Wireless Municipal Networks in Europe the case. Petros KAVASSALIS

Transcription

1 Wireless Municipal Networks in Europe the case Petros KAVASSALIS With With help help from from S. S. Domoxoudis. Domoxoudis. T. T. Emmanouelides, Emmanouelides, H. H. Sabalis Sabalis

2 Wireless Municipal Networks (WMNs( WMNs) Municipalities: Infrastructures deployment and management Water network Street Light network Local Transportation network + Data network +1 Wireless bandwidth (Wi( Wi-Fi) Broadband (large pipes) Providing Internet access and e-gov more to the citizens 2

3 Models for WMNs Downtown hotzones - cluster of contiguous Wi-Fi hotspots Wireless broadband network covering entire neighborhoods City-wide wireless network Internet feed (connection to the wired network) root A network of mesh nodes (radio devices) backhaul A network of local nodes connecting to mesh nodes 3

4 Technically speaking + 4

5 Current situation City hotzone deployments have slowed down but cities are now focusing on building city-wide wireless networks to provide public service (by distributing ADSL connectivity small cities or on top of their fiber ring) US cities are massively invest in wireless broadband infrastructures (Gillett, 2006) Does regulation in Europe make it more difficult? Paris enters the club: Paris Ville numerique (B. Delanoe, ) USA 5

6 Motivation Opportunity: The rise of non-licensed spectrum in both Europe and US Rationale [Gillett et al, 2004, Bar & Park, 2006, Gillett, 2006]: Operate non-expensive intra-government networks efficient management Improve e-government e services (parking meters, traffic signals, anywhere available online information from municipal databases) better services Attract new business to strengthen local economic development (broadband is key driver for accelerating local growth!) economic development Provide public service, universal and affordable Internet access to the citizen economic welfare Rationale 6

7 one more concern 7

8 Hersonisos,, Crete ( ( Highly visited tourist area (15 km from Iraklion) permanent residents households > SMEs WHER21: High speed wireless mesh backbone provisioned by multiple ADSL lines (kx1mbps) Network investment (initial): E Coverage area: 2x2 km square Number of initial mesh nodes: 17 Target 1: Every public office, school, library, will be connected to the WHER21 Target 2: Network extension to provide Internet to citizens and business: self- growth (through private cheap client nodes connecting to public mesh nodes) Bands Used: 2.4GHz and 5GHz WHER21 policy objectives Improve Quality of Life Promote Tourism & Economic Development Leapfrog Current E-Government E Service Levels 8

9 WHER21 Mesh Network 9

10 WMNs in perspective This is what Hersonisos is doing now But there are several issues here that need a larger European coordination and considerable R&D effort Technical (related to an open-to to-innovation communication policy): Select open and scalable WMN architectures Business: Organize the operational sustainability of these networks Policy: Reform existing regulation to encourage for more municipal involvement in the development of local access (to the Internet) networks) 10

11 Technical issues Critical issue: mesh architectures Very little collective experience in Europe in architectural design for WMNs mesh networks Mesh has been mostly developed in US (funded by DARPA) Technology trajectory in plein evolution (multiradio( nodes, smart antennas, new routing techniques etc.) Innovation in this area related to beyond 3G R&D Proposition: Deploy EU WMNs in concentration with the telecom equipment industry Internet feed Possible Mesh Paths Actual Mesh Route 11

12 Business issues Critical issue: economic sustainability of WMNs based on a Public- Private Partnership (PPP) WMS are deploying in a variety of organizational arrangements and business models City owns/operates Business operates With no sustainable business plan, and no institutions to produce collective learning on how to manage WMNs,, many municipal projects will fail There is also need for a specific partnership framework to avoid eventual against-public public-interest interest situations (corruption) Proposition: Encourage experimentation and information/experience exchange, and provide a (technical/legal) framework to verify the transparency of PPP agreements 12

13 Policy issues Critical issue: the multiplication of access networks to the Internet Currently, strong convergence trends in the telecom industry Services are again bundled with networks A new wave of industry concentration Broadband penetration is going to reflect a certain fracture de la société A large part of EU falls behind Narrowband areas survive even within metropols and highly populated areas There is need to encourage innovative, low cost (i.e. disruptive) ) network architectures and competition at the last mile level There is also need for more unlicensed spectrum Proposition: Municipalities and Regions should co-ordinate ordinate to promote clear policy objectives in favor of the deployment of WMNs networks. We want to take this initiative and call other people to participate! 13

14 Thanks! Hersonisos MuniWireless // MIT Communications Futures Program //cfp.mit.edu/groups/broadband/muni_bb_pp.html New America Foundation / Wireless Futures Program Interesting papers F. Bar & N. Park, 2006, Mun. Wi-Fi Networks: The Goals, Practices, and Policy Implications of the US Case, Comm & Strategies (IDATE) I. Akyildiza,, X. Wang, W. Wang, 2004, Wireless mesh networks: a survey, Computer Networks S. Lindmark et al, 2006, Alternative Wireless Technologies: Status, Trends and Policy Implications for Europe, Comm & Strategies (IDATE) 14