A National Wireless Network for HEI Glenn Wearen Terena TF-Mobility Meeting Dec’08.

Agenda Campus networks trends Wireless strategy Tender for national mobile broadband service Statistics on NMBS use

Campus Networks are Changing On Campus –Wireless has already overtaken wired at some campuses! –Number of base stations Mean 156 Max 900 Min 16 Nationally – Comreg Q –Mobile Broadband 222, % Globally –4 Billion Mobile phones Globally Sources WINLAB, Telegeography 2007, Mike Norris, Comreg & Fred Clarke UCD

Q: What access network will your users use to connect to your network in 2010? Access technologies –Fixed network –WiFi –WiMAX –3G –LTE(4G) –Combination of all of the above? –Other technologies?

Answer A1) Stick with WiFi only on Campus A2) Negotiate 3G/4G service and remove WiFi A3) Build, wholesale or negotiate a WiMAX service A4) Combination of all of the above? A5)...

A4) Combination of all Introduces issues: –Roaming between WiFi/WiMAX/3G –On Campus and off campus overlap –Provision of services Mobile portal? More portals? Support – IT helpdesk, operator? –Authentication – SIM, Passwords, Identity Management –Spectrum issues, licensed, unlicensed –Others?

Wireless Strategy Needed. Two Choices; 1.Develop the strategy within HEAnet with consultation from our clients 2. Engage consultants to develop a strategy

Consultants Brief Investigate nationally ubiquitous wireless access to the HEAnet network for all HEAnet clients. Identify all potential options Identify & Investigate the most feasible options Recommend a Strategy

Strategy Approach Widespread Consultation 13 Candidate Solutions Initially Considered 5 Candidate Solutions Investigated in detail

Strategy Findings Overwhelming agreement - extend campus cloud Quality of Service Price/Cost Ease of use Regulatory Viability Commercial Viability –To deliver –To maintain Mobility Ease of delivery Inability to fund infrastructure from existing HEI funds

Define the Strategy Campuses did not favour any particular technology over another, provided the key objectives were met. Strategy could be delivered in phases.

Split the strategy Phase 1 - Mid Deliver a national high quality and affordable MNO wireless service – Sept 2008 Drive adoption – target - 10% of HEI market per annum DO NOT implement WiFi hotspot peering Rollout with emerging security middleware strategies –National Sectoral Federation –Eduroam

Split the strategy Bridge to Phase 2 Build sectoral expertise on next generation mobile wireless (WIMAX or others) by supporting and assessing nominated trials Apply to COMREG for sectoral Wireless licences (technology agnostic) Conduct annual and mid term review

Split the strategy Phase Mid Term Review – confirms technology selection Design, Procure and Deliver an on and off-campus WIMAX (or other) solution for participating HEI’s to: –Complement Campus WiFi services –Augment or Replace MNO Service for off campus WIMAX Service may either be –Sectoral built (HEI and HEAnet) OR Outsourced to Commercial provider Continue to drive adoption for near and off-campus – target 10% per annum Continue to drive middleware adoption.

Wireless Strategy Phase 1 ( ) –National Mobile Broadband Service –Continued rollout of eduroam –Implement existing middleware strategy to support mobility –Etc. –Proceed to Tender for NMBS

Tender Objectives Provide national coverage Price point at or below 15 Euro per month Dongle must not be a barrier to entry Different Contract options Available to staff and students Availability of service / Quality of service Support for IPsec, IMAP, SSH, Voip etc Ability to roam Support Reporting

O2 & HEAnet Offer O2 Clear - 9 month contract - 30 days termination notice - E220 Modem. 7.2Mbit/s down, 384kbit/s up - 5GB limit/month, 0.02 Euro/MB over this - Roaming possible but disabled by default - Monthly cost 15 Euro, modem 20 Euro. O2 Contract - 12 month contract - 30 day happiness guarantee - E220 modem. 7.2Mbit/s down, 384kbit/s up - 10GB limit/month, fair usage applies - Roaming possible but disabled by default - Monthly cost 13 Euro, modem 20 Euro.

O2 & HEAnet Offer Insight into carriers view of mobile broadband –Mobile Broadband traffic is growing rapidly Social networking iPlayer type traffic –Subscribers are fickle Social networking applications on devices can lead to long term customer relationship –Students are smart 15 day happiness guarantee

HEAnet/O2 Mobile Broadband User Statistics Total number of users: –September 1314 –October 571 (Mid October) –Total today 2700 with approx 50 new/day Contract breakdown: –9 months 8% –12 months 92% Sales channel breakdown: – Campus sales 37% – Retail sales 63% Working with O2 to get statistics : –Nationally, users experience average of 30-50% of maximum speed.

HEAnet/O2 Mobile Broadband User Statistics Average calls per subscriber per month: –NMBS 55 –General 64 –Corporate < Average number of minutes online per subscriber per month –NMBS 4150 –General 5129 –Corporate < Average volume of traffic per subscriber per month –NMBS 2.46 GBytes –General 2.94 Gbytes –Corporate < Applications declined –Staff –Students

Strategy next steps Federation - Identity management and Mobility User trials of WiMAX technology in early 2009 Possible trial of LTE technology late 2009/2010 Anything else we should be investigating?

Questions?