Table of Contents

Welcome

Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1: Introduction to Current and Upcoming Technologies
1.2: Why Traditional Models Won't Work in Rural Canada
1.3: Overview of the Structure of This Thesis

Chapter 2: Internet Use in Northern Ontario
2.1: Communities and Infrastructure
2.2: Community Based Networks and Their Efforts
2.3: Computer, Internet and Broadband Adoption Statistics
2.4: Outlook for Northern Ontario

Chapter 3: Wired Networks
3.1: Fibre Optic Networks
3.2: DSL
3.3: Cable
3.4: BPL

Chapter 4:Wireless Networks
4.1: WiFi
4.2: Broadband Cellular
4.3: MMDS and LMDS
4.4: Motorola Canopy
4.5: WiMAX

Chapter 5: Satellite Networks
5.1: KU-band and KA-band
5.2: Satellite as a Pipeline

Chapter 6: Broadband Funding Programs
6.1: Government Support for Broadband
6.2: Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC)
6.3: Satellite Internet for Remote Areas (SIRA)
6.4: Federal Funding

Chapter 7: Infrastructure Feasibility Algorithms
7.1: The Need for Algorithms and the Definition of Feasibility
7.2: Reasoning Behind the Algorithms
7.3: Broadband Pipeline Physical Feasibility Algorithm
7.4: Broadband Last Mile Infrastructure Physical Feasibility Algorithm
7.5: Case Study: The Cottage
7.6: Case Study: Village of Hilton Beach
7.7: Afterthoughts on the Algorithms

Chapter 8: Conclusion

Appendix A: List of References
Appendix B: Glossary

4.2: Broadband Cellular

One third of the world's population has a mobile phone [77], making mobile (or cellular, or wireless) phone service one of the largest land-based networks in operation today. While over 70% [33] of cell phones use the ubiquitous GSM standard, that standard competes head-on with CMDA2000 in North America. Different companies support these two standards. GSM networks are operated by Rogers Wireless in Canada, and by Cingular and T-Mobile in the United States. CDMA2000 networks are operated by Bell Mobility and Telus Mobility in Canada, while Verizon and Sprint Nextel operate CDMA2000 networks in the United States. Collectively, these providers bring mobile phone service to most of the populated areas of the continent with towers in large and small cities, and along the highways that connect them together.

The infrastructure behind the mobile phone network is actually quite simple. A tower is erected in a central location, usually on a hill or tall building, to give it the widest reach possible. Several narrow-beam antennas, often between 10 and 20 in number, fan out around the top of the tower to provide 360-degree wireless coverage with a broadcast radius in the tens of kilometres [47]. A clear line of site to cell phones and other devices is not required. These antennas are driven by transceivers that are installed in a shack or enclosure at the base of the tower. The transceivers are hooked up to digital signal processors, GPS and control equipment, and finally to a base station controller, which is connected to the public switched telephone network [47]. This equipment is often redundantly powered with backup batteries or a diesel generator. Due to this being a highly private and proprietary technology, information on how clients are authenticated or how minutes are counted is not readily available (nor relevant).

Mobile phone technology has gone through many versions, or “generations”. First generation technology (1G) was all analog, and was introduced in North America in the mid-to-late 1980s with the Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS). By the early 1990s, AMPS networks were running at capacity so digital AMPS (D-AMPS, or TDMA) networks, the second generation (2G) of mobile phone technology, was introduced to North America. The GSM and openCDMA standards were also a part of the 2G technology, and the first non-voice data technology came about a little later. The third generation of technology improved upon these digital standards and saw the creation of CDMA2000, the descendant of openCDMA. These GSM and CDMA2000 networks began replacing the older D-AMPS, AMPS and openCDMA networks by 2000. Third generation (3G) technology is digital packet-switched while 2G technology is digital circuit-switched [26]. This allows for greater data throughput and more flexible communication with the network. Both 2G and 3G networks are in operation in Canada today, with 2G equipment slowly being replaced by the newer technology.

The data services provided by these networks are obviously the important part of this discussion. In Canada, Rogers operates an EDGE 2G data service and an HSDPA 3G data service. EDGE stands for Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution, which is an enhanced version of the earlier GPRS data standard. Rogers' EDGE network began deployment in 2003 [53]. It blankets most major cities and regions, such as southern Ontario, and also exists in some smaller cities like Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Using a special EDGE wireless modem, a computer or other device can connect to the network and achieve speeds up to around 150 Kbps, or three times faster than dial-up. The hardware costs about $350, and the service plans are extremely expensive: between $3 and $21 per megabyte [59]. If your average DSL or cable customer was being charged this much, their monthly bills would be in the thousands. Obviously, the EDGE network is not an option for rural communities, nor any home or business anywhere. It is intended for light e-mail usage by mobile professionals.

