Hello Nathan,
As I'm sure you know, this is a very young industry with some
relatively small players making inroads where the big-boys (so far)
have not successfully tread. It's an exciting venture, but also not
very information-rich in terms of market size, trends, etc.
Nevertheless, there is some information out there that will be useful
to you in putting together your business plan.
The best information is specific to the United States market. There
is virtually no detailed information available for the international
market that is specific to rural subscribers (there is, however, some
general information on the size of the wireless ISP market
internationally...I did not include this so as not to be giving you
"apples and oranges", but let me know if you'd like it just the same).
I summarized the key information below. If anything here is not clear
-- or if you need additional information of any sort -- just let me
know by posting a Request for Clarification, and I'll be happy to
assist you further.
pafalafa-ga
----------
At ISP-Planet, they regularly report on activities in the Wireless ISP
field (which they also call "The Third Pipe), There is an interesting
article on market size and growth from January 2002 which you can find
here:
http://www.isp-planet.com/fixed_wireless/research/2002/wifi_popular.html
Third Pipe Growing Fast
and here are some key exceprts from the article:
--The coverage area of fixed wireless, often called the "third pipe"
of broadband Internet services, doubled in 2001, according to a survey
released Monday by the Broadband Wireless Exchange (BWE).
--The results of a survey... point to the growing clout of fixed
wireless technology in rural and underserved areas-- 1,966 markets
have one form of fixed wireless Internet or another available-- that's
more than twice as many markets as reported the previous year.
--entrepreneurs at small ISPs are realizing that it only costs around
$25,000 to build out a system that can serve 3,000 customers...by
charging a minimum of $50 per month, a broadband wireless system can
deliver $1.8 million in annual revenue...
--the technology has made headway mainly in rural and underserved areas.
----------
Another ISP-Planet article from march 2002 identifies the WISP market
as a bright spot in an otherwise bleak technology market:
http://www.isp-planet.com/fixed_wireless/research/2002/isp-market_wireless_report.html
Research Suggests All Is Not Bleak
Here are some key excerpts:
--For ISP-Market's most recent study, Broadband Wireless Access 2002:
Service Provider Profiles, Market Drivers and Spending Projections,
the firm surveyed 120 ISPs already offering broadband fixed wireless
services. The report projects ISPs will spend $345 million on fixed
wireless network equipment in 2002.
--Over 50 percent of the respondents indicated they planned to deploy
from ten to 30 additional access points in the first half of the year
alone....this is significant.
--For another study last October, ISP to xSP: Putting the Service in
Service Provider, the firm interviewed 120 randomly selected U.S. ISPs
about their plans for offering additional services. Thirty percent
said they would launch broadband fixed wireless access initiatives in
2002...
-- 58 percent [of wireless ISPs] are primarily targeting small to
medium-size businesses (SMBs), 17 percent are going after large
enterprises, 12 percent are targeting the small office, home office
(SOHO) market, and the rest (13 percent) are going after residential
customers.
--Most are offering more bandwidth than digital subscriber line (DSL)
and cable competitors, but also charging slightly more for it. The
most popular service offering is 512 Kbps, with 1.5 Mbps the next most
common...
-------------
This recent (June 2003) article from Wireless Week discusses
Motorola's excitement about growth in rural areas:
http://www.wirelessweek.com/index.asp?layout=newsat2direct&starting=2&pubdate=06/03/03
Motorola Gains Ground In Rural Areas
"Rural wireless Internet service providers have provided Motorola with
a vibrant new market for broadband wireless systems, according to
Motorola officials...'There are 2,000 to 3,000 wireless ISPs in rural
areas' [according to Motorola].
----------
A March 2002 article from a Broadband Wireless survey has some
information on market size as well:
http://www.bbwexchange.com/mediakit/wisp.asp
ISP Spending on Fixed Wireless Equipment to Exceed $344 Million in
2002 according to ISP-Market LLC Research
March 4, 2002
--More than 30% of existing ISPs will begin offering broadband
wireless access in 2002, attracted by low barriers to entry and high
demand for broadband services according to the report "Broadband
Wireless Access 2002: Service Provider Profiles, Market Drivers and
Spending Projections."
