By Alan J. Weissberger

"Rumors of my Death have been greatly exaggerated," by Mark Twain.  That quote best summarizes the Muni Wireless Conference held in Santa Clara, CA this week.  Approximately 450 attendees heard that the market was alive and well from city officials, network providers, vendors, and systems integrators.  The new emphasis is on sustainable business models and viable applications.  Hype has been replaced with a focus on enhancing productivity of city workers and (in some cases) economic development.

Despite well reported hiccups, the Muni Wireless market is growing rapidly and gaining critical mass.  While the U.S. is in the lead, Europe and rest of the world is just beginning deployments, with significant potential to boost market growth.

High satisfaction ratings have been expressed by those who municipal wireless networks up and running.  Expenditures are shifting: from products to services, to deployment and back haul.  Networks are getting bigger with more users in large cities and counties.  More applications and multi-functional capabilities characterize newly deployed Muni Wireless networks.  As a result, they are taking longer to deploy and are getting more expensive.

Expenditures for the  U.S. Muni Wireless market has grown 35% in the last year!  In 2007, $329.4M will be spent on muni wireless products and services.  It is predicted that $488.8M willl be spent on same in 2008 – a 48% annual growth rate.  In 2009, $686.6M is expected to be spent, which represents a 40% annual growth rates.

Top application by far is public safety, with 75% of respondents.  Other applications cited include: education, utilities/AMR, SCADA, meter reading, parking and traffic control. This year, there were an average of 4 applications supported versus 3 last year.

To learn more about this superb conference, or request a follow on report in the next issue of Viodi View, please contact the author:  alan at viodi dot com