The L.A. Broadband Summit

The Challenges of Delivering 4-G

by Michelle Felten, Zoning Manager, Core Development Services

On June 23, 2010, the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business was the place to be.

That’s when the University held a Los Angeles Broadband Summit to discuss the challenges of delivering 4-G. The event was organized by the school’s Institute for Communication Technology Management (CTM) which brought together some of the industry’s brightest minds. The event was attended by over 100 industry and public sector personnel. John Koos, Founding Principal of Core Development Services, was honored to be one of the panelists.

The purpose of the Summit was to bring together thought leaders from government, telecommunications, technology, content, and academia to discuss wireless opportunities, challenges and potential solutions.

Each speaker brought his or her own unique point of view, but as you might expect the consensus was that spectrum and land use are the biggest challenges to implementing 4G.

Here’s a quick summary of the problems and opportunities facing the industry and some of the innovative solutions that were offered.

Municipal mobility

Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle, spoke about how his city needed to reform its telecommunications approval process. He learned of the need firsthand after the communications center for a wildfire was setup at an elementary school in an area of the city that had no wireless coverage.
As a result, the fire and police departments had to conduct all communications over their radios. When Pringle asked why this happened, he learned that the existing review processes created unneeded obstacles to get sites approved. Pringle and his City Manager met with all the city’s department heads and quickly saw the need to streamline the process by removing Conditional Use Permits from the planning process and making them part of a simpler, easier-to-navigate administrative process.

By this summer, Pringle added, Anaheim will take its practices one step further and create a potential blueprint for others by creating a standardized real estate agreement for all city properties and utilities.

Changes in the mobile marketplace

Kelly King, Senior Vice President, Consumer & Mobility for AT&T, discussed the rapidly changing mobile marketplace. He noted that in 2008 the United States became the number one market in the world for smart phones with more than twice as many users as China, the second largest market.

King also said that the US leads the world in e-Book downloads and in mobile workforce. In fact, King stated that Cisco predicts a forty times increase in global traffic demand, two-thirds of which will be video. He noted that current wireless systems are running out of the ability to provide service.

Bridging the digital divide

All cities may not see the need to advance wireless technology, but Randi Levin, Chief Technology Manager & IT General Manager for the City of Los Angeles, said that her city looked long and hard at how to bring more broadband to its residents, but quickly realized that it was simply unaffordable.

She said that bridging the digital divide is a high priority for the Los Angeles City Council. While they have been successful in extending broadband to their libraries, civic centers, rec centers, etc. they’re still unable to reach everyone. With 25% of the city population below the poverty line, she said it was much more feasible for them to buy smart phones to connect with the Internet than buying computers for Internet access.

Opinion roundup

Dr. Phillip Marshall, PhD, Principal of Tolaga Systems, Inc., noted that new services are driving the tremendous traffic demands on existing wireless networks and that demand is currently rapidly outstripping supply. He said that a great deal of new infrastructure is needed to even begin to address the increased demand.

Larry Doherty, Senior Vice President of NextG Network, discussed what carriers are doing to increase capacity. He said his company is bringing antennas closer to the need, especially in the toughest residential areas in which to deploy. NextG’s goal is to weave into the character of the neighborhood using the right-of-way/utility corridor. By doing this he believes NextG can extend the reach of cell towers into previously challenging areas.

John DeHart of Verizon Wireless spoke about site selection. Speed to market and capital costs, he observed, are the carriers’ main concerns. He echoed the belief that consumers are driving the need on the data side and noted that the carriers just cannot keep up. The challenge of getting coverage to the people is not just a concern of the carriers, but is also becoming a huge part of the federal government’s budget. DeHart noted that out of an $80 billion a year technology budget, $21 billion is devoted to telecommunications.

Jan Perry, Councilwoman from District 9 of the City of Los Angeles, stated that she would like to find a balance between infrastructures, aesthetics and placement. She suggested that transportation corridors should be used as the first option for infrastructure placement. While she expressed concern with sites in residential areas, she understands that cell phones and wireless communications complete civic engagement. For example, she cited instances of how her constituents have helped law enforcement by providing pictures and video of crimes from their cell phones. She also noted (or rued, perhaps) that she gets text messages from constituents requesting trash pickup, tree trimming, and stray dog alerts. Finally, she stated her belief that wireless communications is key to future economic development.
Hal Dash, President and CEO, and Kristen Montet Lonner, Principal, both of Cerrell Associates, offered a how-to approach to land use issues. Trust and strategy, they noted, are crucial. They believe the key to success is to take the time and money prior to engage the community and build support with the constituents and public officials. Merely submitting an application and hoping for the best is a sure recipe for failure.
The bottom line

John Koos was the final panelist to speak. He heartily seconded Mr. Dash and Ms. Lonner’s comments and stressed the need to have savvy, experienced planners handling those entitlements. He also noted that his company, Core Development Services, believes that 4G is the industry’s chance to reinvent itself and "reset the clock."

Prior to initiating the 4G entitlement process for their clients, Core Development Services took a moment to reflect. Many cities’ impressions of the industry are not always positive, so Core's principals considered this is the perfect opportunity to imprint a new feeling in their minds. The company’s principals believe it is imperative to take a proactive approach with the jurisdictions to allow them to feel transparency and obtain their confidence. Instead of giving them what they have been conditioned to expect from the wireless industry, Core’s opinion is that it is important to change the mold.

Unfortunately, in today’s society many cities are apprehensive about wireless facilities, including the people who submit for their entitlements. With many of the employees at Core having worked in the public sector or serving on planning commissions or public boards throughout Southern California, the Core staff has listened to these comments first hand. Often planners feel duped and have a strong distrust. John Koos, Principal of Core, feels it is instrumental to change their beliefs and go in with a realistic approach.
Rather than bombarding the cities with loads of new applications and expect approvals for the requested modifications, Core Development Services first approaches each jurisdiction they work in for a sit down to discuss what will be coming to them shortly. Core provides an explanation for the absolute need of the new technology and offers painless suggestions of how to implement the changes quickly. Realizing the affect that the economy has had on city staffs, especially in the reduction of employees, Core understands that implementing 4G may bombard the already overworked jurisdictions.

Seeing the future technology coming, Core Development Services focused on building strong relationships with city staffs knowing that when the 4G wave hit, they would have to rely on those relationships and assist them in bringing the technology to the consumer. Through encouraging positive trusting working relationships with the cities, the implementation process will be that much smoother and more effective.

In conclusion

Across each panel the message was clear. Systems currently in place are struggling to handle current demand and will be completely overwhelmed by future demand.

Expansion is absolutely necessary, yet many obstacles regarding spectrum and land use must be overcome. However, if the industry works closely with state, regional and local jurisdictions, plans carefully and works quickly, we’ll be ready for the future. No matter how quickly it gets here.