----------
Another article at the same link as above, has additional information
on who the players are:
Broadband Wireless Exchange Names Top 10 Wireless ISPs in the United States
--Broadband Wireless Census Report Registers 2,673 Markets Actively
Serving High-Speed Internet Connections
The Top 10 Wireless ISPs in the United States for 2001 are:
Prairie Inet -- 150 markets in Iowa, Illinois, Kansas and Nebraska
Xtratyme --105 markets in Minnesota and Iowa
DTN Speed.Net - 54 markets in Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas
Sting Communications -- 46 markets in Pennsylvania and New Jersey
NetBeam - 34 markets in Arizona, Colorado and Utah
Prime Companies - 32 markets in California, New York and Pennsylvania
Fairnet - 28 markets in Indiana
West Coast - 26 markets in California
Wireless Town - 23 markets in Illinois
InvisiMax - 18 markets in Minnesota
-----------
And here's a nice look from a December 2002 article at what Venture
Capitalists think about the prospects here:
http://www.thefeature.com/article?articleid=26714
VCs Love WISPs
--Despite the state of the economy, venture capitalists are still able
to find a bright spot in the telecom industry.
--According to a recent survey by the Wireless Communications
Association International's License Exempt Alliance (LEA), investments
in wireless ISPs, or WISPs, have totaled more than $445 million this
year in the U.S. alone. Doug Keeney, who chairs the LEA and is CEO of
US Wireless Online, says he was extremely impressed by the survey's
results. "We were surprised not only by the large amount of capital
that has flowed into license exempt operators, but also by how
efficiently this capital has been used," Keeney said. "Wireless ISPs
have rolled out broadband service in virtually every state of the
union-and in hundreds of rural and metropolitan markets, overcoming a
downward trend affecting so many other telecom sectors."
--it's logical to expect WISPs to do well, even in the current
economy. "We live in a very mobile society, and there is a great need
and desire for new wireless technologies,"...The need and desire for
new wireless technologies will continue
the flexibility of wireless technology offers a perfect solution for
the last mile.
--wireless companies are able to support entire cities for a fraction
of the cost of cable or DSL, which makes them very attractive to
investors. "We can do an overbuild of, say, the Louisville ADI, for
maybe $180,000," he said. "The cost to do an overbuild on a wireline
type deployment would be $20 or $30 million. That's the efficiency of
this market."
----------
Lastly, you should be aware of the recently-created Rural Broadband
Federation, whose mission in life is to lobby the US government for
increased financing for WISPs, and to make those funds available to
entrepeneurs. Perhaps your client would be interested in possible
grants as well as bank financing:
http://www.wcai.com/rural/federation.htm
THE RURAL BROADBAND FEDERATION
--The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture announced on Sept. 26 grants totaling $11 million
throughout the United States
--U.S. Agriculture Department Announces $20 Million In RUS Grants To 40 Communities
--Rural Broadband Federation To Foster Deployments Through New Funding
----------
I hope this provides you with the information you were looking for.
As I said earlier, there isn't a great amount of data out there that
is freely available on the web, but there is certainly enough here to
make a convincing case for financing, I would think.
But again...if you need any additional information, just let me know.
And of course...best of luck.
pafalafa-ga
Search strategy--Google search on:
("third pipe" OR wisps) market rural
As I'm sure you know, this is a very young industry with some
relatively small players making inroads where the big-boys (so far)
have not tread. It's an exciting venture, but also not very
information-rich in terms of market size, trends, etc. nevertheless,
there is some information out there that will be useful to you in
putting together your business plan.
I summarized the key information below. If anything here is not clear
-- or if you need additional information of any sort -- just let me
know by posting a Request for Clarification, and I'll be happy to
assist you further.
pafalafa-ga
----------
At ISP-Planet, they regularly report on activities in the Wireless ISP
field (which they also call "The Third Pipe), There is an interesting
article on market size and growth from January 2002 which you can find
here:
http://www.isp-planet.com/fixed_wireless/research/2002/wifi_popular.html
Third Pipe Growing Fast
and here are some key exceprts from the article:
--The coverage area of fixed wireless, often called the "third pipe"
of broadband Internet services, doubled in 2001, according to a survey
released Monday by the Broadband Wireless Exchange (BWE).
--The results of a survey... point to the growing clout of fixed
wireless technology in rural and underserved areas-- 1,966 markets
have one form of fixed wireless Internet or another available-- that's
more than twice as many markets as reported the previous year.
--entrepreneurs at small ISPs are realizing that it only costs around
$25,000 to build out a system that can serve 3,000 customers...by
charging a minimum of $50 per month, a broadband wireless system can
deliver $1.8 million in annual revenue...
--the technology has made headway mainly in rural and underserved areas.
