Metro-Scale Wi-Fi As City Service chaska.net, Chaska...

Metro-Scale Wi-Fi As City Servicechaska.net, Chaska, Minnesota

A Tropos Networks Case StudyOctober, 2004

Photo courtesy of NASA Image eXchange.Image use in no way implies endorsement by NASA of any of the products, services, or materials offered by Tropos Networks, Inc.

Chaska.net and Tropos Unwire Chaska, MN

Metro-Scale Mesh Networking DefinedTM

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A Tropos Networks Case Study



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ScenarioA thirteen year old is experiencing broadband Internet for the first time. Because of the incredibly low cost of the chaska.net service, her family was able to make the switch from their slow, phone line-hogging dial-up account. As a result, she is able to quickly download rich educational content, music, video clips and more. She regularly checks the chaska.net community connection page to keep up to date on local happenings, and instant-messages her friends to make plans to attend various events within the city.

A family is enjoying the festivities during the 28th Annual Chaska River City Days celebration at City Square Park. The father is dutifully filming the family’s youngest son showing his newly-learned skills in the youth TaeKwonDo demonstration. Within minutes of the demonstration’s conclusion, the proud father has downloaded the video clips to his Wi-Fi enabled laptop computer and emailed the moment to the boy’s grandparents, who were unable to make the drive from Duluth to attend the event.

A City of Chaska building inspector is working through her schedule of new construction and renovation projects. During an inspection of an older home remodel, she notices a potential code violation with the home’s electrical system. Using her Wi-Fi enabled PDA, she quickly downloads the original building plans of the home, along with a .pdf file of the current local electrical regulations. On further investigation, the inspector determines that only minor modifications need to be made to the renovation plans in order for the home to be compliant with code.

While broadband access has been available to residents of Chaska for some time, innovations in wireless fidelity, or Wi-Fi, and related technologies have allowed this town to be without peer in pioneering mobile broadband technology. Never before have cities of any size been able to deploy city-wide Wi-Fi as quickly or economically as now…thanks to technology from Tropos Networks. With Tropos equipment, Chaska has been able to offer $15.99/month broadband service to its residents, and to achieve a 20% take-rate within one month of the service going live.



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HistoryChaska, Minnesota, has always been a progressive community. This suburb just outside of the Twin Cities area has a track record of providing attractive services to its residents. In order to ensure consistent levels of service and pricing, the city started its own electricity utility. The homes of Chaska no longer have to succumb to the pricing demands of a private utility.

In 1998, the city identified a serious problem in the Chaska educational community. Incumbent telecommunications providers were ignoring the broadband data needs of the schools in the community. In order to eliminate this problem, the city formed chaska.net, a wireless Internet service provider (WISP) owned and operated by the city. Chaska.net implemented wireless point-to-multi-point technology to replace the traditional T-1 line required by the city’s educational institutions. Shortly thereafter, chaska.net expanded their services to include businesses in the community starved for broadband.

In the spring of 2004, more and more Chaska residents were requesting lower-priced broadband and Internet connectivity that did not tie up phone lines. At the same time, City government was searching for additional ways to attract new residents and business to Chaska, and to keep them in town rather than going to neighboring Minneapolis for shopping and entertainment. In response, chaska.net, with the support of the City Manager, began exploring the possibility of further expansion of the service to include broadband access for the 7,500 homes and more than 18,000 residents of the city. After extensive research into the available and emerging technologies that would make this service possible, chaska.net firmly decided on the only technology that would quickly and economically make their vision a reality – metro-scale Wi-Fi from Tropos Networks.

The City Council backed the proposal, in large part, because it was consistent with the Council’s long-standing of becoming a connected community. Chaska has long prided itself as being a tight-knit city. The Council has increasingly looked to communications technology as a way to preserve their sense of community as the city grows. Additionally, the Council viewed the network as an important economic development tool. As a result, the Council quickly approved the project and Chaska sped down the path to becoming a completely unwired city.



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Financing for the network was obtained through a form of municipal debt known as equipment certificates. Under Minnesota law, municipalities can, within limits, raise debt for equipment purchases with city council approval only, provided that the term of the debt does not exceed five years. The equipment certificates are generally placed privately, with institutions such as banks, rather than floated as a public debt offering. The process has been described as being as simple as doing a mortgage.

