Just when municipal Wi-Fi projects are gaining support from incumbent telcos, the battle between the City of New Orleans and BellSouth Corp. slaps the conflict back onto center stage. New Orleans’ Chief Technical Officer Greg Meffert asserts that BellSouth, through telecom lobbyists, is pushing for legislative measures to shut down the Wi-Fi network. BellSouth denies the move.
Prior to Hurricane Katrina, the city had installed a wireless mesh network for crime surveillance and security along St. Charles Avenue during the city’s famed Mardi Gras and JazzFest celebrations. After Katrina, Meffert put the mesh network to work as a free communications tool for those who needed it. For the duration of the city’s state of emergency, the wireless network’s bandwidth would be limited to 512 kilobits per second, but according to Louisiana state law, the bandwidth must be lowered to 128 Kbps once the emergency is declared over.
However, the Louisiana State Legislature is considering a measure that would deny cities the right to lets its citizens use its Wi-Fi network for free, even in the case of emergencies.
Most of New Orleans’ equipment for the Wi-Fi network already has been donated by Intel Corp., Tropos Networks Inc., Pronto Networks Inc. and other companies. The city said it plans to purchase additional networking equipment.
BellSouth and other telecom carriers suffered serious financial losses from the storm. The Federal Communications Commission reported that Hurricane Katrina took out 2.8 million phone lines, more than 420,000 cable-TV connections and cable Internet connections and at least 1,600 cell-phone towers in Louisiana and Mississippi. Basic phone services are still not available to one-third of New Orleans’ daytime population of 250,000. Indeed, New Orleans dropped from a top 40 market to No. 92 on Telecompetition Inc.’s list of the nation’s top 100 cities by cellular subscriber.
Last week, Meffert reportedly said he’d rather go to jail than shut down the city’s Wi-Fi network. Meffert maintains that the network has become the communications lifeline of the city, and he says he will not shut it down, especially as the city’s displaced residents are likely to begin returning to the city at the end of the school year.
BellSouth says its Wi-Fi strategy is being portrayed unfairly by media reports. “Contrary to what has been reported, BellSouth is not trying to shut down the City of New Orleans’ Wi-Fi system,” stated Merlin Villar, director of external affairs at BellSouth. “There is a state law which provides rules and regulations cities must follow when they enter the competitive telecommunications industry. That law was passed last year with support from both industry and local government. The law does not prevent New Orleans or any other local government from providing Wi-Fi service.”
But Wi-Fi analysts spanked BellSouth.
“They are a profit-making company, and it’s normal for them to want to protect their market,” said Esme Vos of Muniwireless.com. “But they are being so unbelievably stupid about this. They’re just doing all the wrong things-it would be better if they just shut up. The situation is just silly. They’re so busy with their merger, and with deciding who will stay and who gets fired, that they just aren’t thinking. Why shouldn’t people in New Orleans have this network?”
Craig Settles, author of Fighting the Good Fight for Municipal Wireless, said, “Public access is helping get the city back on its feet, and BellSouth is kicking the city when it’s down. I hope people don’t forget this, because it’s absolutely appalling for BellSouth to act this way. Their level of insensitivity is absurd. Of all the commercial options the city has been presented with, Wi-Fi makes the most sense to them. All around the country, market forces are stating that this is where we’re going. For BellSouth to try to stop Wi-Fi-it’s like they are trying to nullify what the people want. They are being complete, callous bullies. They are not the people, they should not decide for the people. The legislature is supposed to speak for the people, and it will have to decide it it’s going to go along with what BellSouth wants to do, or with what the people have said they want. The citizens are the people, and they should decide what technology they will use. BellSouth is trying to make these decisions for people, and I dare say that that’s anti-American behavior.”
As the Louisiana state legislature ponders the battle between New Orleans and BellSouth, other telcos are getting in on municipal Wi-Fi projects.
Sprint Nextel Corp. announced that its local communications business, now called Embarq, will launch with a mesh Wi-Fi broadband network trial in portions of Henderson, Nev. During the trial, city officials, businesses, individuals, and first responders such as fire and police officials will have free access to broadband while in the field.
Sprint said the 90-day trial provides it with a vital market and partner to measure user experience and acceptance of the technology.
“Our approach is to work side by side with local communities to bring them cutting-edge technologies that deliver the newest products and services,” said Kenny Wyatt, vice president of marketing and product development for business at the carrier.
“We view this as an opportunity to complement the great set of services we already offer. The trial gives us a chance to look at various business models, and to understand which ones are viable for us. We think of Wi-Fi mesh as an extension of our technology portfolio.”
Sprint’s trial isn’t as surprising as AT&T Inc.’s bid to build a Wi-Fi network for use by about 325,000 residents in Washtenaw County, Mich., because Sprint has not been fighting municipal Wi-Fi projects the way AT&T has.
“We share the vision of making affordable broadband service available to as many homes and businesses as possible,” said AT&T in a statement. “And we believe the best option is to stimulate private investment in broadband. Our focus is not to actively oppose municipal networks, but we believe local government wherever possible should rely on private initiatives and broadband investment by private companies who have the proven expertise in this field.”
AT&T also recently announced plans to buy BellSouth.
“I urge a great deal of caution before anyone goes thinking that AT&T is giving up its fight against muni Wi-Fi projects,” said Settles. “Why are they changing their tune? Cities need to be cautious. In the joy and exuberance of feeling like the incumbents are on your side, don’t give away the store.”
Vos notes that across the county, 13 out of 14 state initiatives limiting municipal Wi-Fi projects have failed in the last couple of years. RCR