----------
Another ISP-Planet article from march 2002 identifies the WISP market
as a bright spot in an otherwise bleak technology market:
http://www.isp-planet.com/fixed_wireless/research/2002/isp-market_wireless_report.html
Research Suggests All Is Not Bleak
Here are some key excerpts:
--For ISP-Market's most recent study, Broadband Wireless Access 2002:
Service Provider Profiles, Market Drivers and Spending Projections,
the firm surveyed 120 ISPs already offering broadband fixed wireless
services. The report projects ISPs will spend $345 million on fixed
wireless network equipment in 2002.
--Over 50 percent of the respondents indicated they planned to deploy
from ten to 30 additional access points in the first half of the year
alone....this is significant.
--For another study last October, ISP to xSP: Putting the Service in
Service Provider, the firm interviewed 120 randomly selected U.S. ISPs
about their plans for offering additional services. Thirty percent
said they would launch broadband fixed wireless access initiatives in
2002...
-- 58 percent [of wireless ISPs] are primarily targeting small to
medium-size businesses (SMBs), 17 percent are going after large
enterprises, 12 percent are targeting the small office, home office
(SOHO) market, and the rest (13 percent) are going after residential
customers.
--Most are offering more bandwidth than digital subscriber line (DSL)
and cable competitors, but also charging slightly more for it. The
most popular service offering is 512 Kbps, with 1.5 Mbps the next most
common...
-------------
This recent (June 2003) article from Wireless Week discusses
Motorola's excitement about growth in rural areas:
http://www.wirelessweek.com/index.asp?layout=newsat2direct&starting=2&pubdate=06/03/03
Motorola Gains Ground In Rural Areas
"Rural wireless Internet service providers have provided Motorola with
a vibrant new market for broadband wireless systems, according to
Motorola officials...'There are 2,000 to 3,000 wireless ISPs in rural
areas' [according to Motorola].
----------
A March 2002 article from a Broadband Wireless survey has some
information on market size as well:
http://www.bbwexchange.com/mediakit/wisp.asp
ISP Spending on Fixed Wireless Equipment to Exceed $344 Million in
2002 according to ISP-Market LLC Research
March 4, 2002
--More than 30% of existing ISPs will begin offering broadband
wireless access in 2002, attracted by low barriers to entry and high
demand for broadband services according to the report "Broadband
Wireless Access 2002: Service Provider Profiles, Market Drivers and
Spending Projections."
----------
Another article at the same link as above, has additional information
on who the players are:
Broadband Wireless Exchange Names Top 10 Wireless ISPs in the United States
--Broadband Wireless Census Report Registers 2,673 Markets Actively
Serving High-Speed Internet Connections
The Top 10 Wireless ISPs in the United States for 2001 are:
Prairie Inet -- 150 markets in Iowa, Illinois, Kansas and Nebraska
Xtratyme --105 markets in Minnesota and Iowa
DTN Speed.Net - 54 markets in Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas
Sting Communications -- 46 markets in Pennsylvania and New Jersey
NetBeam - 34 markets in Arizona, Colorado and Utah
Prime Companies - 32 markets in California, New York and Pennsylvania
Fairnet - 28 markets in Indiana
West Coast - 26 markets in California
Wireless Town - 23 markets in Illinois
InvisiMax - 18 markets in Minnesota
-----------
And here's a nice look from a December 2002 article at what Venture
Capitalists think about the prospects here:
http://www.thefeature.com/article?articleid=26714
VCs Love WISPs
--Despite the state of the economy, venture capitalists are still able
to find a bright spot in the telecom industry.
--According to a recent survey by the Wireless Communications
Association International's License Exempt Alliance (LEA), investments
in wireless ISPs, or WISPs, have totaled more than $445 million this
year in the U.S. alone. Doug Keeney, who chairs the LEA and is CEO of
US Wireless Online, says he was extremely impressed by the survey's
results. "We were surprised not only by the large amount of capital
that has flowed into license exempt operators, but also by how
efficiently this capital has been used," Keeney said. "Wireless ISPs
have rolled out broadband service in virtually every state of the
union-and in hundreds of rural and metropolitan markets, overcoming a
downward trend affecting so many other telecom sectors."
--it's logical to expect WISPs to do well, even in the current
economy. "We live in a very mobile society, and there is a great need
and desire for new wireless technologies,"...The need and desire for
new wireless technologies will continue
the flexibility of wireless technology offers a perfect solution for
the last mile.
