Rhode Island Going Wireless?

While many states are striving to increase broadband availability (see the Kentucky story above, for example), a Providence-based nonprofit released a study this month promoting the feasibility of making Rhode Island the first entirely networked state for broadband wireless.

The Business Innovation Factory initiated the Rhode Island Wireless Innovation Networks (RI-WINs) to assess the demand for a statewide broadband wireless network and to determine the technological and economic feasibility of the network. The study also proposed an operating model for RI-WINs drawing on a broad public-private partnership.

The study's conclusions were all positive. Rhode Island's concentrated geographic area proves to be a substantial plus for initial network installation, a substantial hurdle for most other states. The report suggests an initial capital outlay of $20.2 million and an annual operating cost of $5.012 million would allow for installation and maintenance of a 100-plus site network based on WiMAX transport core with WiFi technology at the consumer interface.

At this point in time, RI-WINs anticipates charging users $250 annually for the service. The total available market - state employees, education, healthcare and mobile workers - is calculated as 322,000 with potential RI-WINs users estimated to number 25,000.

The Business Innovation Factory's next steps are to design, secure funding and launch a pilot project to test how the statewide network should be built. The RI-WINs study is available at: http://bif.shazamm.net/files/RIWINsReportFinal.pdf