Chaska.net financed the entire $535,000 capital investment needed for the project with four year equipment certificates bearing an interest rate of 4%. Chaska.net projects that it can pay the interest and repay the principal from subscriber revenues with plenty of room to spare.

Deployment

The metro-scale Wi-Fi network in Chaska was constructed using a combination of Tropos Networks’ MetroMesh architecture, KarlNet point-to-multi-point (P2MP) wireless backhaul connections and an operations support system (OSS) from Pronto Networks. It also made use of the city’s existing fiber network, which is owned and operated by chaska.net. The City of Chaska runs its own electric utility that owns the street lamps throughout the community and provided use of them for mounting the MetroMesh routers. This combination enabled the incredibly rapid deployment of a wireless broadband network that is cost effective to install and operate, and is truly scalable to metro-levels. Network deployment from conception to completion, including site surveys, mesh router installation, network configuration, and testing, occurred in less than eight weeks. Traditional wireline broadband networks and incumbent wireless (3G) networks can take years, and substantial capital outlay, to provide coverage to a community such as Chaska.

The new Wi-Fi broadband service operates in much the same way as other city-owned utilities, implemented for use by every segment of the community, everywhere in the community. It is a broadband connection the customer can take with them and use anywhere in the city. Imagine having “wireless DSL” in your home and then taking it with you anywhere you go in town. Charges for the service appear on existing utility bills, adding to the convenience for residents and cost-savings for the community. The Tropos 5110 outdoor MetroMesh router.



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The Tropos 5110 MetroMesh router is built for outdoor use, with extreme temperature, high wind, and lightning strike survivability. Additionally, the Tropos 5110 is specially designed for mounting on municipally owned street lamps, utilizing the many power options available on these lamp structures (usually the photo-cell sensor on the lamp’s luminaire). The unit can be installed by a worker in a bucket or lift truck in under 15 minutes without any specific technology training. The Tropos 5110 MetroMesh routers, once connected to power, are self-discovering and self-configuring, instantly extending the network range upon power-up. And, because of the Tropos Networks patent-pending Predictive Wireless Routing Protocol (PWRP), over 90% of traditional wired backhaul is eliminated, replaced with the world’s first truly wireless metro-scale Wi-Fi mesh broadband network.

Based on the 802.11 standard (Wi-Fi) for backhaul and client access, the network requires no proprietary radio frequency (RF) equipment for access devices. The Wi-Fi network delivers true broadband speeds (1+ Mbps) to users accessing the network with a standard 802.11b client device. Additionally, mobile users have the ability to freely roam throughout the coverage area while the Tropos 5110 MetroMesh routers seamlessly and transparently perform mesh router -to-mesh router handoffs, ensuring the client continually has the most optimal path available back to the wired gateway. This transparent roaming is even possible across multiple IP subnets, with the network maintaining persistent connectivity without the requirement for clients to obtain new IP addresses as they travel.

Operating in the unlicensed 2.4 GHz spectrum, Wi-Fi is an RF environment in continual flux. Interference from such things as foliage, large mobile objects, and other 2.4 GHz devices can cause traditional access point (hot spot) technologies to become unpredictably spotty in their availability. The intelligent mesh network used in Chaska, however, eliminates these user access problems by dynamically monitoring path quality and automatically rerouting traffic around any interference. Additionally, in the unlikely event of a mesh router failure or loss of wired or wireless backhaul, the Tropos PWRP will again re-organize the mesh router s and route traffic back along the most optimal path to the wired gateway. The result is a network that is always on, always available to the end user, and RF interference is completely transparent to the client.

Because of the routing intelligence built into the Tropos PWRP, the network is easily and economically scalable. As needed for increased network capacity, additional mesh router s and/or wired or wireless points of backhaul can be added simply. The Tropos 5110 MetroMesh routers automatically re-organize to take advantage of the increased capacity. PWRP and sophisticated network management tools enable scaling the network to cover entire metropolitan areas.



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In Chaska, 230 Tropos 5110 MetroMesh routers were installed to allow ubiquitous broadband coverage throughout the entire 16 square miles of the city. They were installed on city-owned mounting assets, predominantly street lights with photocell-switched power.