--wireless companies are able to support entire cities for a fraction
of the cost of cable or DSL, which makes them very attractive to
investors. "We can do an overbuild of, say, the Louisville ADI, for
maybe $180,000," he said. "The cost to do an overbuild on a wireline
type deployment would be $20 or $30 million. That's the efficiency of
this market."
----------
Lastly, you should be aware of the recently-created Rural Broadband
Federation, whose mission in life is to lobby the US government for
increased financing for WISPs, and to make those funds available to
entrepeneurs. Perhaps your client would be interested in possible
grants as well as bank financing:
http://www.wcai.com/rural/federation.htm
THE RURAL BROADBAND FEDERATION
--The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture announced on Sept. 26 grants totaling $11 million
throughout the United States
--U.S. Agriculture Department Announces $20 Million In RUS Grants To 40 Communities
--Rural Broadband Federation To Foster Deployments Through New Funding
----------
I hope this provides you with the information you were looking for.
As I said earlier, there isn't a great amount of data out there that
is freely available on the web, but there is certainly enough here to
make a convincing case for financing, I would think.
But again...if you need any additional information, just let me know.
And of course...best of luck.
pafalafa-ga
Search strategy--Google search on:
("third pipe" OR wisps) market rural
Thanks so much for you interesting question. I'm a big fan of
wireless myself, so I very much enjoyed the challenge of researching
this.
As I'm sure you know, this is a very young industry with some
relatively small players making inroads where the big-boys (so far)
have not tread. It's an exciting venture, but also not very
information-rich in terms of market size, trends, etc. nevertheless,
there is some information out there that will be useful to you in
putting together your business plan.
I summarized the key information below. If anything here is not clear
-- or if you need additional information of any sort -- just let me
know by posting a Request for Clarification, and I'll be happy to
assist you further.
pafalafa-ga
----------
At ISP-Planet, they regularly report on activities in the Wireless ISP
field (which they also call "The Third Pipe), There is an interesting
article on market size and growth from January 2002 which you can find
here:
http://www.isp-planet.com/fixed_wireless/research/2002/wifi_popular.html
Third Pipe Growing Fast
and here are some key excerpts from the article:
--The coverage area of fixed wireless, often called the "third pipe"
of broadband Internet services, doubled in 2001, according to a survey
released Monday by the Broadband Wireless Exchange (BWE).
--The results of a survey... point to the growing clout of fixed
wireless technology in rural and underserved areas-- 1,966 markets
have one form of fixed wireless Internet or another available-- that's
more than twice as many markets as reported the previous year.
--entrepreneurs at small ISPs are realizing that it only costs around
$25,000 to build out a system that can serve 3,000 customers...by
charging a minimum of $50 per month, a broadband wireless system can
deliver $1.8 million in annual revenue...
--the technology has made headway mainly in rural and underserved areas.
----------
Another ISP-Planet article from march 2002 identifies the WISP market
as a bright spot in an otherwise bleak technology market:
http://www.isp-planet.com/fixed_wireless/research/2002/isp-market_wireless_report.html
Research Suggests All Is Not Bleak
Here are some key excerpts:
--For ISP-Market's most recent study, Broadband Wireless Access 2002:
Service Provider Profiles, Market Drivers and Spending Projections,
the firm surveyed 120 ISPs already offering broadband fixed wireless
services. The report projects ISPs will spend $345 million on fixed
wireless network equipment in 2002.
--Over 50 percent of the respondents indicated they planned to deploy
from ten to 30 additional access points in the first half of the year
alone....this is significant.
--For another study last October, ISP to xSP: Putting the Service in
Service Provider, the firm interviewed 120 randomly selected U.S. ISPs
about their plans for offering additional services. Thirty percent
said they would launch broadband fixed wireless access initiatives in
2002...
-- 58 percent [of wireless ISPs] are primarily targeting small to
medium-size businesses (SMBs), 17 percent are going after large
enterprises, 12 percent are targeting the small office, home office
(SOHO) market, and the rest (13 percent) are going after residential
customers.
--Most are offering more bandwidth than digital subscriber line (DSL)
and cable competitors, but also charging slightly more for it. The
most popular service offering is 512 Kbps, with 1.5 Mbps the next most
common...
-------------
This recent (June 2003) article from Wireless Week discusses
Motorola's excitement about growth in rural areas:
http://www.wirelessweek.com/index.asp?layout=newsat2direct&starting=2&pubdate=06/03/03
Motorola Gains Ground In Rural Areas
"Rural wireless Internet service providers have provided Motorola with
a vibrant new market for broadband wireless systems, according to
Motorola officials...'There are 2,000 to 3,000 wireless ISPs in rural
areas' [according to Motorola].
