Aspen Wireless News & Updates

It’s our fault, we found errors in the methodology USDA RUS had on the map and notified the USDA about them so they pulled it.  It’s okay – it’ll be back soon hopefully, but folks need to map broadband, census and households so it only helps a bit.

From broadbandusa.gov:

The “BIP Map of Non-Rural Areas” has been removed until further notice, as some of the non-rural areas were incorrectly represented. Please refer to the definition in the NOFA for which areas should be considered “rural areas”. We apologize for the inconvenience while we make critical enhancements to the map.

We have excellent mapping capabilities and existing (public) databases that allow us to create quick multi-sourced broadband infrastructure maps including cable, dsl wireless and cellular providers as well as data from the FCC and other sources.

This can be additionally layered with households and businesses and census/demographic data. All of this data is done down to the block level, like we have been doing for years for our clients.

What is best is we can provide this information (as open and public information) by the time the states get to review BTOP/BIP grants… and we do it for a fraction of the cost of others.

Four State Broadband Co-Op Engages Aspen Wireless Networks for Grant Preparation, Broadband Mapping and Consulting Services for Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Western Montana.

Pacific Northwest Internet Service Everywhere broadband cooperative PNWISE.org to leverage Aspen Wireless’ services portfolio and experience to provide affordable and speedy broadband to all rural areas and anchor community institutions by 2012.

Hood River, Oregon. (PRWEB) July 15, 2009—Aspen Wireless Networks, Inc., who is celebrating their 10th year as renowned broadband consultants and entrepreneurs announced today it was selected by a broadband cooperative in the Pacific Northwest known as PNWISE, who is actively working to create ubiquitous rural broadband service in four states; Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Western Montana. PNWISE is bringing together leadership in small communities, local service providers and state-level government to create the vital partnerships required to achieve rural broadband service.

Aspen Wireless Networks will be providing services to PNWISE from its extensive portfolio including broadband mapping (to the census block), financial modeling, public-private partnerships, business planning, technology engineering and systems integration to ensure PNWISE will meet its goal. Aspen Wireless will also engage in collaborative grant preparation with PNWISE for a grant submission to the NTIA and RUS under the recently announced $4 Billion first round of the total $7.2 Billion allocated for broadband under the ARRA stimulus act.

“We have been stirring this pot for years now, but Aspen Wireless is the key component to turning this dream in to a reality,” said Link Shadley, Managing Member of PNWISE. “Cooperatives brought electricity, telephone and other vital utilities to rural areas and we are committed to delivering affordable broadband as the next utility to our part of rural America.”

“We love rural broadband and always have – it was the founding reason for our company a decade ago and remains the highest priority to us today,” stated Scott Stevens, Co-Founder of Aspen Wireless. “PNWISE embodies rural broadband and has done an amazing job of fostering support and creating a real plan for delivering advanced broadband services to rural America. These guys have it nailed.”

This is not the first large-scale project Aspen Wireless has worked on. In 2002 Aspen Wireless worked on National Broadband, which leveraged relationships with WilTel, Intel and Wal-Mart to deliver middle-mile and last-mile connectivity at 422 points across 38 states. Aspen Wireless has also provided the same rural broadband solutions to companies like CenturyTel. Last year, Aspen’s principal consultant and co-founder Scott Stevens was a member of The Obama Campaign’s Technology/Media/Telecom Policy Committee.

“Although we have grown substantially, we continue to work with small providers to bring them the same success potential all our clients enjoy. PNWISE realizes the importance of these small providers through their innovative ISPartner programs,” stated Mr. Stevens. “We were inspired to take PNWISE on as a client.”

Pacific Northwest Internet Service Everywhere broadband cooperative will be leveraging wireless technology as the most cost effective and advantageous way to deliver multi-megabit service to rural America. Wireless technology allows PNWISE infrastructure to be leveraged for public safety mobility for first responders and emergency personnel as well as provide backhaul for SmartGrid, which is particularly important to utility leaders in the Northwest region. Additional infrastructure will be deployed specifically to provide hundreds of megabits and even gigabits to key community institutions in rural communities such as education, healthcare and municipal government and will feature grid independence and network redundancy.

