Obviously upstream costs vary depending on where you are located. That isn't the whole issue here. At the last wisp we built out, we were accessing dual DS-3s at 2 central points and distributing them via 155Mbps radios throughout 6000 square miles. We found the lowest cost upstream provider at the time (WilTel which is now Level3) and piped it to where we needed it. We spent the money on the front end to provide high bandwidth services to where we would need it in the future so that we didn't have to worry about existing infrastructure. Those pipes are now now starting to fill up (from what I understand, I am no longer at that company) and they are adding more capacity on existing tower sites.
On the microwave side, solutions from companies like DragonWave, Ceragon, Nera, and Bridgewave give you tons of bandwidth availability. If you want to push hundreds of megabits of transfer, there are equipment solutions that are out there available to do so. I work with WISPs, carriers, private end-users, and agencies on a day to day basis that are upgrading their pipes today to get them in the lead tomorrow. Just because you are in a rural area (I hail from McAllen, TX on the US/Mexico border .. Pretty rural here too!) doesn't mean that you can't begin to provide the same types of service that are available in metro areas. Wok with your local fiber carriers, find out where their pops are, talk to them about tower co-location or dropping fiber to a nearby area to save on local loop charges, and shoot it to your NOC. There are a ton of different ways to skin this cat, and the equipment is there to help you do it. Some of it may be less expensive than you think too! -drew On 11/25/08 2:13 AM, "Scottie Arnett" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Drew, > > I once thought the world was full of rednecks and southern bells, until I got > out of the southern United States a few times. As a matter of fact, I thought > Vegas hung the moon! > > I am not sure where you hail from, but can you give us an idea of what your > upstream cost are? That makes ALL the difference in our discussion! MY point > is that even though I service very rural peeps, that they expect the same > service that their kinfolk have in metro areas! IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! Now > or NEVER unless there are some major undertakings! Not saying this will happen > everywhere, but 3 Mb/s is the MOST anyone can buy at the moment, at $75/mth. > > And if you are deploying Fiber or some wireless technology that you can > sustain streaming from for over 50 consumers at once at 2 MBps, we would love > to hear about it and the statistics. > > Scottie > > ---------- Original Message ---------------------------------- > From: Drew Lentz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Reply-To: WISPA General List <wireless@wispa.org> > Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:26:16 -0600 > >> The point that I was getting at when this thread started about 24 hours ago >> was about having an all you can eat type service. As it stands right now, >> how many ISPs are offering plans of 768k or 1Mbps or 3 Mbps? This is not >> going to cut it in the future. This is not going to cut it next year. >> >> I wasn't trying to say "well hell just buy more radios in the same frequency >> space and put them up on the towers" .. What I am getting at is that opening >> these subs up and supplying the bandwidth they need is going to have to >> become a reality at some point. If the networks that are in place today >> cannot satisfy that need, there will be other networks in the future that >> WILL be there. >> >> For what they have done with the physics side of it (i.e. Modulation >> schemes, channel reuse, beam forming, etc.) technologies exist or are being >> worked on to milk everything out of that valuable spectrum that we all try >> and operate in. >> >> The cars on the bike trail is a perfect example .. Luckily whether its 3.65 >> or TVWS or the 700 MHz auctions, that spectrum is becoming available. The >> hope is that the operators that are around today see this and position or >> align themselves (because yes Charles, the cold reality does hit you pretty >> quiickly!) to take advantage of this as soon as they can. And that doesn't >> mean just for the distribution side of their network. The backhaul, the >> routing, the switching, all have to be in place for this to operate >> properly. All too often have a seen pieced together WISPS fail due to bad >> switching equipment .. "well heck, this Netgear switch is only $59!!" >> >> Jack, I truly appreciate your perspective on this and I completely >> understand the side of