technical Comparisons

2.1.2 Why municipalities consider FTTH?

2.1.3 Types of FTTH

2.2 Municipal Wireless

2.2.1 WiFi

2.2.2 WiMAX

Chapter 3 - Business Models

3.1 Municipal Wireless – Business Model Factors

3.1.1 Capital Expenditure

3.1.2 Operating Expenditure

3.1.3 Operating Variables

3.2 Municipal Fiber - Business Model Factors

3.2.1 Capital Expenditure

3.2.2 Operating Expenditure

3.2.3 Operating Variables

3.3 Discounted Cash Flow (DCF)

3.3.1 Introduction

3.3.2 Discounted Cash Flow Analysis

3.3.3 Wireless - Discounted Cash Flow Mode

3.3.4 FTTH - Discounted Cash Flow Model

3.3.5 Hybrid Model

3.4 Types of Business Models

3.4.1 Privately Owned – Privately Operated – Open Access

3.4.2 Privately Owned – Privately Operated – Closed Access (Franchise Model) 6

3.4.3 Single Municipality-Owned – Single Municipality / Private Entity-Operated – Closed Access

3.4.4 Multiple City Consortium-Owned and Operated – Open Access

3.4.5 Single Municipality-Owned – Single Municipality-Operated – Open Access

3.5 Conclusion

Chapter 4 - Case Studies

4.1 Municipal Wireless

4.1.1 United States

* St. Cloud, Florida
* Tempe, AZ
* Addison, TX
* Philadelphia, PA
* Houston, TX
* Dayton, OH
* Boston, MA
* St. Paul, MN
* OneCleveland, OH


4.1.2 Europe

* Westminster, UK


4.1.3 Asia

* Taipei, Taiwan


4.2 Municipal Fiber

4.2.1 United States

* UTOPIA, UT
* Lafayette, LA


4.2.2 Europe

* Amsterdam (CityNet)
* Stockholm (Stokab)


4.2.3 Asia

* Singapore


Chapter 5 - Vendor Profiles

5.1 Wireless - Contractors

5.1.1 EarthLink

5.1.2 MobilePro

5.1.3 MetroFi

5.2 Wireless - Equipment Providers

5.2.1 Tropos

5.2.2 Strix Systems

5.3 FTTH - Contractors

5.3.1 DynamicCity

5.3.2 Atlantic Engineering Group (AEG)

5.3.3 Fiber Planners

5.4 FTTH - Equipment Providers

5.4.1 PacketFront

5.4.2 Alcatel

5.5 Conclusion

5.5.1 Wireless

5.5.2 FTTH

Chapter 6 - The Ownership Question

6.1 The Stakeholder Issue

6.2 The Network Control Issue

6.3 The Equipment Restrictions Issue

6.4 The Speed of Deployment Issue

6.5 The Financial Risk Issue

6.6 The Marketing and Customer Support Issue

6.7 The Monopoly Issue

6.8 The "Level Playing Field" Issue

6.9 Conclusion

Chapter 7 - Regulations
7.1 United States

7.1.1 State

7.1.2 Federal

7.2 Europe

7.2.1 European Union .

7.2.2 Individual EU Member State Regulations

7.2.3 Summary

Chapter 8 - Guidelines for Municipal Broadband Projects

8.1 Phase 1 - The First Steps

8.1.1 Check Regulations

8.1.2 Set up a project group

8.2 Phase 2 - Research & Identify The Community's Needs

8.2.1 Create a "Needs" Checklist and survey current infrastructure

8.2.2 Generate Feedback from the Community

8.2.3 Visit municipalities that already have a municipal broadband network

8.2.4 Educate oneself about the technologies and security issues

8.2.5 Option of issuing an RFI .

8.3 Phase 3 - Generate Consensus, Identify Business Models and Technology

8.3.1 Identify the Business Model and Technology

8.3.2 Initiate pilot projects

8.3.3 Combine all information gathered into a feasibility study

8.3.4 Create a Consensus in the Community and in City Hall

8.3.5 Create the right expectations

8.4 Phase 4 - The RFP Process

8.4.1 The RFP Checklist

8.5 Phase 5 - The Deployment

8.5.1 Highlight Initial Successes

8.5.2 Raise Flags if Necessary

8.5.3 Countering critical press articles targeting network performance and coverage

Appendix 1: Enacted or pending State bills restricting municipal participation

Appendix 2: Federal bills related to Municipal Broadband

Appendix 3: State barriers that died in Committee

For full details, please email keithw@cmsinfo.com

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