“Wireless easily meets the current and future demand of rural America. We intend to exceed the 20Mbps service preferred by the NTIA and USDA RUS for a fraction of the cost of fiber, putting Northwest rural America ahead of general metropolitan populations,” stated Mr. Shadley. “Best of all, it will be affordable.”

About Pacific Northwest Internet Service Everywhere
PNWISE is a broadband cooperative focused on providing ‘’affordable broadband for everyone’’ without prejudice to all rural areas across the Pacific Northwest including Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Western Montana. PNWISE is continuing to seek partners in communities across the region to join and become involved in delivering the broadband utility. As a middle-mile backhaul provider, PNWISE will connect local government, economic development districts, educational school districts, higher education, healthcare and public safety facilities. PNWISE will also discuss additional needs of public safety for multi-megabit mobility and inter-agency interoperability.

For partnership or information inquiries for PNWISE please email info(at)pnwise(dot)org. For press inquiries please contact press(at)pnwise(dot)org.

About Aspen Wireless Networks
Aspen Wireless Networks is celebrating a decade of broadband consulting and market leadership. Aspen Wireless provides consulting services that leverage years of applied knowledge and leadership insight to create well-refined and realistic broadband businesses and successful deployments. The company specializes in all broadband technologies including fiber, wireless, cable and copper including hybrid networks. Aspen Wireless has served hundred of clients and worked on significant projects, providing services including; business planning, financial modeling, partnerships, network engineering, application engineering and network deployment.

For sales inquiries or for general information please visit Aspen Wireless Networks website at http://aspenwireless.net/.

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REGISTER FOR A SESSION:

Wed Jul 8, 2009 9:00 AM PDT

Thu Jul 9, 2009 9:00 AM PDT

Fri Jul 10, 2009 9:00 AM PDT








After a decade of broadband consulting we guessed 95% right, but did the NOFA surprise you?

- DEADLINE: August 14th

- MAPPING: Census Block Level

- DEFINITIONS: Rural, Remote, Underserved and Unserved

- ENGINEERING: Signoff over $1 Million

- E-FILING: Registration Req’s

We will show you how to successfully address these and other vital issues so you meet the deadline in an expediant and accurate way so as not to get thrown out. Discussion + Q&A!

ALL-IMPORTANT MAPPING

We’ve been doing demographic and broadband analysis at the block level for years and we will show you some of the mapping methodologies that will help ratify your business case, engineering and prepare your grant for success.

- Households, Population, Income, etc

- Define “Rural” and % of Rural

- Distance from Urban Markets

- Identify Existing Broadband: Cable, DSL, Wireless, Cellular

- Cross-referencing with existing databases

- Determine Unserved and Underserved

- Determine BTOP or BIP Eligibility

- Output in Map and Spreadsheet form

REAL STRATEGY

We possess the strategy and our record speaks for itself.  Every RFP response we’ve written has won and every grant/loan submitted has been awarded!  We can’t guarantee success; our expertise and breadth can make a positive contribution to your broadband plan.  Did you know that you can include grant preparation and planning as a reimbursable part of your application if awarded?

REAL HELP

Do you need more resources to hit the deadline?  Can we help fill in the gaps?  Provide a sanity check?

- Business Planning

- Financial Modeling

- System Engineering: Wireless, Cable, Fiber; Middle and Last Mile

- Mapping Census + Broadband (Cable, DSL, Wireless, Cellular)

- Grant/Loan Strategy + Narratives, Preparation and Assembly

- Project Management RFP Management / Proposal Vetting

REAL LEADERS

Fmr Obama Campaign Tech Policy Committee w/ Larry Strickling.

Highly successful on RFP and USDA RUS loan & grant applications.

We get Senators, Congress, Governors and Counties to back our clients.

Created “National Broadband” in 2002 for broadband to 38 rural states.

The first Wall Street Journal (cover-page) article on rural Wi-Fi in 2001.

We provide comprehensive services ranging from business to technology.

We engineer financials and technology, integrating experience for results.

Customers range from CenturyTel to Walmart to hundreds of WISPs.