Backhaul was injected at 36 locations around the city using a combination of KarlNet point-to-multi-point (P2MP) wireless links and connections to the city’s fiber network. The installation allows the density required to offer service throughout the city, as well as the flexibility to increase capacity as subscriber numbers grow. By adding additional backhaul, chaska.net can increase aggregate capacity of the network without the necessity of a long and costly redesign process. The Tropos MetroMesh routers automatically reorganize to assimilate the additional backhaul.

Subscriber access in Chaska is available through an incredibly affordable service plan that provides true broadband speeds at dial-up prices; users pay just $15.99/month with no time-term contracts required. Additionally, subscription to the service requires no credit card information, as the broadband access charges are added as a line item to the utility bill of each individual user. The low price and convenient billing of the service allow people of all economic means to not just cross, but leap, the digital divide that exists in many communities in America today. Multi-user subscriptions, with up to three client devices, run just $24.99/month. Included in the service fee is use of a low-cost indoor Wi-Fi bridge provided by chaska.net, which extends the signal from the

Tropos MetroMesh router into each residence.

Unprecedented Economics and Take-RatesNever before has broadband been so affordable and rapidly deployable. By utilizing Tropos Networks metro-scale Wi-Fi technology and existing infrastructure, chaska.net is now able to provide broadband access at rates up to 60% less than competing broadband services and in many cases at or below the cost of dial-up services. At $15.99 per month for residential broadband access, chaska.net captured an unprecedented 20% market share within one month of the network being operational, will be net income positive in the first year and is expected to break even on a cumulative cash flow basis in the third year.

Chaska.net utilized 230 Tropos 5110 MetroMesh routers to provide wireless Internet access to the entire city. This mesh of MetroMesh routers leverages chaska.net’s existing fiber and network operations center to form the network infrastructure. On average, chaska.net planned the network and deployed the MetroMesh routers at the rate of less than a day and a half per square mile.



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The service is available to all 7,500 homes in the city as well as providing mobile access throughout the community. Subscribers include residents, city employees, public safety officials and small businesses.

The network offers the following economic benefits to chaska.net:• High bandwidth for a low capital expenditure• Low operating expenses per subscriber through minimizing backhaul costs,

minimizing CPE costs, and eliminating truck rolls• Low upgrade costs to higher aggregate bandwidth infrastructure and to expand

footprint• Interference control and high reliability via efficient, self-healing mesh architecture• Support for fixed and mobile applications

For $15.99 per month, chaska.net provides residents unlimited, 1+ Mbps symmetrical Internet access (including a single network connection, five e-mail accounts, 10 MB web space, spam blocker, and virus protection). With a portable laptop computer, the customer can connect to the network while roaming throughout the city. For $24.99 per month, small businesses receive up to three network connections with 10 e-mail accounts and 20MB web space.

Table 1 illustrates the subscriber mix and pricing for a conservative growth rate from 20% market share in the first year (which was achieved within the first month of operation) to 45% market in 5 years.Subscribers Price Year 1 Year2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5Homes Passed 7,500 7,500 7,500 7,500 7,500Residential $15.95 1,450 2,500 2,850 3150 3,350Mobile $24.95 70 125 145 150 155Municipal $24.95 19 19 19 19 19Public Safety $24.95 12 12 12 12 12

Table 1: Service Subscribers

Operating costs are minimized by:• Low cost subscriber acquisition through bi-monthly local newspaper advertisements and

direct mail inserts into residential utility bills.• Few incremental additions to the chaska.net network operations, maintenance and

management team – the network is largely run by previously existing personnel• No monthly network backhaul by using point-to-multipoint wireless and existing

chaska.net fiber infrastructure• No truck rolls for customer installation



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Chaska.net has seen phenomenal response to its low price service. The service provider has been able to reach over 20% market share before the end of the first month of the network going live. Based on these early results and the business model analysis, chaska.net can invest $535K to return $679K positive net income and achieve overall project cash flow break-even by year 3.

Summary 5-year Business Model Results Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5EBITDA - $K $146 $261 $337 $392 $436 Net Income - $K ($32) $82 $158 $214 $257 Free Cash Flow – ($K) ($389) $261 $337 $392 $436 CapEx - $K $535 $0 $0 $0 $0 Total CapEx / Home Passed $71 $71 $71 $71 $71

Table 2: Summary 5–year business model results

Based on the business model assumptions, Figure 1 demonstrates the incremental cost per subscriber per month drops to less than $6.75 in the fifth year. With these types of cost and the interest seen to date, chaska.net’s utilization of Tropos metro-scale Wi-Fi will continue to drive very positive financial results.

