Wireless Access Services in the
ITFS Spectrum
Presentation to the UTFAB
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Scott Baily, Associate Director for Networking,
Scott.Baily@Colostate.edu, 491-7655
Outline
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Overview of this proposal
History of ITFS services
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Project description
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NextNet deployment
Business model
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ITFS spectrum – the “gold” standard
With support description and a 3-yr. plan
Other solutions
Funding request
Summary
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Overview of this Proposal
Project Elements
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Offer high-speed wireless access to CSU clientele
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In CSU’s ITFS spectrum that is regulated and protected by the FCC
To complement the modem pool that is waning
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“Non-line of sight” (NLOS)
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Speeds of 128 kbps “up” and 768 kbps “down”
Asymmetric to optimize use of the spectrum
In response to years of requests for higher speeds
Indoor unit “reach” of about 1 ½ miles
Outdoor unit “reach” of 5-6 miles
Target $30/month, compared to Comcast $40-45/month
Expand the system as budget allows
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Dependent somewhat on the customer base
Can expand by sectorizing the antenna, or
Can expand by adding antennas
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Foothills campus, VTH campus, and other areas, even Loveland, …
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Advantages
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Lower cost than Comcast and Qwest DSL
“Behind” CSU IT security systems, filtering, firewalls
CSU IP addresses (for library use and database
access)
Direct access to CSU IT resources
Access to ultrahigh-speed networks through CSU
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Internet2 and National Lambda Rail
Could “reach” where DSL and Comcast cannot
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Funding Request
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Best estimate now is start-up costs of $200k
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$100K for “Head End”
$100K for subscriber units
Have $160k from the modem pool charge-back
Need $40k to get started
As subscribers join over time, will expand to meet
demand as funding permits
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History of ITFS Services
History of the ITFS Spectrum
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FCC licensed the ITFS spectrum (2.5–2.69
GHz) to educational institutions in the 1980’s
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Institutions could lease their licensed spectrum to
the private sector, for example for broadcast TV
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Requirement that 5% of the spectrum be used for
educational purposes (typically, one channel –
analogous to Channel 25 on Comcast)
Heavily used for education in many major
metropolitan areas, especially by Catholic Dioceses
on the east coast and in Chicago
Repurposed by the FCC in 2000 for 2-way
(wireless Internet)
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CSU’s ITFS Spectrum
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CSU is licensed for the G channels in the Fort
Collins area under lead callsign of WNC612
In the mid 1980’s, CSU leased this to Choice
TV, that operated it for 20+ channels of
broadcast TV, with one channel for
educational use (same as channel 25 on
Comcast)
Choice TV was purchased by Sprint in 2000
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Sprint offered “peanuts” to license it for 2 way,
e.g. pennies per subscriber per month
Our lease with Sprint expires April 11, 2005
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ITFS Spectrum – the “Gold”
Standard
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ITFS spectrum is “prime real estate” in terms of
spectrum (see next page)
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Over the past several years, private sector mega
corporations “took a run” at getting the ITFS
Spectrum
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Best balance between carrying capacity and penetration
Lobbied with the FCC to repossess it and auction it
Successfully rebuffed by educational lobbying efforts (we
had “the Catholics” on our side)
Non-interference is guaranteed, but must file an
engineering plan and obtain the FCC’s approval
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The plan must specify equipment brand, model,
configuration and power
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ITFS Characteristics
Penetration
Overall
Throughput
Carrying
Capacity
ITFS
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Frequency, Ghz
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Project Description
N
1 mi.
2 mi.