REGISTER FOR A SESSION NOW:

Wed Jul 8, 2009 9:00 AM PDT

Thu Jul 9, 2009 9:00 AM PDT

Fri Jul 10, 2009 9:00 AM PDT

Aspen Wireless Networks has a long list of satisfied and successful customers. Born from rural broadband, we have now had an opportunity to provide services to several hundred rural wireless broadband providers (WISP) as well as large businesses and institutions across the United States and world. Some examples of other satisfied customers and projects include:

Rural Broadband

– Alamogordo, NM (+40 communities) – Brenham, TX (10,000+ sqmi area) – Jefferson County, CO – British Virgin Islands – Dothan, AL – Ronan, MT – Kalispell, MT – Ripon, WI – Galesburg, IL – Empire, MI – Gig Harbor, WA – Carbondale, CO – Durango, CO – Branson, MO – Wichita, KS – Broken Arrow, OK – Truckee, CA – Purgatory, CO – Newport, RI – Eagle, CO – Bend, OR
and hundreds more.

Municipal Wi-Fi

– Town of Vail, CO – Steilacoom, WA – San Marcos, TX – La Crosse, WI – Central Park, NY – Aspen, CO

Walmart

– Rural Broadband

Clearwire

– Backhaul (Middle Mile)

Homeland Security

– 2004 Presidential Inauguration Washington, DC – Metro Boston Homeland Security – Republican National Convention, NYC

Education/Healthcare/Utilities

– Steamboat Springs ESD – Eagle County ESD – Franciscan Skemp Medical – Eminence ESD – Colorado Mtn Medical – Stuttgart ESD – Show-me Power – Lake County ESD – San Bernard Electric Co-Op – Sisters of St Mary – Medical Bossier Parrish ESD

CenturyTel

For over 2.5 years we provided services to CenturyTel beginning with having authored and engineered the RFP response that won the Town of Vail Muni Wi-Fi project over Google, Earthlink and AT&T. Project managed (city relations, capex, opex, etc), selected vendors, engineered (RF and IP) and deployed of 350+ devices over 9 miles with backend portal/billing/advertisement in under 4 months to meet contractual deadline.

Contributed to C-Level executives as members of the strategic “Raptor Team” under direction of President COO Karen Puckett; contributing ideas, relationships and both business and technical expertise that enabled additional efforts by CenturyTel deploying; rural broadband, fixed wireless, high-capacity wireless backhaul, municipal WI-Fi, a national hotspot deployment (w/ advertising) and a successful $150M bid on 700MHz nationwide spectrum. Tasks included; authoring RFP/RFIQ documents, bringing relationships (vendor, customer), budgeting capital and operational project expenses, RF and IP engineering (vision, architecture, config, reliability, methodology), configuration/troubleshooting, deployment/implementation, sales/engineer training, sales support/customer relations, site surveys, lab testing, presentations.

Broadband USA site now has active link to NOFA:

Link to NOFA (pdf download)

HIGHLIGHTS of the NOTICE OF FUNDS AVAILABILITY

Related downloads:

A summary by Knight Foundation, Knight Center for Digital Excellence on the NOFA.

A summary, strategy and recommendations for changes by New America Foundation on the NOFA.

KEY POINTS

USDA and NTIA have developed a two-step application process:

- In step one, the goal is to create a pool of viable and potentially fundable applications.

- Step two is to fully validate the submissions in step one and identify the most highly qualified applications for funding.

BTOP funds are available through 3 categories:

- Broadband Infrastructure

- Public Computer Centers

- Sustainable Broadband Adoption.

Broadband Infrastructure category consists of Last Mile and Middle Mile in unserved and underserved areas.

Broadband definition: two-way data transmission with advertised speeds of at least 768 kbps downstream and at least 200 kbps upstream.

Public Computer Center will expand public access and capacity at entities that permit the public to use these computing centers.

The Sustainable Broadband Adoption category will fund innovative projects that promote broadband demand.

- $1.2billion for Last Mile Projects.

- $400M for grants Remote Area projects.*

- $800M for loans or loan/grant combos for Non-Remote projects.*

- $800M for loans or loan/grant combos for Middle Mile projects.

* Remote area means an unserved, rural area 50 miles from the limits of a non-rural area.