Just this past year, Rogers has begun trials of a High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) service, and plans to offer the service to customers as early as fall 2006 [67]. HSDPA is the third generation of data services offered on GSM networks, with a data throughput of between 400 Kbps and 800 Kbps, with burst speeds up to 2 Mbps [36]. Pricing won't be announced until the fall, but it will hopefully be comparable to Cingular's BroadbandConnect service, which is $200 for the hardware and $60 a month for unlimited service. (It's possible, however, that Rogers will use a similar pricing scheme that they use for EDGE.) It may be the first cellular technology that has a chance of being comparable to cable and DSL in speed and price. In order to offer HSDPA service, a cellular tower has to have its transceivers and other equipment upgraded. It also needs an Internet pipeline of probably at least 100 Mbps to support several simultaneously connected users. Because of the private and proprietary nature of this technology, the cost of these kinds of upgrades is not available. Based on the fact that it has been deployed only in metropolitan areas of the United States, however, the price per upgraded tower is probably not insignificant. Indeed, once it is launched in Canada this fall, HSDPA will spread much like EDGE did beginning in 2003. It will first be deployed in major cities like Toronto and Vancouver, and take two or three years to make it out to surrounding metro areas and smaller cities. Now three years after EDGE began deployment, it still is not available in most rural areas, so HSDPA will likely not be available in rural areas until sometime after 2009. By that time EDGE may be more widespread, but of course its unimpressive speed and high cost make it unattractive to all but mobile professionals. HSDPA through Rogers' network remains an attractive option for bringing broadband to the rural areas that have wireless phone service. Trends would indicate, however, that it will not be made available for several years and due to the private nature of wireless networks, not much could be done to accelerate this deployment.

Bell and Telus, like Rogers on its GSM network, operate 2G and 3G data services across Canada on their CDMA2000 wireless networks. Their 2G data technology is called 1X, which is comparable to Rogers' EDGE service. 1X has been around for a few years, and today has made greater inroads into rural Canada than EDGE. It reaches many rural areas in Northern Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and B.C.. The service is slower, however, at 40 to 60 Kbps, about the same speed as dial-up [17]. Pricing remains quite high and is still charged per megabyte, with Bell's best package including 500 megabytes for $100 [84]. The hardware, a PC card for laptops, is inexpensive at $100. Again, this is a service intended for mobile professionals, not for homes or businesses. The same speeds can be had through dial-up, for a much lower price.

The new 3G technology being deployed across Bell and Telus' CDMA2000 networks is called 1xEV-DO, for “EVolution – Data Optimized” [2]. It is comparable to the HSDPA service being tested by Rogers, but seems to have gotten a head-start on it. 1xEV-DO service is already available to customers in Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver. For 1xEV-DO service to be available through the cell tower, it requires upgraded transponders and other equipment, and a connection to a fairly large Internet pipeline. Average throughput is quite respectable at 400 to 700 Kbps with burst speeds up to 2 Mbps, which is enough to permit streaming video, VoIP, and other services tailored for broadband users [2]. In the United States, Verizon has been rapidly deploying their 1xEV-DO “BroadbandAccess” service, and it now reaches 148 million people in 180 metropolitan areas [11]. BroadbandAccess is quite inexpensive at $60 per month for unlimited usage, plus $50 for the hardware. Unfortunately the 1xEV-DO services offered by Bell and Telus come nowhere close to Verizon in coverage, nor in price. Both Bell and Telus charge by the megabyte for both 1X and 1xEV-DO access, in fact using the same pricing model for the two services. This means that 1xEV-DO customers will still pay about $100 for a maximum of 500 megabytes of data, but they'll just use that up a lot faster. To be fair, it should be stated that while Verizon's service is advertised as unlimited and no limit on data usage is specified, they discourage their customers from using bandwidth-intensive applications like streaming video or VoIP. They may suspend service if their fair access policy (FAP) is violated by downloading or uploading too much data [11]. Because this service is just getting off the ground in Canada (Bell launched it in November 2005), its limited coverage is understandable. If it follows the deployment trends set by 1X and EDGE service, 1xEV-DO should be available to wider metropolitan areas and smaller cities within a few years. Hopefully deployment along rural highways will follow soon after, allowing rural communities, many of which lay along these highways, access to this broadband service.

The deployment of broadband service through wireless cellular networks is hard to predict, because unlike telephone and cable providers who often have a monopoly over a region, there is fierce competition in the cellular industry. Not a lot of deployment schedule or pricing information is available publicly, because it is kept secret from competitors. New technology is constantly being developed, with many standards being cutting-edge for only five years or less. EDGE and 1X data services have only been available in Canada for three or four years and are still being deployed, and now HSDPA and 1xEV-DO are being touted as the wave of the future for wireless data, and are already starting to replace their predecessors. Both HSDPA and 1xEV-DO can be classified as broadband services, but if Rogers, Bell and Telus enforce a strict usage policy like Verizon has done, many of the benefits of having a broadband cellular connection may be restricted. Based on the three-year time line used to deploy EDGE and 1X, the earliest that rural areas along highways could expect to see HSDPA or 1xEV-DO is 2009. If Rogers, Bell and Telus follow this deployment trend and adopt more reasonable usage policies and pricing schemes, cellular networks may be able to provide affordable broadband Internet service to some rural areas by 2009.

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© Jake Cormier, 2006 [jake (at) stormcloudstudios.com]
Completed as a partial requirement for the degree of Bachelor of Science (specialized)
Department of Computer Science :: Algoma University College :: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario :: Spring 2006