Wireless

Many wonder about building a fiber optic network because wireless appears a more attractive alternative. Wires are messy and wireless can be deployed quickly and at less cost.

Unfortunately, wireless technologies cannot offer the same reliability or bandwidth as fiber-optic wires do. Fiber has been used on the main trunk lines for telecommunications between cities for decades and is a more mature technology.

Minneapolis has deployed a wireless system and the results are mixed. Some have found the signal to be strong and reliable while others find it completely unusable. Regardless, no one has access to the kind of speeds that are possible using a fiber network.

Businesses that require a reliable, fast connection that is also symmetrical will be better off using a community fiber network than a wireless network.

However, our choice is not either wireless or fiber. We can certainly build both. A community fiber network solves the backhaul problem for a wireless network. When the city has fiber running down every street, it can put wireless access points anywhere and offer each a dedicated amount of bandwidth in excess of what would be possible with a purely wireless network.

Some are promoting a new technology, called WiMAX, as the solution to quickly rolling out broadband to communities. WiMAX offers faster speeds and longer ranges than Wi-Fi. Unfortunately, WiMAX remains unproven and has substantial downsides. In the short term, no one has WiMAX cards in their computers. In the longer term, WiMAX still cannot compare to fiber on bandwidth.

St. Paul's future will require connections that are affordable, fast (upstream and downstream), reliable. These criteria will be met by a fiber network. Wireless offers mobility and should be offered in addition to a wired connection, not instead of it.

Finally, wireless appears to be a less expensive alternative because the costs for a wireless network typically assume a 3-5 year life whereas a fiber network is expected to last several decades. In the end, wireless costs more than forecast while delivering less reliable service at slower speeds.