All awards under NTIA BTOP and USDA BIP must be made no later than September 30, 2010

For-profit corps that are willing to promote the goals of the Recovery Act and comply with the statutory requirements are eligible.

Eligibility factors:

- 1) application;

- 2) completion w/2 yrs;

- 3) technical feasibility.

Nondiscrimination and Interconnection Obligations:

- i. adhere to the principles contained in the FCC’s Internet Policy Statement

- ii. not favor any lawful Internet applications and content over others

- iii. display any network management policies and provide notice to customers of changes to these policies

- iv. connect to the public Internet directly or indirectly, such that the project is not an entirely private closed network

- v. offer interconnection on reasonable rates and terms to be negotiated with requesting parties

Conditions will apply for the life of the awardee’s facilities used in the project.

The scoring criteria for BIP and BTOP:

- 1 Project Purpose;

- 2 Project Benefits;

- 3 Project Viability;

- 4 Project Budget and Sustainability.

As follows;

- Project Purpose 25 pts: Proportion of Rural Residents Served in Unserved Areas 5 pts Rural Area Targeting 5 pts Remote Area Targeting 5 pts.

- Title II Borrowers (5 points). Recovery Act and other governmental collaboration (5 points).

- Broadband speed: Last Mile Projects of 20+ megabit per second service will be favored; 100+ megabits per second service for Middle Mile.

- Pts for demonstrating affordability and providing choice of provider.

- Pts for 25% discounts to “all critical community facilities in the proposed funded service area”.

- Critical community facilities: public facilities that provide community services essential for supporting the safety, health, well-being.

* Critical community facilities: emergency response and other public safety activities, hospitals and clinics, libraries, schools and more.

- Project Viability (25 points).

- Applicant’s organizational capability (12 points); Community support (2 points); Ability to promptly start project (10 points).

- Disadvantaged small businesses (1 point).

- Project Budget and Sustainability (25 points).

USDA and NTIA intend to announce the awards starting on or about November 7, 2009.

Unserved area:

- census block where at least 90% of HHs lack access to facilities-based, terrestrial broadband service @ 768 kbps.

Underserved area:

- 1. no more than 50% of the HHs in the area have access to facilities-based, terrestrial broadband service @ 768 kbps.

- 2. no fixed or mobile broadband service provider advertises broadband transmission speeds of at least 3mbps.

Please join our Broadband Stimulus webinar at 1PM MDT:

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/join/587225907

WEBINAR: VITAL information, REAL winning strategies and how to QUICKLY prepare your business!

• Company Introductions


• Quick Stimulus Overview


• Key Eligibility Criteria


• Positioning and Strategy


• Engineering your Business


• Preparing your Application


• Bonus – Territory Saver!

We recommend your computer mic/speakers or call with the info below:

Dial: 712-338-7121

Access Code: 587-225-907

Audio PIN: Shown after joining the webinar

Ignorance is bliss!  Who says all ARRA stimulus has no rules and will not be funding until the end of this year?  Could you benefit from a grant for $50k?  $250k?  How about $1 million?

From the USDA website:

RURAL BUSINESS ENTERPRISE GRANTS (RBEG) PROGRAM

The RBEG program provides grants for rural projects that finance and facilitate development of small and emerging rural businesses help fund distance learning networks, and help fund employment related adult education programs. To assist with business development, RBEGs may fund a broad array of activities.

How much are the grants?
There is no maximum level of grant funding. However, smaller projects are given higher priority.

Who is eligible?
Rural public entities (towns, communities, State agencies, and authorities), Indian tribes and rural private non-profit corporations are eligible to apply for funding.

Define Rural
Rural is defined as any area other than a city or town that has a population of greater than 50,000 and the urbanized area contiguous and adjacent to such a city or town according to the latest decennial census. At least 51 percent of the outstanding interest in any project must have membership or be owned by U.S. citizens or resident aliens.

