Jul

6

New Report on Muni Wireless Costs... But Where'd the Numbers Come From?

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sascha's picture

Jupiter Research just released a report on Muni Wireless costs and numbers. Esme Vos over at MuniWireless has already posted a quick blurb on what's known to date. We've been mailing back-and-forth and are both eagerly awaiting more information (and the actual data) that went into the report's claims.

Among the more controversial claims being made:

50% of Municipal Wireless Networks won't break even (over five years? at $25/user? and who knows under what other constraints?).

Municipal Networks will cost $150,000 a square mile to build (over five years? using what equipment? based on what topology?).

I'm skeptical of broad, seemingly monolithic claims about costs -- but I'll withhold judgement until I get a chance to actually read the report.

  1. John Kintree (not verified) on Sat, 2005-07-09 16:17

    Even if you use Jupiter Research's figure of $150,000 per square mile over five years, that works out to $30,000 per square mile per year. There could easily be 3,000 people living within a square mile in an urban area. That works out to $10/year/person, which is less than $1/month/person.

    So, how many people will actually subscribe in order to calculate the cost per subscriber? At a cost of less than $1/month I don't think there should be a subscription fee. The cost of the fee collection and administration wouldn't make it worth while. Would a 50% subscription rate for free broadband wireless be feasible? What would the value to the community be for that?