Community Wireless Networks - New Phenomenon and New Opportunity
Many citizens have identified these changing economics and have correctly recognized the new opportunity that their communities have to improve the local environment through better public connectivity. A chain reaction has resulted in a new phenomenon – a burgeoning market for community wireless or broadband networks. Many local governments and civic institutions (hundreds nationally) are somewhere in the process of building a community wireless network.
A variety of approaches and models have been tried. Experience has shown that several can work if they are carefully developed and accurately reflect their community’s unique character and needs.
Starting with the development of the ground-breaking Rhode Island Wireless Innovation Networks (RI-WINs) project – an effort to build the first border-to-border statewide wireless broadband network – RPM has developed a successful process for helping numerous communities (whether they are defined at the municipal, county, regional and state level) through this process. Each community is unique and represents a different set of requirements and challenges – from the complexity of dense inner city urban environments to the diverse needs of large rural regions that need critical services delivered to a sparse populated geography.
Any member of the public-private partnership needed for these network implementations will be interested in these services.
- Local governments that want to lower the cost and improve the delivery of public services, while also stimulating economic and cultural development.
- Educational institutions that hold licensed educational radio spectrum have a unique asset that can significantly contribute to enabling regional broadband wireless networks. Investing in a community network can yield potential returns that far exceed the simple cash returns from sub-licensing the spectrum to a commercial provider.
- Public safety organizations that need to insure communications and coordinated response to any emergency or mass casualty incident from numerous agencies.
- Organizations that wish to enable cross-sector collaboration and cooperation among higher education, K-12 systems, and industry; especially where outreach programs can channel local students in order to satisfy unique skill-set requirements.
- Healthcare institutions that want to share crucial medical information and streamline patient care regardless of delivery location – in hospitals, clinics, physician’s offices, EMR vehicles, or in the patient’s home.
- Any enterprise or civic institution that would benefit from lower delivery cost for current products and services, or the increased revenue generated from new products and services that are delivered with the help of a network.