Achieving the “Anywhere” Vision Requires Solving the First Mile Problem John Charles CIO, Cal State East Bay

Who Said? Everything that can be invented has been invented. Charles Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899 I think there is a world market for maybe five computers. Thomas Watson, Founder, IBM There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home. Ken Olson, Founder, DEC, 1977

Why Does the Digital Divide Exist? Communities prefer to live with problems they cannot solve rather than live with solutions they do not understand.

The First Mile Philosophy Connect yourself to the rest of the world and all it has to offer.

Why? Broadband connectivity is the single most important infrastructure that enables economic and community growth in the new millennium.

The Internet as Infrastructure It is a global collection of networks, both big and small. These networks connect together in many different ways to form the single entity that we know as the Internet. In fact, the name itself comes from this idea of interconnected networks.

Solving the First Mile problem brings you… Access to: Education – from anywhere Telemedicine – from anywhere Jobs – from anywhere Entertainment – from anywhere Without such access – you’re nowhere

Broadband Capabilities

Today’s Broadband FCC’s Definition –200 Kbps was “fast enough to provide the most popular applications including Web browsing at the same speed as one can flip the pages of a book.” –Times have changed and this conservative definition has limited life.

Measuring Access It is not about the capacity. It’s about the capabilities made available by the capacity.

“The future ain’t what it used to be.” New devices support new applicants and new services – and they all require connectivity.

E-medicine As the 77 million baby boomers age, there simply won’t be enough medical professionals, money or health services to provide personal care for every condition. Imagine… –A wristwatch that can help find a wandering Alzheimer’s patient –Smart band-aids that check your temperature and heartbeat –Sensors in bed sheets that monitor sleep apnea and snoring –RFID tags in pajamas

Entertainment

The Players There is a national consensus that broadband is good. But there are many, many different agendas. –Everyone has an interest in driving their agenda –Communities/municipalities need to create their own agendas that focus on their residents and businesses

The Players Federal Government State Government Counties Municipalities Telephone Companies Cable Companies Other Businesses Current and future users of broadband Users and businesses tend to wait for the “right-thing” to happen (and shouldn’t)

Local Governments Lots of pressure to “do something” Not a lot of technical wherewithal to understand how to make the “right” decision for their communities Looking for a cookbook solution that will make it simple to do the “right-thing”

Providers We want… –Forward-thinking companies We have… –Telcos and cablecos that need to please stockholders –Munis and other providers struggling to find direction

What to do? Help local governments understand how to bring broadband access to their communities Help state governments understand how to help remove barriers Help the federal government to stay out of the way and seed innovation

Institution Owned Networks Institutions increasingly own and control their own strands of fiber Low cost LAN architectures and optics are used to light the fiber for long distances Control and management of the optics and wavelengths is under the domain of the institution at the edge, as opposed to the traditional carrier in the center These new concepts in institution owned networking started in the same place as the Internet started – in the university and research community. Extending the Internet model of autonomous peering networks to the telecom world

New Roles for Universities Communities are looking to the universities for leadership –Universities are the only neutral 3rd party in the community with the skills and knowledge to lead this revolution Universities has a greater role and a greater responsibility with this second Internet revolution –Universities also have a large stake in making broadband access available to facutly, staff and students where they live, work, study and play.

Market Realities The good, the bad and the ugly.. –Monopolies are bad –Duopolies are ugly –Facilities based competition is good The private sector, in an open competitive market, is far more effective at responding to consumer’s needs and introducing new services at lower prices than any kind of government regulation Facilities based competition is alive and well in downtown core How do we accelerate facilities based competition into the residential market? And, how can we assure scalable high speed Internet services to the home that eventually will support Gigabit speeds or higher?

New Roles for Universities Community dark fiber networks increases facilities based competition, levels the playing field and provides greater choice to the consumer Universities can play critical role in organizing municipal condominium fiber builds in their community and serve as the “anchor tenant” Universities can also encourage building carrier neutral collocation facilities –In downtown cores will likely be done by private sector –In suburbs will probably have to be public facility like school board office, university, etc Universities are also seen as critical anchor tenants for carrier hotels and exchange/peering facilities

What is peering? Peering is the practice of exchanging Internet traffic with peers at a strategic connection point involving multiple networks. It involves 3 elements: –Physical interconnection of the networks –Technical liaison to allow exchange of routes –Commercial and contractual peering agreements

Muni Peering Point What is it? –A municipality sponsored peering point –Serves city or county geographically –Technology-wise, it involves power, hardware ranks (sometimes in cages), and connection to an upstream (usually larger) peering point or provider

Muni Peering Points Encourage competition and drive down prices Provide communities with a technology center Serve as a hub to attract technology-oriented businesses Interconnect first mile networks Drive down middle mile costs Allow connectivity for new applications and services Simple, fast, and cheap to build and maintain

Resources for Solving First Mile Problems

A Final Thought Guns defined the 17 th century, colonization. Ships defined the 18 th century, trade. Canals and railroads defined the 19 th century, industrialization. Roads and bridges defined the 20 th century, mass production. Connectivity “anywhere” and everywhere will define the 21 st century.