Rural Broadband Access – Donegal, A Case Study

The North-West Region of Engineers Ireland

Invites you to attend an Evening Lecture

Presented by:

John O’Raw - IT Manager, Institute of Technology Letterkenny
and
Danny McFadden - IT Manager, NWENW

Rural Broadband Access – Donegal, A Case Study
Recording now available here: http://breeze.itsligo.ie/p18431116/
You will need Flash player installed on your PC.
8:00 p.m.
Monday 22nd September 2008
The Radisson Hotel,
Ballincar, Rosses Point, Sligo

All welcome & no entrance fee
CPD Accredited



Abstract:

The lack of national policy to deliver modern communications has resulted in the absence of a carrier independent core infrastructure and a strategically planned last mile delivery. Universal service in Ireland was defined for voice, not for data. This has been addressed in other jurisdictions by building codes rather than technology. The only feasible short and medium term solution to the deficit of last-mile infrastructure is the planned and structured use of wireless technologies. Although a number of discrete government owned fibre and microwave networks exists, government funded networks have generally been single purpose and do not integrate or collaborate at a business level.

Rural towns of population sizes greater than 1,000 generally have competitive broadband services based on DSL and wireless, however coverage issues are common. There is generally considered to be no commercial case for broadband services in dispersed rural areas.

To provide for home-working business applications 1mbs of TCPIP with low latency has proved sufficient. Recreational use tends to have a greater requirement. Business sites will clearly require much greater capacity.

Present 3G/UMTS technology is unlikely to deliver to end-users expectations in the medium term. A typical HSDPA site will provide up to 7.2mbs/sector downstream (theoretical 14mbs). However there is no way to predict the simultaneous customer numbers and quality of service.

Empirically, using unlicensed 5.8ghz WiMAX equipment total throughput of 54mbs/sector is currently achieved and there is an expectation of doubling this within 6 months. The same technology can be used for point-to-point links, currently delivering dedicated 54mbs to a typical business customer. Using licensed 3.5 ghz WiMAX throughputs are considerably lower due to the available spectrum. A carrier grade core will typically include diverse licensed microwave links and MPLS switches.

The economics indicate a Wireless ISP (WISP) using unlicensed technology with a single site could break even over a period of less than two years. However, the construction of a carrier grade core is capital intensive and requires more complex business modelling. Licensed technology is considerably less economical.

The constraint on the use of wireless is the availability of spectrum. A typical 5.8ghz site will use discrete 20mhz channels, giving a maximum of 360 end points per site. Throughput from licensed technologies will be lower due to the smaller channel sizes, guard bands and exclusion zones. The same issues exist for UMTS. Ongoing roll-out of wireless technologies will require higher density of sites