----------
A March 2002 article from a Broadband Wireless survey has some
information on market size as well:
http://www.bbwexchange.com/mediakit/wisp.asp
ISP Spending on Fixed Wireless Equipment to Exceed $344 Million in
2002 according to ISP-Market LLC Research
March 4, 2002
--More than 30% of existing ISPs will begin offering broadband
wireless access in 2002, attracted by low barriers to entry and high
demand for broadband services according to the report "Broadband
Wireless Access 2002: Service Provider Profiles, Market Drivers and
Spending Projections."
----------
Another article at the same link as above, has additional information
on who the players are:
Broadband Wireless Exchange Names Top 10 Wireless ISPs in the United States
--Broadband Wireless Census Report Registers 2,673 Markets Actively
Serving High-Speed Internet Connections
The Top 10 Wireless ISPs in the United States for 2001 are:
Prairie Inet -- 150 markets in Iowa, Illinois, Kansas and Nebraska
Xtratyme --105 markets in Minnesota and Iowa
DTN Speed.Net - 54 markets in Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas
Sting Communications -- 46 markets in Pennsylvania and New Jersey
NetBeam - 34 markets in Arizona, Colorado and Utah
Prime Companies - 32 markets in California, New York and Pennsylvania
Fairnet - 28 markets in Indiana
West Coast - 26 markets in California
Wireless Town - 23 markets in Illinois
InvisiMax - 18 markets in Minnesota
-----------
And here's a nice look from a December 2002 article at what Venture
Capitalists think about the prospects here:
http://www.thefeature.com/article?articleid=26714
VCs Love WISPs
--Despite the state of the economy, venture capitalists are still able
to find a bright spot in the telecom industry.
--According to a recent survey by the Wireless Communications
Association International's License Exempt Alliance (LEA), investments
in wireless ISPs, or WISPs, have totaled more than $445 million this
year in the U.S. alone. Doug Keeney, who chairs the LEA and is CEO of
US Wireless Online, says he was extremely impressed by the survey's
results. "We were surprised not only by the large amount of capital
that has flowed into license exempt operators, but also by how
efficiently this capital has been used," Keeney said. "Wireless ISPs
have rolled out broadband service in virtually every state of the
union-and in hundreds of rural and metropolitan markets, overcoming a
downward trend affecting so many other telecom sectors."
--it's logical to expect WISPs to do well, even in the current
economy. "We live in a very mobile society, and there is a great need
and desire for new wireless technologies,"...The need and desire for
new wireless technologies will continue
the flexibility of wireless technology offers a perfect solution for
the last mile.
--wireless companies are able to support entire cities for a fraction
of the cost of cable or DSL, which makes them very attractive to
investors. "We can do an overbuild of, say, the Louisville ADI, for
maybe $180,000," he said. "The cost to do an overbuild on a wireline
type deployment would be $20 or $30 million. That's the efficiency of
this market."
----------
Lastly, you should be aware of the recently-created Rural Broadband
Federation, whose mission in life is to lobby the US government for
increased financing for WISPs, and to make those funds available to
entrepreneurs. Perhaps your client would be interested in possible
grants as well as bank financing:
http://www.wcai.com/rural/federation.htm
THE RURAL BROADBAND FEDERATION
--The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture announced on Sept. 26 grants totaling $11 million
throughout the United States
--U.S. Agriculture Department Announces $20 Million In RUS Grants To 40 Communities
--Rural Broadband Federation To Foster Deployments Through New Funding
----------
a News Brief from Wi-Fi planet gives some subscriber numbers for
wireless broadband in the U.S., though these are not broken down into
rural and non-rural access:
http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/news/article.php/1183381
Wi-Fi to Overtake MMDS in the U.S.
--Residential subscriptions to fixed wireless broadband in the U.S.
will grow from approximately 338,000 in the end of 2001 to 3.1 million
by the end of 2006. Over this time period, licensed-exempt services
will have the greatest growth with residential subscribers--from
123,000 in 2001 to almost 2.5 million by 2006
----------
I hope this provides you with the information you were looking for.
As I said earlier, there isn't a great amount of data out there that
is freely available on the web, but there is certainly enough here to
make a convincing case for financing, I would think.
But again...if you need any additional information, just let me know.
And of course...best of luck.
pafalafa-ga
Search strategy--Google search on:
("third pipe" OR wisps) market rural |