What types of projects are eligible?
The RBEG program is a broad based program that reaches to the core of rural development in a number of ways. Examples of eligible fund use include: Acquisition or development of land, easements, or rights of way; construction, conversion, renovation, of buildings, plants, machinery, equipment, access streets and roads, parking areas, utilities; pollution control and abatement; capitalization of revolving loan funds including funds that will make loans for start ups and working capital; training and technical assistance; distance adult learning for job training and advancement; rural transportation improvement; and project planning. Any project funded under the RBEG program should benefit small and emerging private businesses in rural areas. Small and emerging private businesses are those that will employ 50 or fewer new employees and have less than $1 million in projected gross revenues.

How to Apply
To apply for funding for the RBEG program, please contact your Rural Development State Office. (or contact us or see our services).

Availability of Funds
Each year, Congress provides program funding as called for in the Federal Budget. Fiscal Year funding levels will be made available as soon as possible after the beginning of each Fiscal Year.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRLog (Press Release) – Mar 19, 2009 – Main Street Broadband LLC announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Broadband South LLC, whose services are branded as Main Street Broadband, has begun build out of its advanced wireless network utilizing its recently closed $34 million USDA Rural Development Loan. The loan directly supports Main Street’s efforts to bring affordable wireless broadband services to over 120 communities in southern Georgia and northern Florida, and provides a key stimulus to economic development in the region.

“This is a great program and initiative,” states Mike Mies, Co-Founder and CEO of Main Street Broadband, “The USDA’s support for making broadband services available to rural communities and Main Street’s mission to provide and manage a state-of-the-art network for high speed internet and digital voice services is a winning combination.”

The communities targeted by Main Street have limited or no access to broadband services as a result of the high cost to run cable or fiber to provide the services. Fixed and mobile wireless broadband technologies are now able to provide reliable access at higher speeds and with a greater reach, making Main Street Broadband’s voice and data services affordable for the end users.

Main Street Broadband is deploying WiMax technology to provide voice and data services to each community the company serves. Broadband services support economic development for the businesses of these small communities as well as provide high speed internet access in most homes. Main Street is launching its WiMax service in Waycross, Georgia.

Main Street Broadband is not new to providing rural broadband services. Currently the company is operating in several communities in south east Georgia through its acquisition of Coastal Broadband in 2008.

1. # #

   ABOUT MAIN STREET BROADBAND – Main Street Broadband LLC is a privately held wireless broadband service provider headquartered in Atlanta, GA. Together with its subsidiary, Broadband South LLC, Main Street is committed to bringing affordable high speed internet access and digital phone service to the un-served and underserved markets in the southeast US. Main Street Broadband utilizes the latest in wireless broadband technology for both residential and business services to develop additional economic opportunities in the communities and advance the quality of life for its residents.

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For Service Providers
Aspen Wireless has engineered and written winning RFP responses for its clients. These responses have won various towns and cities, both small rural and world-renowned places in the USA. We combine our engineering and written services with the right business approach between your company and the municipality to win over incumbents and provide a better quality local product.

For Municipalities/Government – City, County, State
Aspen Wireless provides feasibility study services to help you determine what broadband system is right for your government and delegates. Our feasibility studies include business and financial analysis, public safety, ecenomic development, and a determination of technology requirements. After the feasibility report is complete, targeted discussions with interested parties and allow us to assist in the creation of an initiative, author and manage a broadband RFI/RFQ/RFP, vetting of the proposals and more.

Request for Quotation (RFQ)
Request for Information and Comment (RFIC)
Request for Proposal (RFP)

Aspen Wireless is extremely proud to announce the first major success of our new Municipal Professional Service!

Having combined efforts with our client in working with town decision-makers, we were able to formulate the most precise and applicable technology and business model. Aspen Wireless engineered an advanced network topology and unique business approach that, in combination with our client’s expertise as a service provider and a professionally written and presented proposal, won the bid over other local competition and many notable national players. The town’s choice was not made soley on technology or the business case, but rather the entire ‘eco-system’ of Aspen Wireless’ methodology appliedhand-in-hand with our client, which created the winning formula.

Let us help your community find its wireless direction!

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CenturyTel Wins Approval to Build Citywide Wi-Fi Network For Vail

MONROE, La., Aug. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/—Residents, businesses and visitors in Vail will soon have access to broadband wireless Internet service provided by CenturyTel and the Town of Vail. CenturyTel today announced that the Vail Town Council awarded the communications company a contract to build and operate a wireless broadband network for the Colorado ski resort destination.