it you are coming from. True, the amount of >> unlicensed space that is out there currently will not hold a network that >> supports as you said "high-throughput, high-reliability, moderate-cost, >> non-interfering networks" .. But that is today. With innovation in >> communications, as it has been proven time and again, where there's a will >> there's a way. Maybe the 5GHz spectrum can't hold what it needs to on its >> own, maybe there isnt a modulation scheme for stuffing more bits per hertz >> available today .. But that does not mean that multi-frequency equipment or >> innovation will not exist in the future. >> >> -drew >> >> >> >> >> On 11/25/08 1:01 AM, "Jack Unger" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> >>> Drew, >>> >>> As I've mentioned before - wireless "physics" does not allow you to >>> simply and affordably "build your network" for tomorrow but you do not >>> yet understand this point. No matter what the customer wants (or >>> demands) and no matter how much the WISP wants to build a >>> high-throughput network at a reasonable price, wireless "physics" >>> (specifically the lack of available spectrum) prevents this. With >>> limited spectrum (which is what we have today in spite of the arguments >>> that we have "WiMAX" in 3650 and future "White Space" and "opportunities >>> to partner with licensed carriers) WISPs can not build high-throughput, >>> high-reliability, moderate-cost, non-interfering networks that serve a >>> lot of customers without having access to more spectrum. As you point >>> out, watching bandwidth needs so you can "know what's coming" and plan >>> accordingly is important but you can not make physics (that's what >>> happens in the REAL world) bend to your business and marketing models. >>> The exact opposite happens - marketing plans fail because the technology >>> (the real-world PHYSICAL behavior) does not obey the marketing plan. >>> >>> There's nothing personal here - the PHYSICAL reality calls the shots and >>> it always wins. For example, it doesn't matter that I want (and General >>> Motors marketing plan may call for) a safe, five-passenger car that goes >>> 200 MPH all day and gets 100 MPG up and down an unpaved bicycle trail >>> through the Colorado Rockies along with 100 other cars simultaneously >>> and costs only $3000 to buy. You and I both recognize that in spite of >>> the marketing plan, it just is not going to physically work. No company >>> could build such a car for $3000 and if someone did, it would run off >>> the trail within 30 seconds as it accelerated, especially if there were >>> 100 other similar 200 MPH cars on the same bicycle trail. The bike trail >>> just can't support that kind of traffic even if the car could be built >>> for $3000. Wireless channel needs are the same. To support a lot of >>> traffic simultaneously needs a very wide road - a very wide, unshared >>> channel. >>> >>> Now I'm going to explain why I keep emphasizing this point - because it >>> needs to be understood so that the focus is placed in the proper area to >>> solve the problem - more spectrum. Yes - some wireless vendors aren't >>> delivering innovative products and some WISP owners aren't planning and >>> deploying properly but even when vendors do innovate and WISP owners >>> plan properly, SPECTRUM IS STILL NEEDED or the wireless physics won't >>> work and the wireless throughput still won't be delivered. >>> >>> Again, this isn't personal. I just refuse to allow this discussion to be >>> thrown off-track because the wireless physical foundation is not >>> understood. If we go off-track then the problem won't be properly >>> addressed and it can't be properly solved. I appreciate your good >>> business analysis but I will keep trying to the best of my ability to >>> address the underlying issue so WISPs stand a chance of being successful >>> now and into the future as end-user throughput needs continue to increase. >>> >>> Respectfully, >>> >>> jack >>> >>> >>> Drew Lentz wrote: >>>> This is the statement that got me: >>>> >>>>> One argument that I have had people tell me, is that the ISP should know >>>>> this is coming and should have planned for it. >>>>> >>>> >>>> Whether it is through watching the amount of bandwidth used over periods of >>>> time as a trend or doing market research to find out what is coming down >>>> the >>>> line in technology, this statement holds pretty strong. Best practices tell >>>> you to build your network for your needs tomorrow, not for today, not for >>>> yesterday. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- >>>> -- >>>> --- >>>> WISPA Wants You! 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