Not exempt from need for email

While larger cities seeking universal wi-fi steal the attentions of courting companies, small cities demonstrate they won't be left behind, reports ZDNet, citing data compiled by MultiState Associates.

Over the past 18 months, lobbyist consulting firm MultiState compiled a database of over 2,000 communities interested in building a municipal broadband or wireless platform. Each had 60,000 or fewer inhabitants.

And the cities haven't just expressed interest; some have released RFPs. Unfortunately, few enterprises are willing to foot the bill for such a population dwarfed by cities the size of San Francisco, which has also taken interest in municipal wi-fi.

"There is no lack of vendors for responding to Chicago and Boston," said Mitch Gorsen, vice president at MultiState Associates. "But you drop to tier 2 and there is only resellers. Motorola will take an RFP from a place like Sunny Isles Beach, Fla., and they send it to their reseller in Florida and say, 'You go do this'."

At a MiniWireless New England panel that took place last Tueday, representatives from Earthlink and AT&T agreed population is a major deciding factor when considering an RFP. Depending on the business model, they need to see a return on investment from either subscriptions or ad revenue.

Vice President Carl Nerup of AT&T's development sector elaborated. "I never say no to any deal, because I always believe there's a deal. But it's about a value-driven deployment that balances between the need of your city and the needs of our shareholders."

MuniWireless Founder Esme Vos said there is little else for small towns to do besides build a broadband infrastructure on their own.

Vos called public broadband is a utility, like water or electricity. She also cited examples in the US and Europe that less populated communities could look to for models of successful municipal broadband platforms.

Rural EU towns, for example, sometimes build fiber rings attached to WiMax antennae that send signals to a town. This signal is then conveyed to users through a wireless connection.

Vos and Gorsen added it is possible for small towns to make money after a broadband investment but, like any large undertaking, it merits careful planning.