Naveen Lakshmipathy

The Philadelphia Story

adminn — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 10:12:00 -0500

Joshua Breitbart authored this report. Naveen Lakshmipathy compiled the appendixes, while Sascha Meinrath served as editor.

The Philadelphia story told here is an analysis of one city's efforts to build a municipal wireless network. This report examines how Philadelphia's municipal wireless initiative helped shape the national debate regarding the need for public broadband infrastructure and the impact the project's successes and failures had on the local community. The Philadelphia story holds numerous lessons for decision-makers and regulators and is a powerful tool for understanding the interactions between network implementers and the constituencies these networks are supposed to serve.

The Philadelphia case study is presented in chronological order, with recommendations for how to improve community engagement highlighted throughout.

Context

Cities are under pressure to address the "digital divide" in their communities -- that is, the gap between those who have Internet access and those who do not -- an urgent problem that the federal government and most state governments have not addressed. The notion of "spending no tax dollars" in dealing with this problem was a driving principle behind the Philadelphia wireless initiative and shaped many of the project's outcomes. Philadelphia was a pioneer among large cities in using wireless technology to promote broadband adoption, and its actions have influenced how cities and towns design and pursue their municipal broadband projects.

Key Decision-Makers and Decisions

Philadelphia's chief information officer, Dianah Neff, initiated the project.
An executive committee, set up by the mayor's office and tasked to study Philadelphia's options for building a municipal wireless network, assessed the City's situation and solicited input from a wide range of stakeholders. The committee recommended nonprofit ownership of the network as a preferred business model.
Wireless Philadelphia (WP), the nonprofit formed to own the network, disregarded the executive committee's recommendation by accepting EarthLink's bid to own and operate the network. n Having given up ownership of the proposed network, WP was in the conflicting position of having to both promote EarthLink's services and hold the service provider accountable.
In addition to its marketing and oversight roles, Wireless Philadelphia focused on the project's public interest "digital inclusion" goals. However, WP has no capacity to provide direct services to its constituents, and operating expenses and debt service have eaten up its share of revenues. WP's current strategy to address digital inclusion has been to raise additional funding and establish one-to-one partnerships with nonprofit service providers to fulfill its original mandate.

Outcomes

Wireless Philadelphia disregarded the recommendations that grew out of the public process and that supported nonprofit ownership of their wireless network. Instead, WP yielded to political pressure when it accepted EarthLink's bid to own and operate the network.
WP has underperformed because it de-prioritized public input and constituent interests.
WP would have been more effective if it had assumed ownership of the network.
In the absence of substantial public control over the decision-making process, arguments in favor of public ownership of municipal and/or nonprofit networks may be disregarded in favor of a "free lunch" corporate ownership model.

Policy Recommendations

For city officials and decision-makers:

Involve all stakeholders.
Sustain open participation.
Promote horizontal relationships among stakeholders.
Be open with information.
Go offline.
Leverage existing assets.
Seriously consider the benefits of public/nonprofit ownership and open access business models.
Treat connectivity and digital inclusion as basic public rights.

For community members and local organizers:

Organize a coalition.
Get to know the key players and decision-makers.
Be the media and report on the process.
Do your own research and disseminate it within your community.
Start a community wireless project.
Remain actively involved in all steps of the process.

For the full report, please see the PDF attached below.

Beyond Censorship

Wireless Future — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 03:47:00 -0400

As the FCC dramatically increases fines for indecency over broadcast TV -- and as Congress and the President raise the fine limits by a factor of ten and threaten to extend decency standards to cable and satellite networks -- the debate over how best to protect children from inappropriate media has reached a fever pitch. The problem is real: a plethora of studies show that repeated exposure to violence, inappropriate sexual content and even repeated advertising for junk food can have a negative, long-term impact on children. And while television is today's primary battleground, it won't be long before most children have access to a portable wireless device with 24/7 access to unlimited video content over the Internet.

New America's policy roundtable revolved around the question of who is responsible for protecting kids from inappropriate media -- the government, industry, or parents armed with new technologies -- and what can each do?

For the complete document, please see the attached PDF below.

Naveen Lakshmipathy

Operations — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 11:51:00 -0400

Former Senior Program Associate, Wireless Future Program

As Senior Program Associate of the Wireless Future Program, Naveen Lakshmipathy contributed broadly to the program’s efforts to broaden public access to the airwaves through research, writing, and outreach. He also managed the program’s web content and print publications.

Mr. Lakshmipathy holds a Master’s degree in Public… more

Wireless Public Safety Data Networks Operating on Unlicensed Airwaves

Wireless Future — Wed, 19 Apr 2006 07:00:00 -0400

From the fire fighters who died on 9/11 to the rescue workers struggling to help victims of Hurricane Katrina, recent crises have demonstrated that the absence of reliable and interoperable voice and data communications among public safety agencies is an urgent national dilemma. While the need for voice interoperability among first responders is a fundamental and longstanding public safety issue that must be resolved, many communities across the nation have already begun to supplement their voice communication networks with wireless broadband data networks operating over unlicensed spectrum—most notably the 2.4 GHz “Wi-Fi” band.

These cutting-edge mobile high-speed data networks complement voice systems and serve as a cost-effective means to deliver applications such as streaming video for surveillance and disaster response, fast downloads of suspect mug shots or building blueprints, and access to public safety databases. By providing first responders with more resources in the field—and reducing the time they need spend in the office – these wireless data networks act as a “force multiplier,” improving overall public safety.

Community Wireless: Overview of Current Policy Debates

Wireless Future — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 22:56:00 -0400

updated January 10, 2007

Low-cost, high-speed, community-based wireless broadband networks are cropping up across the country -- revolutionizing public communications, spurring economic development, and bridging the digital divide. They blanket entire towns, cities and counties in rural and urban areas and serve as mobile communications systems for public safety agencies in communities nationwide. While the vast majority of these broadband providers are small commercial Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs), a growing number are sponsored by local governments and nonprofit community groups.

There are several issues pending at the FCC and in Congress that hold great implications for the success or failure of community wireless networks. The following key debates are discussed in this Policy Backgrounder:

1. Open Spectrum - What all community wireless networks -- commercial (WISP), municipal and community nonprofit -- have in common is the unlicensed spectrum they use to transmit signals. Expanding unlicensed spectrum in low frequencies would serve as “rocket fuel” for community wireless networks and the expansion of low-cost broadband access to all Americans.

2. Municipal Wireless - The authority of municipal and other local government entities to establish wireless broadband networks for public access is under attack at the state and federal levels. Despite the lack of competition in wired broadband offerings and the plethora of social and economic benefits provided by community wireless, powerful incumbent telecommunications corporations are lobbying to make municipal wireless offerings illegal.

3. Network Neutrality - Establishing multiple broadband paths to the home by fostering community wireless broadband networks on unlicensed spectrum would serve to fend off plans by incumbent wireline broadband providers to control the quality and choice of content available to consumers over the Internet.

To view the complete document, please see the attached PDF.

Speeding the DTV Transition

Wireless Future — Wed, 25 May 2005 09:00:00 -0400

For the complete document, please see the attached PDF version below.