Vail is the first Colorado city to move ahead with this type of partnership to build a municipal Wi-Fi network. The town selected CenturyTel to build its system following a competitive bid process that included proposals from six other companies. The agreement was unanimously approved by the Vail Town Council at its July 18 evening meeting.

CenturyTel will build a Wi-Fi mesh network in Vail and launch service by the end of 2006. Residents, businesses and visitors will be able to get free Internet access up to 300Kbps (kilobits per second) anywhere in town in one hour increments. Faster Internet service with speeds up to 3Mbps (megabits per second) will be available with pay plans for monthly, weekly or daily access.

“We applaud the Town of Vail for their forward thinking and initiative,” Karen Puckett, CenturyTel president and chief operating officer, said. “This is a strategic step for CenturyTel to expand our technologically advanced business outside of our traditional local telephone markets.”

CenturyTel and the Town of Vail worked together to develop additional services such as a Public Safety network and a private network for city workers. With these elements, the Town’s first responders and other public safety officials, as well as town employees will be able to securely connect to their intranet network and the Internet.

“We will have a state-of-the-art system that benefits everyone—residents, businesses, guests and our public safety personnel,” said Vail Mayor Rod Slifer. “This is the kind of innovation that continues to differentiate Vail from other ski resort destinations.”

The Wi-Fi network coverage will include the town limits/boundary of the Town of Vail. The network will deliver an affordable world-class Internet service to Vail residents, businesses and visitors. The citywide wireless system will use the latest in advanced carrier-grade mesh and wireless communications equipment to deliver high-speed wireless Internet access. Once the system is fully functional, it will be tested and fine-tuned to maximize the coverage area.

CenturyTel brings expert design and maintenance experience in building and operating communications networks. No capital will be required from the Town of Vail in the deployment or operation of the network. The company is committed to making the investment in capital and human resources to make the project a success. CenturyTel will bring advanced communications with a personal touch to the residents, businesses and visitors of Vail.

Aspen Wireless is pleased to annouce the official addition of Municipal consulting to our Professional Services suite. This new service is offered to both Municipalities and Service Providers alike. The following is described similarly in our services section:

The technology has finally evolved. From our first ubiquitous Wi-Fi network in Aspen in 1999, we have been at the forefront, working with industry leaders to shape the technology into what has become a mature and reliable communications infrastructure. The business model works for both public and provate interests. The technology is stable, inexpensive and commonplace in our society. The combination of Broadband and Wireless has clearly shown to benefit to economic development and public safety significantly, and should be considered by both providers and communities alike.

For Service Providers
We have a methodology that is applied so the business and technology approach suits all, and the written response is crafted professionally and presented professionally for the powers that be. We will assist in relations with the decision-makers and follow through from contract to ribbon-cutting and beyond.

For Communities
We offer consulting services including feasibility studies and reports that delve into the impact of a wireless broadband (Wi-Fi, WiMAX, Mesh) network on economic development, public safety, and if it is right for your city or town. If wireless is right, vendor-neutral technology requirements are drafted and added to the report. Aspen Wireless also provides assistance in drafting RFI/C, RFQ, and RFP documents when the time is right.

More about this Service »

Learn about this Industry »

Above is a real picture of one of our classes. We offer various levels of education for our clients, suggested for both new and experienced teams. Courses available range from “Executive Excursions” to “Advanced Technical”, classroom training, mock deployment and everything in-between. Decades of our wireless business and technology expertise can literally become yours in a matter of hours, greatly increasing your success potential. Education is complimentary to any of our services, and mandatory without them. Virtual training and remote real-time training options will soon be available.

Mr. Stevens is a technology entrepenurer in the Internet and communication space; primarily wireless (Wi-Fi, WiMAX) and IP communications (voice, video, etc), as well as a focus on convergence. His specialties range from network engineering to financial spreadsheets, deployments to business plans – all with significant depth of knowledge.

Most recently Mr. Stevens was a member of the Obama Campaign on the Tech/Media/Telecom (T/M/T) Policy Committee under Alec Ross and Larry Strickling.

