High Wireless Act in Massachusetts

By Jim Barthold

While some in the public safety community are clamoring for a piece of the 700 MHz spectrum being abandoned by broadcasters moving from analog to digital, others see the immediate advantages of using free spectrum in the 4.9 GHz range that's been set aside for public use.

Brookline, MA, is one of the first communities in the United States to deploy a city-wide Wi-Fi network that incorporates 4.9 GHz technology for public safety and municipal operations. The Brookline Police Department expects to use the wireless link to gain immediate access to police reports and crime incidents and provide remote video surveillance as well as do geographic information system (GIS) mapping to buildings, modeling and manipulating 3G graphics from remote locations within the 58,000-resident city.

"Brookline approached this endeavor with public safety being the first area of interest and their primary goal," said Sandy Bendremer, vice president of Galaxy Internet Services, the anchor ISP for the combined network. The Boston area community believed "4.9 was a pretty important component for the network. The discussion here in the region is, 'Why wouldn't you put it in?' It certainly is a valuable asset, being one of the few real broadband alternatives that's licensed for public safety. Why wouldn't you want it? The incremental cost is not so dramatic as to make it impractical to do it."

There are two primary reasons why 4.9 GHz spectrum hasn't gotten more play: Not many companies actually build the gear, and the viability, durability and range of the spectrum for the public safety conduit has been questioned, especially since earlier versions of 4.9 GHz gear roughly equated to 802.11a Wi-Fi.

Upping the power

Strix Systems, which is building the gear for the Brookline deployment, has had 4.9 technology "for a little while … scattered all over the place," said Kirby Russell, director of product marketing.

There were, Russell conceded, some problems with coverage and range with the early gear that used a Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC-A) mask. Later technology increased the range using DSCR-C to "inject more power (with) a power range of 20 dBm or greater," said Russell. "We do various things within the product to extend that range even further. We have a lot of flexibility to improve on what is a standardized technology."

Brookline's 4.9 GHz deployment resembles what 700 MHz might someday provide - if and when public safety gets hold of any of that spectrum. Since a number of telecommunications concerns – including cable, wireline and wireless telco and even some WiMAX proponents – are looking at 700 MHz and since the federal government expects to reap multiple billions of dollars of revenue from its auction, it's not clear that public safety will ever get any for free.

"It's still pretty far off when it becomes widely available," said Bendremer, noting that "700 MHz holds some promise for a lot of things."

Available now

Since 4.9 is available now, "we're seeing more municipalities ask for it," he said. "There are a lot of eyes on Brookline to see how well it's going to work. There are other 4.9 installs here and there, but this is, as far as we know, the first border-to-border."

In exchange for the public safety set-up, Brookline is giving Galaxy the ability to sell commercial services throughout the community – a nice side benefit that isn't the same as just building a municipal wireless network, Bendremer said.

"It's a fair tradeoff, but there are more costs from an upfront standpoint and maintaining and supporting it," he said, noting that the commercial and public safety networks will ultimately be merged into a single integrated piece of equipment. Brookline, he added, is "by no means an underserved area" when it comes to commercial high-speed data offerings, "but we think we have a compelling product for very good demographics and very good density."

So far, he said, the ISP hasn't aligned with incumbent cable or telco operators – although that remains a possibility for using wireless link that will blanket the entire residential and commercial community.

"We would expect to offer a couple different tiers of commercial services that I would consider equivalent to lower cost DSL and cable and also T-1 replacement," Bendremer said. And, of course, the city will get its piece with some free hotspots, a Web site and city information.

Those things, though, are relatively common in municipal wireless networks; what's different in Brookline is the 4.9 GHz public safety network.

"The vendors need to start producing 4.9-capable equipment, and the municipalities need to start using it," Bendremer said.

- Jim Barthold