i Net2

Wonders of  Fiber and Wireless Together

Thursday, February 09, 2012

What’s Wrong (with Communications & Entertainment)?

Mobile Data Rates are TOO High

The big cell phone companies are charging $10 per Gigabyte for Mobile data. Compared to Fixed data, this is a 50 to 1 ratio. As we use more of it for Entertainment such as Mobile Video, they are raising the minimum quantities we must purchase each month. The cost per Gig is even higher if you try to use small sub-gigabyte quantities. The 5 GB cap is very low compared to Fixed data, also a 50 to 1 ratio.

Fixed Data Rates are TOO High

The Cable and Telephone companies are charging 20 cents per Gigabyte of data compared to a projected cost of ½ cent over Fiber, a 40 to 1 ratio. As we use more for Over-The-Top (OtT) Video Entertainment, these companies who compete in that space are capping our usage at 250 GB per month, preventing extensive use of this fledging technology. Caps on Fiber delivered data could be as high as 500 GB, PER DAY, a 60 to 1 ratio of usage.

Silos

Mobile Data is carried over the cellular phone network which is a separate business from the Entertainment & Communications business that delivers to our Homes & Small to Medium-sized Businesses, though the Mobile companies would like to sell you the Entertainment you have already purchased a second time for your Mobile device. There is no synergy here, no symbiotic reciprocity between Fixed & Mobile Data. Because of this miss, there is a 2000 to 1 ratio of cost in Mobile Data to Fiber and a 3000 to 1 ratio in caps.

Everything should be as simple as possible, but not simpler. – Al E.

The Fiber needed for our Mobile communications is not the same as Fiber needed to deliver Communications & Entertainment to our Homes & SMBs, but it could be. As our needs and appetites for Mobile Data grow, we will need more big, ugly cell towers closer to our homes. The closer sites create smaller cells, limiting the number of users, at the same time allowing increase capability due to the reduced distance. Of course each of these needs to be linked with Fiber. As our demand increases, even more towers will be needed.

What if the coverage areas were shrunk dramatically, to only a few houses on the street? The sites could be much smaller, the size of motorist aid call boxes, without the phone on the side, placed inconspicuously every few homes on the property lines, and then repeated every group forming a canopy over the footprint. Much more appealing to view. Of course, these would need to be linked with Fiber, but it would be the same Fiber needed for our homes & SMBs. These small sites would raise the cost of Mobile Data to ¾ cents per Gigabyte, still much below what consumers are currently paying. Plus ALL the services we use at Home would be available to us as we travel. (Disclaimer: We have recently issued patents on this system.)

Delivering our Entertainment over our Fiber Data pipe would lower its cost we would only pay for the programming itself as we would have already provided the transport of bits over the Fiber network. We get to choose how it is used, whether for programming, OtT Video or the Internet. It is all one huge pipe. Coupled with the reduction in Mobile Data costs, our total expenditures should hold in check. We will need the carriers as we travel outside the service footprint, at least temporarily.

The Future

A platform this capable invites additional services.  These could include:

Mobile Gaming

Location Determination and Tracking

Driverless Cars (for safety, ease, school children, the disabled, taxies)

Public Safety Communications

Public Area Video Monitoring

Traffic Monitoring / Control

Security Monitoring

Utility Metering / Control

Blocking of Copyrighted Content

What new services would you like to see or invent?

We are currently seeking Angel funding to build our test system. Who can you recommend?