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US Telecom infrastructure "deficient", too
It's not just bridges falling down in this country, telecommunications infrastructure needs investment, too.
The recent collapse of a major bridge in
Minneapolis raised a nation wide debate on the need for investment in our
infrastructure. Infrastructure is what differentiates the developed world from
the developing world. American telecommunications infrastructure is in as dire a
need as roads and bridges for new investment.
Almost all cities and towns across the nation rely on one hub or Central Office
(CO), meaning that if that hub were to be destroyed, that city would lose all
land line telephone connectivity with the outside world. Even with the growth of
competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs), fewer than 10% of those CLECs have
facilities truly separate from the Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCS).
Between 1990 and 1999, the number of RBOC Central Offices grew less than one
percent to a nation wide total of 9,968, while the total number of phone lines
grew by 34% according to the Federal Communications Commission.
The RBOCs are not likely to make investment in their existing copper wire
infrastructure for a number of reasons. Given the lower cost per subscriber and
higher potential ARPU of WiMAX, the smarter dollars in telecommunications
infrastructure will go to WiMAX and IMS-based technologies. Unlike the Bell
monopoly of the last century, WiMAX and IMS enable interconnecting separately
funded and engineered networks. Municipalities need not wait for a service
provider to "wire" their city. Enterprises can deploy their own private
networks, and entrepreneurs are always welcome to finance and build their
for-profit networks. So, unlike waiting for the federal government to fix a
"structurally deficient" bridge, a number of community actors can deploy WiMAX
as a cure for "deficient" telecommunications infrastructure.
Frank Ohrtman
WMX Systems
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