Network and Subscriber ManagementUtilizing the Tropos Control element manager, chaska.net staff can monitor and manage the Wi-Fi network from a centralized location. Tropos Control is built on a client/server architecture. The server collects and stores management information from devices in the network and the Web-based clients provide a graphical user interface to server data. Tropos 5110s configured as wired gateways communicate with Tropos Control via SNMP and act as management proxies for the wireless Tropos 5110 MetroMesh routers. This allows rapid and simple field deployment, minimizing costs and time-to-network, and automatic discovery makes scaling the network simple.

Tropos Control provides multiple graphical views of the network, its MetroMesh router clusters, and the individual cells themselves to deliver at-a-glance network status and performance information. A single alarm manager interface monitors performance and identifies actual and potential problems, including backhaul or mesh router failures and path failures due to obstruction or radio frequency (RF) interference. Tropos Control also eases on-going maintenance by enabling bulk configuration changes and over-the-air software upgrades, eliminating the need to log-in into every unit during these processes.

Figure 1: 5 Year Revenue vs Cost Per Subscriber



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The Chaska.net Citywide Broadband Wireless Network

Back office functions for the chaska.net deployment are performed by products from Pronto Networks. The Pronto Operations Support System (OSS) performs tasks vital to the smooth business operation of the network. Provisioning, authentication, customer billing, administration, customer relationship management (CRM) and roaming agreements are all managed by the Pronto OSS platform and Community Broadband Gateway. These management features are monitored and controlled by chaska.net through the centralized Pronto Network Operations Center (NOC).

When chaska.net subscribers access the network, the Pronto OSS redirects them to a web page on the chaska.net web server. That page acts both as a log-in screen, where subscribers enter their username and password, and a “What’s happening in Chaska” page, keeping residents informed of the latest town news and events.

The Pronto OSS creates an enhanced user experience while simplifying account management for chaska.net. Pronto Networks performs client-facing functions such as the customer self-care portal, account limit management, incident tracking, and account adjustments. Subscriber charges appear as a line item on their utility bill along with other city services such as electricity, water and sewer.

Authentication is handled by the Pronto OSS. Additional security is implemented using a global MAC address white list. Only the MAC addresses of CPEs supplied by chaska.net to their subscribers are entered into this list and only they can access the network.

Within the Wi-Fi coverage zones, the client is allowed free roaming without the requirement of manual re-association. The Tropos 5110 MetroMesh routers perform the client handoffs transparently, ensuring continual and uninterrupted service to mobile users.

The Tropos Control element manager.



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SummaryBy utilizing a Tropos metro-scale Wi-Fi solution, chaska.net was able to quickly and at low cost provide pervasive wireless broadband access throughout the City of Chaska. Residents and businesses in this Minnesota city now have access to low-cost, broadband, residential Internet service and broadband wireless mobile access for which most communities can only yearn. As a result, over 20% of the homes passed in this community subscribed to the chaska.net service within the first month that it was offered. Connection speed is improved 10-fold, phone-lines are no longer tied up, city activities are communicated broadly and quickly and new services such as broadband mobility are enabled.

Because of the self-discovering and self-healing nature of the Tropos metro-scale Wi-Fi network, and the powerful management and monitoring tools built into the Tropos Control, scaling the network to meet the future demands of the community is both simple and cost effective. As the chaska.net subscriber base continues to grow, the network capacity can be increased significantly by simply adding backhaul or additional wireless mesh router s.

The flexibility, ease of deployment, and simplified client access of the metro-scale Wi-Fi network have allowed chaska.net to build a sophisticated, widespread broadband coverage area available to the over 18,000 residents of this city. With this innovative technology, the network, from conception to reality, was completed in a fraction of the time it would have taken for a traditional cable/DSL service to be deployed. And, the elimination of over 90% of wired backhaul exponentially reduced the capital expenditure needed to make the network a reality.

555 Del Rey Avenue • Sunnyvale, Ca 94085phone 408.331.6800 • fax 408.331.6801

www.tropos.com • [email protected]©2005 Tropos Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. Tropos Networks, MetroMesh and Tropos Control are trademarks of Tropos Networks, Inc. All other brand or product names are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holder(s). Information contained herein is subject to change without notice.

The only warranties for Tropos products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. Tropos shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

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