CEDX

Go Rams!

As I arrived for my regular Sunday night Men's Intramurals league game, at The Rinx, I saw two different teams in our league take to the ice, and I said, Crap!  I missed my game, but then I saw a bunch of players come out of the locker rooms, and it turned out that the MCHC Hockey League Championship game had just finished after overtime, and the boys from my Alma Mater, Fordham, had just beaten Albany, 3-2 to capture their first MCHC title.  Even though it's only a club sport, it was great to see the Rams come out on top.  Which of course turned out better than my game, where we were blanked 5-0.  John looked like Henrik Lundquist out there.

Mr. Pogue Goes Shopping, not

David Pogue of the NYTimes reviews three mobile routers, one of which, the Phoebus, is manufactured by Top Global. One of David's complaints was the lack of places to buy Top Global products.   We at HD communications carry the Phoebus' big brother, the MB8000, which is in a more mobile friendly package.  Look for more goodness coming from Top Global.  Watch this space.  Of course, my pride is wounded that he didn't mention our Wi-RAN router, but  hey, I can understand.

Getting the Message Out

I've posted our Wi-RAN promo video on YouTube.  If you're a company that would like to get your message out to the select demographic that is a captive audience for at least an hour and a half, give us a ring at 877-906-8323.  If you're a bus line operator that would like to offer internet access on your buses and track where they are in one solution, ring us up too. You can make the access free, or paid, and sell online ad space also.  We can also tie you into hotspot networks that your passengers can use once they are off the bus, helping you develop relationships with businesses near your bus stops that want to bring your passengers into their businesses.  Our vehicle tracking system with its reporting capabilities can also help you meet your regulatory requirements regarding highway use taxes in multiple jurisdictions.

Technorati Profile

Technorati Profile

Suffolk County Wi-Fi Buzz

In this article by Emi Endo, I get the last word in, but it oversimplifies my position on the idea of having a county-wide wireless network.  One of the great things about blogs, the web, and search engines, is that if you feel that your ideas haven't gotten across or your position has been misrepresented, you can respond, and be your own editor.

I'm not totally opposed to the county doing a wireless network.  I do question the need and feasibilty of creating a network almost ten times the size of Philadelphia's that will cover a population far less dense.  I certainly wouldn't want to see public money used to build the network, when we have so many more pressing needs and the most choice in broadband of any region in the country already.

I'd also like to see at least one member of the current group of existing WISPs named to the county's study committee, because the group of firms that have built out what exists today, have largely done so by the sweat of their brows, and strains of their backs, rather than have Google-sized investments aid their building and operation.  I certainly wouldn't like to see a well-connected campaign contributor waltz in and have access to prime real estate at a bargain price. 

Since we have plenty of available residential broadband, I think the focus on this effort should be to address the underserved, and to address our choking traffic issues.  The point shouldn't necessarily be to build a thin wi-fi edge to the network with the barest of coverage, but to build a next generation mobile backhaul network that leapfrogs the speeds currently offered by the wireless carriers and would give intra-island commuters a compelling reason to use wi-fi enabled intra-island mass transit.

What I envision is a mash-up of Google Maps+Hot or Not, and Wi-RAN, a service to create ad-hoc commuter bus/van routes, where groups of locals find each other with a common work area, and can have an internet enabled ride to and from work, a compelling reason to leave the car at home, or at least at a local park and ride lot created in the abundant vacant strip retail centers that we have.

We need to focus on applications for the network that serve the public good, rather than just network connectivity for its own sake, because we have plenty of that here.  It's expensive, yes, but as I said in my letter to the editor in LIBN (see below), you can't beat the performance available.

I may not win friends, but will I influence people?

In response to this article by Jeremy Harrell in Long Island Business news covering part of Steve Levy's State of the County speech, (may be behind the costwall now) I wrote a letter to the editor regarding the exec's initial proposal of a wireless network blanketing Suffolk County. Folks from outside this area that I showed my letter to thought I made some good points, but my immediate colleagues said, "I guess you don't want to do any business with the County, eh?".  To an extent, my colleagues may be right, but when you see that the direction of a project may not be starting off on the right foot, do you keep your mouth shut, even if it may affect your business negatively?  As a technologist, existing wireless internet service provider and a taxpayer, I couldn't keep my mouth shut.  One of my faults.  My letter to the editor is quoted below.

I realize that it was just two lines in a speech, but the accompanying statements in the article show a breathtaking lack of awareness by our leaders of what is going on in the county and the country with existing small businesses, the technology, and the market. Let’s do a network that really addresses our needs, instead of copying Philly. 

Most of the municipal networks in progress or proposed have grown out of the lack of broadband in their regions. We’ve got one of the highest penetration rates of broadband in the nation.  Cringe at the price, but the product outclasses anything else.  Verizon is in gear, which promises two data gushers into every house that can afford it.   Wireless carriers offer mobile broadband from Manhattan to Montauk.  Small WISPs have bootstrapped themselves and built networks that cover much of the county, including the Hauppauge Industrial Park. At least two serve it today. You could have custom built them a net for the price of the study mentioned.  Is the county exec going to invite a goliath in at below-market rates to squash the home team?  There are already companies that have bought licensed frequencies in the WiMAX bands that will bring a third pipe into the house.  What about BPL, which may be a fourth pipe? There's no shortage of private and quasi-public efforts to cover the county. 

Take a focused approach that brings basic broadband to households that can't currently afford $45.00/month, like Wyandanch, Riverhead, and North Amityville. Do innovative projects surrounding transportation and downtown revitalization, broadband on mass transit, or net equipped van pools to get folks out of their single occupant cars, which we’re choking on.  That’s true innovation and progress.  Integrated systems matching commuters to destinations and schedules, combined with networked jitneys that offer the prospect of a productive commute. A visionary would offer service to the areas where folks can't afford broadband, use the internet to get people on mass transit and into the downtowns, rather than throwing a useless blanket over us. I wrote this stuck on a delayed LIRR train.  I couldn’t send it until I got home, because the MTA hasn’t been  interested in proposals for bringing wi-fi to rail cars. We could have put free wi-fi on every new railcar the MTA has for less than what it cost them for the holiday giveaway, which didn’t help us out here.