I argue that the real problem is that the School staff is not educated on where to look for alternate broadband providers. The school needs to be more resourceful.
Surely they should be able to price shop between the 4-5 satelite providers to gain a better price for satelite. > 2. Does anyone have experience deploying satellite Internet access? How > much > does it cost and how reliable is the service? Yes Hughes Satelite performs very poorly. But I'd also argue, how fast does 20 computers for elementary school kids really need to be? >5. What would it cost to deploy a 100 mile microwave link between Corning > and Weaverville with a minimum of 50Mbps of bandwidth but preferably > 100Mbps I'm sure they could do it for much less than the $50k. > or 1Gbps? Yes, there are many variables but assume worst case. In general, > would this work and what is ballpark/order of magnitude pricing for this > link? Are we talking about $500K, $1M, $5M, $10M or $50M?? Regarding 1 GB, Shouldn't even go there. GB technology is extremely overpriced. And not viable for those distances. So it would be a loosing arguement for the case study. But without a doubt there is absoltuely no reason they'd ever need a GB connection. I barely need a 100mbps connection for my entire network in a major tier 1 market. > What is the > longest microwave link deployed by Clearwire for backhaul? Not sure I understand the question. Clearwire is not a backhaul provider. They are a last mile Mobile Wimax provider. A big VC funded Clearwire would not be the appropriate company to price compare. What this school needs is a WISP to come out and do an engineering study for them, and get them a quote.. > 4. What does "not engineered for local feeds" mean? Is it possible that > the > fiber is for a long haul connection and it would be very expensive or > impossible to connect Trinity County to the fiber? Is ATT telling the > truth, > outright lying or lazy? Of course ATT is telling the truth. There is no reason for them to lie about that case. What is also likely true is that infratructure could be modified to reverse that claim, but there is not a large enough revenue proposition to justify modifying infrastructure to enable an interconnection point in that town. Whether its a truth or not, its an outrage that ATT will not try harder to accommodate serving educational venues. Again, a good reason to call a WISP. These stories do not get sympathy from me. I jsut dont believe there are not WISPs that would be willing to assist these communities. These are the types of cases that should be getting teh Feds to understand that what they really need to be doing is creating a fund, to pay WISPs to custom build out solutions to these type problems. We dont need 100 million dollar fiber grants. We need case by case grants to pay WISPs to engineer solutions. I bet that school's $50k would have been much better spent paying a WISP to build out 4 towers and a 100mbps link, and then at the same time, 4 more communities could be served allong the way. Tom DeReggi RapidDSL & Wireless, Inc IntAirNet- Fixed Wireless Broadband ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tim Sylvester" <t...@avanzarnetworks.com> To: "'WISPA General List'" <wireless@wispa.org> Sent: Tuesday, March 16, 2010 6:52 PM Subject: [WISPA] NPR Story on FCC Broadband Plan and Internet Access inTrinity County California > On Monday, NPR aired a story on the FCC Broadband Plan and Internet access > in Trinity County California. The story by Laura Sydell was in > anticipation > of the FCC Broadband Plan today and profiled Trinity County, a rural > county > in northern California. > > You can read/listen to the story at: > http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124703744 > > I have a few technical/business questions for the group. > > The story talks about Brunt Ranch Elementary School with 92 students that > paid $50,000 for a satellite Internet connection. The school is not happy > with the cost and the connection does not work reliably. The school > doesn't > have much money and only has 20 computers. Putting aside the questions > about > who should pay for the connection and why an elementary school needs > Internet, here are my questions: > > 1. What type of satellite Internet connection costs $50,000? > > 2. Does anyone have experience deploying satellite Internet access? How > much > does it cost and how reliable is the service? > > 3. Does anyone have experience with Hughes Networks satellite Internet > service? I exchanged e-mail with a Hughes rep and they offer 5Mbps > business > class Internet service for $399/month using a .98M dish. You can pay > $28/month for 7x24 on-site service and $20/month for 5 static IP > addresses. > > The story also talks about ATT fiber that runs through the county but ATT > won't connect anyone in the county to the fiber. ATT claims that the fiber > is "not engineered for local feeds." A local ISP has requested to "tap > into" the fiber to provide Internet access in the area. My questions are: > > 4. What does "not engineered for local feeds" mean? Is it possible that > the > fiber is for a long haul connection and it would be very expensive or > impossible to connect Trinity County to the fiber? Is ATT telling the > truth, > outright lying or lazy? > > Finally, many people in the group have used microwave links for backhaul > to > rural areas. In a worst case scenario, Trinity County might be able to > connect to fiber deployed CENIC. CENIC is a non-profit organization that > connects educational and research institutions in California. CENIC has > fiber in Corning which is 100 miles from Weaverville, the county seat for > Trinity County. My questions are: > > 5. What would it cost to deploy a 100 mile microwave link between Corning > and Weaverville with a minimum of 50Mbps of bandwidth but preferably > 100Mbps > or 1Gbps? Yes, there are many variables but assume worst case. In general, > would this work and what is ballpark/order of magnitude pricing for this > link? Are we talking about $500K, $1M, $5M, $10M or $50M?? What is the > longest microwave link deployed by Clearwire for backhaul? > > Thanks, > > Tim > > > > > > -- > Tim Sylvester > Avanzar Networks > (408) 826-8350 (o) > (408) 334-1700 (m) > t...@avanzarnetworks.com > > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > WISPA Wants You! Join today! > http://signup.wispa.org/ > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org > > Subscribe/Unsubscribe: > http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless > > Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WISPA Wants You! 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