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Architecture
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Head end
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Install a single sector (360o) antenna on one of the towers
Link to a base unit that outputs Ethernet
Transport to campus backbone in E7
Subscriber side
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10/100 Ethernet output
Indoor unit – place inside residence wherever the signal is
acceptable, range: ~1 ½ miles
Outdoor unit – place on a pole and orient it toward the head
end, range: ~5-6 miles
Can use a $50 router to establish a LAN, just as for Comcast
or Qwest
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NextNet Solution
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Proprietary technology, but works very well in NLOS
mode
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Total cost to get going is $200k, with 330 subscriber
units
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Good coverage, very good penetration, very robust, and
adaptable as the FCC changes the spectrum use
Purported to serve ~330 simultaneous users
Can purchase additional subscriber units to meet demand
Currently, the “best” technical solution, according to
the ITFS consortium
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Other solutions are emerging
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Support
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The system would be operated,
managed and supported by the
networking staff in ACNS
User support
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Tier 1 support, the ACNS help desk
Tier 2 support, ACNS networking staff
Tier 3 support, the vendor
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Business Model
Business Strategy
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Strategy – “get going” and grow as revenue allows
Use one-time funds to pay for the first installation
Use subscription fees to
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Pay minimal recurring costs
Accumulate capital for expansion
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Can sectorize or add another single-sector site (e.g. Foothills
campus, VTH complex, even Loveland where we could obtain a
fiber path)
Expand over time, as revenue allows, to meet additional
demand
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The Contention Ratio
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The Contention Ratio, C
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C = “sold capacity”/”equipment capacity”
Is a critical variable in a business plan
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Always > 1 because not everyone uses the resource at
the same time, and even when the resource is heavily
used, the traffic is bursty with “holes” that can be filled
in
Depends on capacity control (on the head end), user
profiles (user access profile, user traffic profile)
For the modem pool, C = 10-12 works fine
We think C for ITFS will be between 2 and 4
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Modem Pool Trends
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May 1997 : 9,400 subscribers
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February 2005 : 2,500 subscribers
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8,000 were students (85%)
1,000 are students (40%)
Potential clientele exists
Modems no longer meet remote access
requirements, especially for students
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Ramp Up
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“Ramp up” characterizes the growth in
number of subscribers over time
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Is also a critical variable in a business plan
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If ramp up is quick, then accumulation of
capital is rapid, and expansion is expeditious
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Subscriber Costs
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One-time connection fee of $50
Monthly subscription cost - $30/month
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Subscriber units
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Extra $2/month for an outdoor unit
CSU owns, and the monthly subscription fee includes leasing
the subscriber unit, “You break it, you buy it,” or
Customer can purchase
Customer does the installation
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Can contract with Telecom for installation, either indoor or
outdoor
Full refund if the customer can not get the system to work
within two weeks, and a working subscriber unit is returned
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NextNet Simple Payback, Yrs.
C=
Head End
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1
2
3
3
2
1
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3-Year Plan
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FY 06
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FY 07
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Deploy initial system
Performance tuning, monitoring, robustness
Climb the “growth curve”
Expand system
FY 08
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Expand the system more by either sectorization
(120o, 90o, or 60o) and/or installation of additional
system and antenna
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Other Solutions
Other Hardware
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Sprint
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They will sell us the equipment they use
for ITFS (they are the largest lessee) at
their deeply discounted, wholesale cost
We will lease back to them the excess
capacity for their mobile users
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Fills the “ramp-up” hole
We are to meet with Sprint to get more
details on Wednesday, March 23, 2005
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Funding Request
The “Split” of Costs
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Modem pool
UTF
Total
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$160k (80%)
$40k (20%)
$200k
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Funding Leverage Ratio
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Monthly savings potential (C=2):
$10/month/subscriber x 600 subscribers
= $6,000 per month
Simple payback of $40k in < 7 months
In 3 years, leverage ratio = $216k/$40k
= 5.4:1
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Total Savings Over Time
900000
800000
700000
$ / Year
600000
C=4
500000
C=3
400000
C=2
300000
200000
100000
0
1
2
3
Year
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Analysis
Considerations (cont’d)
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This would meet the pent-up demand for CSU
access at higher speeds than modems can
provide
This is a “moderate risk, high gain”
proposition
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As UTFAB, you should deliberately manage your
portfolio of risks
Recall that for every $1 of UTFAB funding, the
modem pool would be contributing $4, so the risk
is mitigated
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Considerations
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We have used NextNet budget numbers – all we have
now for what we believe is a good technical solution
Sprint may yield lower costs
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This would allow faster expansion, or
Allow getting started with a larger system
Both options will be fully explored with a target
toward deployment in FY 06
We know of no other way to get going to use this
extremely valuable spectrum to meet the demand of
CSU residential users
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Summary
UTFAB Funding Criteria
1. Benefit as many students
as possible
Would benefit more with future growth.
2. Ability to effectively utilize
the fee
Your decision.
3. Not funded by CFT
Check.
4. Adherence to budget and
accountability
Your decision.
5. Potential for direct
student use
Absolutely.
6. Effort and thought
reflected in the plan
Your decision.
7. Justification and clarity of
project plan
Your decision.
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Discussion and questions
Are most welcome
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