IP: But How Much Does It Cost? [Part 2]

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

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From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com> Much Does It Cost? [Part 2]


But How Much Does It Cost? [Part 2]

Last week we started to look at how much it would cost an ISP to get
into the fixed wireless business using 2.4GHz license-free
transmission equipment? In brief, it's more than you thought.

by Gerry Blackwell
[April 9, 2002]
<http://isp-planet.com/fixed_wireless/business/2002/cost_part2.html>

Our experts, James Portaro, chief technology office and co-founder of
Akron, Ohio-based NeTeam Corp., and Jack Unger, president of Los
Angeles-based Wireless InfoNet Inc., stressed the importance of doing
careful up-front surveying, designing and testing.

Once you've done that, you will know where to place your wireless
point-of-presence (POP). This week we begin to find out how much
placing them will cost.

First the bad news
You don't get to put your antennas and radios just wherever you
please. It costs-sometimes big bucks. And the good news? Ah, we'll
get back to you on that.

Portaro's company works with municipal governments that are building
community WISPs. They have a distinct advantage over other ISPs and
fixed wireless start-ups in that they already have access to some of
the highest buildings in their areas. And in some cases they also own
communications towers built for wireless emergency response systems.

All others, however, can expect to pay between $2,500 and $10,000 per
month per wireless POP (Wi-POP) for the right to use a rooftop in a
city, Portaro says. The upper end of the range would be for sites in
big cities like New York, he concedes.

"Cell companies are used to paying high fees for roof rights,"
Portaro points out. "Since that precedent is already set, WISPs have
to expect the same. And paying ultra-high rates for tower and rooftop
rights certainly moves your ROI [return on investment] out
substantially."

But even the lower end of that range is more than WISPs will pay in
rural areas and smaller cities and towns, Unger and Portaro both say.
To place a couple of antennas, radios and associated hardware on a
commercial tower away from big population centers, will cost $2,000 a
month or less, Unger estimates.

"And a lot of WISPs pay only $1,000 or $500 to use a tower," he adds.
Portaro puts the range at $400 to $1,500.

In some cases, WISPs may even be able to get away with paying
nothing. If you can find a residential property owner on a hill in a
rural or small town setting, it's sometimes possible to negotiate
rights to use the site for a wireless POP in return for free
high-speed access.

"It requires a little bit of creativity in thinking," says Unger.
"But it can certainly be a low-cost way to do it and still provide
good service."

"Plan B"
The other option is to build your own tower. If the only alternative
is leasing space on an already crowded commercial tower, building
your own may be a good bet, Unger points out, despite the higher
capital costs.

The reason: there will be more potentially interfering RF activity
around a commercial tower. This means more care-and therefore more
expense-has to be taken in the upfront surveying and network design
stages. And in the end it may be impossible to get optimal
performance at a commercial site.

Estimating costs for building your own tower is difficult because
there are so many variables and unknowns, Portaro and Unger both say.
Right off the top, you have to rent or buy the land to put the tower
on. And that cost, which clearly depends on location, varies wildly.

<snip>



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