Roadstar Internet sent the following letter to the editor to Loudoun Business for the publication’s February issue. It reflects the company’s concern that decisions related to broadband availability be conducted in a public forum.

Dear Editor,

Thank you for your editorial in the January 2007 issue of Loudoun Business. It succinctly brought the focus of the business community back to an issue that’s been dragging on for several years–Loudoun’s broadband Internet connectivity deficit.

First, let’s clarify what “broadband” should actually mean. The generic definition today includes Internet connectivity speeds faster than dial-up. To some, relatively low-speed DSL lines of under 300 kilobits per second are said to be “high-speed Internet”, or, collectively, “broadband.” These type connections usually feature a higher download speed than upload speed, which might be fine for such things as Web browsing, chatting on instant messenger services or slowly exchanging photographs with family and friends.

This is not “broadband.”

Businesses need much higher speeds to service not only the multiple computers which are part of today’s modern offices, but also higher bandwidths to allow workstations to not only receive, but send data in an expeditious fashion. The industry “standard” for this type of service is called “T-1” and typically offers dedicated nominal speeds of 1.56 Megabits per second up and down. The pity is that with few exceptions in the eastern part of the county near the Internet centers in and around Ashburn, and along the limited fiber-optic highways in the same area it has been very difficult for businesses to have access to high-speed connections that are as essential to their survival as electricity, water and transportation for goods and services.

Increasingly, the types of businesses that locate or look to locate in Loudoun depend on the Internet for their product transport–which is data and other intellectual property. If it isn’t available then they have no reason to locate here or stay in the county. Our business community has been very patient and every year the clamor grows louder to find a way to deliver the broadband connectivity that they need. Last year a blue-ribbon panel of local CEOs headed by Telos CEO John Wood told Loudoun Supervisors that broadband connectivity was their major concern and without it, expects businesses to leave.

Economic Development officials like Larry Rosenstrauch echoed the business community’s concern and pointed to correlation of what happened to areas in past centuries that were bypassed by the railroad–they dried up while rail-served areas prospered.

Supervisors approved a study last year researching the feasibility of wiring Loudoun with a fiber-optic backbone, but the heart-stopping cost of more than $300 million put a stop to that. County leaders then charged the county’s broadband “czar” Scott Bashore and his staff to come up with lower-cost alternatives. After due diligence they came to the conclusion that the cost-effective answer is wireless access.
They also asked him to look into possible public/private alliances and the costs involved with that scenario.

Since that time the question of what to do about broadband has languished in the corridors of 1 Harrison Street until recently when a business consortium promulgated the concept that they would put up a series of monopoles in various locations in the northwest, and could help bring broadband to the bit-hungry homes and businesses in that area. The problem with that idea is a real possibility they could actually cause the sites to interfere with each other, negating any broadband delivery benefits.

But, these same monopoles would be a boon to the folks with spotty cell phone service in that part of the county and that would be a good thing unto itself, outside of the aesthetic impact.

An excellent example of the folly of using tall towers for broadband is the I-81 corridor in Virginia where there are antennae every few kilometers along the highway and on mountain tops. Cell coverage is excellent, but this part of the state has some of the poorest access to either wired or wireless broadband. Following the same logic put forth for the Loudoun sites, the I-81 corridor should have excellent broadband availability to the businesses and homes along that highway.

The same premise holds true in east Loudoun County–Lots of cell towers, great coverage, but despite all the fiber in the ground, cable TV and broadband service and FIOS, many homes and businesses either cannot get true broadband speeds or availability. Those towers do not offer wireless broadband.

Bashore’s research also found that the county spends hundreds of thousands of dollars each year on the broadband connectivity needed to conduct the people’s business. Loudoun’s Web site and its telework project for county employees have achieved national recognition, but as any large corporation, sees its bandwidth needs increase almost exponentially. The same holds true for our school system with data hungry buildings and students costing the district a king’s ransom for wired connections that sometime do not meet the need.
What’s the answer? How can Loudoun County’s government, businesses, schools and homes not served have access to the bandwidth that they need in an unobtrusive, timely, dependable and affordable manner? Wireless broadband companies like Roadstar Internet utilize existing structures (yes, including the odd relatively-low EXISTING cell phone tower), buildings, church steeples and even silos and barns to bring true high speed service to businesses and neighborhoods. Today, Roadstar services more than 2,000 homes, as well as businesses, and since its inception in 2002 brought the latest in technology to Loudoun County.

We are now in the process of rolling out “INET Loudoun” which will, using a backbone of FCC licensed and unlicensed frequencies, bring T-level speeds and beyond–primarily to businesses in the west and east, as well as underserved areas such as Purcellville, Round Hill, Hamilton and business parks in the Ashburn/Dulles area. This same system will have the ability to provide government and business with connection speeds approaching 100 megabits per second and beyond, if needed.

Businesses can be assured of the high connectivity speeds that they need, with installation times of possibly days–not weeks or months.
This is not meant to be an advertisement for Roadstar Internet; our company is taking the initiative and costs to begin this new era of providing needed bandwidth for our county, because like the movie, we believe that if we build it, “they,” meaning businesses and government, “will come.” It’s the private sector stepping up to do what’s needed.

Sincerely,

David T. Hughes Director, Corporate Communications Roadstar Internet
dhughes@roadstarinternet.com
703-234-9969