"The Future of Municipal Wireless -- US & UK Spending Through 2012," by Report Buyer, finds that the idea of municipal wireless is still a fledgling one. It predicts however that in the US and UK, it is likely to catch on like wildfire to display a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 48 percent from $900 million in 2007 to $6.4 billion in 2012.
The vast array of benefits that implementation of such a system would bring would include making broadband wireless Internet access available to mobile professionals, police and fire department personnel having on the spot access to time sensitive information, lower communication costs for government agencies and also enhanced reputations as progressive cities, says the study.
Authors of the report say that different cities have different goals in setting up such a community Internet system. Some wish to expand Internet access to disadvantaged citizens, others want to provide government workers with connectivity to internal systems at all times. Some cities believe municipal wireless will lend impetus to attracting new businesses to their communities.
About 400 cities in the US and UK have deployed or are currently building municipal wireless networks. The report says a key determinant in the development of this trend is the applications cities choose to run on the networks. For instance, a number of cities have introduced video surveillance solutions on their municipal wireless networks so that public safety agencies can monitor activity via streaming images from wireless cameras that are placed strategically in targeted areas of a community.
Analysts have noted that a public-private partnership between the government and the Internet service providers is likely to work well, allowing each to focus on core competencies. Vendors are allowed to maintain and own the network, but use the city's infrastructure, such as street lights and traffic signals, to mount the equipment. Such a partnership would provide citizens, businesses and public employees with low-cost -- or even free -- 24/7 Internet connectivity while outdoors.
