EarthLink Unveils Network Alliance Program
BALTIMORE -- EarthLink will launch a nationwide municipal wireless partnership program with small ISPs to better meet various cities’ deployment schedules, said company Vp-Corporate Development Bill Tolpegin. Keynoting at ISPCON here Tues., Tolpegin described the program, which the company is calling EarthLink Network Alliance, as a way to expand its service territory and advance muni wireless without stretching too much financially. Though dial-up, voice and other services will remain prominent parts of EarthLink’s business, he said, this move signals the increasing importance of municipal wireless to the company.
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About 75 small and midsized cities with 31 million users over about 17,000 square miles will issue RFPs or RFIs in the next 18-24 months, Tolpegin said. EarthLink’s Network Alliance program is a way of getting to as many of those municipalities as possible, he said. Because the company has about $400 million cash on hand and no debt, EarthLink is “leading the charge” for nationwide wireless deployment. The upside to EarthLink, he said, is that the company will add a way to move dial-up customers to more lucrative, lower-churn alternatives over wireless networks as rapidly and in as many regions as possible; small, local ISPs gain access to EarthLink resources, wholesale equipment pricing and roaming agreements. “This is a land grab,” Tolpegin said, urging small ISPs at ISPCON to consider the benefits of the roaming agreements alone.
“You can design your network the way you want, but you have to make the business case” for it, said Raghu Rau, Motorola senior vp-global mktg. & strategy, who also keynoted. Effective partnerships and business models are a key element in getting the U.S. wireless, he said, adding “there’s no reason” Korea has 70 million wireless broadband users while the U.S. languishes. With compelling technologies like Motorola’s Canopy networking, BPL and Wi- Fi, municipal wireless networks are ripe for the building, he said.
Topegin said EarthLink “prefers to partner with Motorola networks in the short term at least,” because its service is optimized for Motorola, though he said there might be longer- term possibilities for partnerships based on “user acceptance.” At the application and customer level, he said, “it’s best if we had Wi-Fi everywhere.”
Tolpegin was cautious in his projection of “free” wireless networks, however. Responding to a question from a local ISP executive who said her city is pushing for free service, he said “'free’ is a little premature.” The free service model is “confusing” for tabulating ROI and revenue per user, he said, which scares away underwriters and investors. Cities are “getting a bit caught up,” he said: “Free” applied only to the network at first and then a free tier of service in some munis -- and now in some smaller cities “free” implies no charge for 4.5 Mbps service. EarthLink is offering broadband over its muni networks for $21.95 month, he said -- a dial-up price - and “there are a lot of questionable business models out there” in the world of free networks and free high speed service.
Metro Ethernet
Small ISPs and alternative access providers are anticipating effective use of spectrum in the 60-90 GHz range, especially for its application in metro Ethernet, according to several ISPCON panelists Tues. The licensed spectrum in the 70-90 GHz range could be a very effective workaround of fiber-to-the-premises setups for small providers, said Jeff Hendrickson of Cogent, while Paul Niezgoda of OnFiber Communications said the spectrum could be a solid “last meter” solution for unwired large buildings. Executives of several small providers in the audience said they're awaiting the unlicensed spectrum in the 60 GHz range, because it can be reliable up to a mile in some cases.
Small providers in the metro Ethernet space “fly under the radar” for FCC regulation because they don’t offer traditional voice, said EasyStreet Online CEO Jeff Bader, but they still have the opportunity to wire major office buildings and multiple dweller units (MDUs) in metro areas. The business models they discussed are similar to the “tiny reborn CLEC” approach to MDUs seen as a threat by BellSouth Community Technologies Group Pres. Phil Jacobs: Access deals with building managers; the ability to form relationships with developers; and the freedom to deploy Ethernet at low cost in buildings with no network. Hatteras Networks Vp- Product & Network Management Gary Bolton said only 11.4% of metro buildings have access to fiber, citing a private study commissioned by the company. Because the fiber market grows so slowly, yet the larger providers are so committed to it, he said, this means there’s a “very large unaddressed market” for metro Ethernet in corporate buildings, law firms and elsewhere. Bolton added that the stability and standards- based model, along with lower overhead, of metro Ethernet would bring giants like BellSouth and AT&T into the fold soon.