Protecting the Future of the Mobile Internet

Presentation from BarCampGR 2012 in Grand Rapids, Michigan about cellular networks in urban Grand Rapids as the future of internet access.

Transcript

1. Protecting the future of
   the Mobile Internet
   Matthew Seeley
   

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2. Mobile Internet is the
   Future
   

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3. The Problem?
   

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4. The Problem?
   • Mobile Internet is Expensive
   • Mobile Internet is Slow
   • Mobile Internet is Flakey / Unreliable
   • Mobile Internet is Bandwidth-constrained
   by spectrum resources
   

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5. “The demand for spectrum will
   exceed supply by 2013,
   according to (FCC) estimates.
   If that happens, the speed of
   the mobile revolution will slow
   down. Prices, download times
   and consumer frustration will
   all increase. And at a societal
   level we risk jeopardizing the
   future of our nation's vital
   mobile Internet infrastructure.”
   Randall Stephenson
   AT&T CEO
   

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6. Mobile is expensive
   • AT&T / Verizon : $10 - $20+ per gigabyte
   

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8. Current LTE Costs
   • 3 EUR ~= 4 USD.
   • $4 USD / 2GB
   • $2 per gigabyte
   • 87% profit margin
   AT&T - Verizon prices @ $15/gb
   

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9. To Review :
   • LTE, once deployed, is dirt cheap
   

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10. LTE is FAST
    

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13. To Review :
    • LTE is FAST
    • LTE is CHEAP
    • What about reliability?
    

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15. Blue : AT&T Cell Towers | Red : Areas of Bad Reception
    

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16. Magenta : T-Mobile Cell Towers | Red : Known Bad Area
    

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17. Blue : AT&T Cell Towers | Magenta : T-Mobile Cell Towers
    

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18. • AT&T and T-Mobile both use compatible
    GSM Networks.
    • AT&T and T-Mobile both use compatible
    spectrum in West Michigan (PCS & AWS)
    • Neither AT&T nor T-Mobile share networks
    in Grand Rapids.
    

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20. To Review :
    • LTE is FAST
    • LTE is CHEAP
    • LTE (and most mobile) when deployed
    properly, is crazy reliable.
    • What about limited spectrum?
    

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21. “The demand for spectrum will
    exceed supply by 2013,
    according to (FCC) estimates.
    If that happens, the speed of
    the mobile revolution will slow
    down. Prices, download times
    and consumer frustration will
    all increase. And at a societal
    level we risk jeopardizing the
    future of our nation's vital
    mobile Internet infrastructure.”
    Randall Stephenson
    AT&T CEO
    

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22. spectrum
    Mobile Internet Users
    The Network
    

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24. Verizon 108 mhz
    AT&T 94 mhz
    T-Mobile 80 mhz
    Sprint 40 mhz
    MetroPCS 10 mhz
    Clearwire 194 mhz
    Spectrum already
    *allocated* and
    *owned* by
    various teleco’s
    in Grand Rapids
    (Kent County)
    alone
    

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25. [company] [ total ] [ in use ] [ free ]
    Verizon 108 mhz 76 mhz 32 mhz
    AT&T 94 mhz 64 mhz 30 mhz
    T-Mobile 80 mhz 40 mhz 40 mhz
    Sprint 40 mhz 30 mhz 10 mhz
    MetroPCS 10 mhz 10 mhz - -
    Clearwire 194 mhz 30 mhz 164 mhz
    Grand Rapids, MI (Kent County)
    

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26. [company] [ total ] [ in use ] [ free ]
    SpectrumCo
    (Comcast)
    20 mhz - - 20 mhz
    Leap Wireless
    (Cricket)
    10 mhz - - 10 mhz
    Grand Rapids, MI (Kent County)
    These companies do not offer wireless service
    of any kind in the entire state of Michigan.
    

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28. • (300 mhz / 20 mhz) * 200 Mbps =
    3,000 Mbps.
    

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29. Even if we were out of
    spectrum
    You can always go smaller.
    

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33. Green : Microcells that could exist, but don’t currently
    each cell could provide an additional 200Mbps on non-
    overlapping spectrum, using just CLEARWIRE spectrum.
    

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34. The Problem.
    • Mobile Internet is Expensive (nope)
    • Mobile Internet is Flakey / Unreliable
    (doesn’t need to be)
    • Mobile Internet is Bandwidth-constrained
    by limited available spectrum
    (not a chance)
    

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35. Competition will save us!
    • AT&T Uverse and Comcast Cable will
    force telco’s to fix this, right?
    

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41. The Problem.
    • Mobile Internet is Expensive
    • Mobile Internet is Flakey / Unreliable
    • Mobile Internet is Bandwidth-constrained
    by limited available spectrum
    • Mobile Internet is controlled by a
    unregulated semi-monopoly of powerful
    global un-accountable corporations who
    are plotting to destroy the world?
    

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43. Is this concerning?
    Things you can do.
    • Use your voice :
    - Contact the FCC
    - Contact your elected representatives
    Congress : (Bill Huizenga, Justin Amash)
    Senate : (Carl Levin, Debbie Stabenow)
    Use your dollars :
    - Support smaller, local providers when possible.
    (Sprint, T-Mobile, MetroPCS, Clearwire, Azulstar, iServe)
    

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