Mr. Stevens efforts in lobbying Washington and working with the FCC are long and wide. Working with influential groups like WCA, PFF, and Part-15.org, as well as directly with folks like (former) FCC Chair Michael Powell and his commissioners lead to many favorable changes in spectrum, telecom, and Internet policy. The political landscape has changed as of recent, but some of the foundation laid prior to 2005 remains strong.

Over the years, Mr. Stevens has had the honor of speaking for groups and at various conferences such as; Wireless Communication Association International (WCAI), Progress and Freedom Foundation (PFF), four-time returning at WISPCON, Telluride Technology Festival, and the FCC’s “Rural WISP Showcase”. Mr. Stevens recently spoke on Wireless and VoIP at the Internet Telephony Conference in San Diego.

Media interviews include a co-interview with Mr. Selby by The Wall Street Journal (2001), Christian Science Monitor (2004), San Jose Mercury News (2004), and recently in the High Country Business Review (2006). Mr. Stevens has also been featured on various local radio and Internet radio shows.

Scott’s historical bio can be found below.

Industries
Wireless (Wi-Fi/WiMAX)
Voice over IP (VoIP)

Specialties
Business Planning
Financial Outlook
RF Engineering
IP Engineering
Marketing / Sales
Legal Contracts
Public Speaking
Sales / Technical Training

Notable Accomplishments
World-record 74 mile high-capacity wireless data link
World-record 4.2 mile wireless link through a 600ft mountain
Assisted in the first ubiquitous Wi-Fi city network in the world
Consulted over 1000 WISPs in business and technology
Co-Founded the first nationwide broadband provider
Written winning RFP responses over major incumbents

History
Mr. Stevens became one of DISH’s early resellers in the late 90’s. At the turn of the century he moved to Denver and opened the doors on a fledgling industry – Wireless Broadband. Wi-Fi was in its infancy (wasn’t even called Wi-Fi yet) and he found more and more people across the USA and World taking this technology to broadband-starved rural markets, and deploying community-wide wireless broadband systems. Mr. Stevens assisted nearly 1000 of these upstart providers over the next four years.

The wireless distributor Mr. Stevens worked for went rapidly from its first million-dollar year in over 25 years to being one of the dominant distributors of wireless technology today, and are experiencing consecutive tens of million dollar years and was recently purchased by a large competing distributor. During his time Jim Selby who operated a WISP (Wireless ISP) in Aspen, Colorado invited Scott up to be co-interviewed with him by Pui-Wing Tam of The Wall Street Journal. The article was originally supposed to publish the week of September 11, 2001, but on December 7th came the first true realization of Wireless Broadband as something truly amazing.

Mr. Stevens was invited to Aspen by Mr. Selby to build out the first major regional WISP. This lead to a new concept that was brought to realization by a team in Aspen known as National Broadband. NBB was to be the first nationwide wireless broadband provider, with a unique approach of delivering Tier-1 fiber bandwidth to Tier-2 and 3 markets wirelessly. With $28 Million in private investment and fiber rights spanning 18,000 miles across 38 states, this was an amazing and ambitious project in 2003. NBB was successful in deploying 10% of the overall network, including deploying a community-wide wireless and ubiquitous Wi-Fi system – before any metro/muni systems were ever conceived. Relationships with WilTel, Intel, IBM, Microsoft and Wal-Mart were forged during this venture.

In 2004, Mr. Stevens went back to his roots where he founded a wireless product distribution company, Defacto Wireless. Mr. Selby assisted him in this venture, launched with only starvation capital, and in only 6 months of sales activities grossed $1.4 Million in revenue. Defacto established relationships with industry leading companies like Orthogon (acquired by Motorola in 2006), Redline, Dragonwave, Aperto, and Senao. Additionally, Defacto also created a product line known as AirMatrix, featuring one of the industry’s first outdoor Wi-Fi mesh radios, now deployed in over 20 countries. At this time WiMAX standards were being debated and 802.16d-2004 was ratified.

In late 2005 Mr. Stevens sold his interest in Defacto to establish a professional services firm in Portland, Oregon. With two of the largest and most prominent wireless/internet shows coming up, ISPCON and WiMAX World, his team worked fast and hard to launch the company from scratch in only 45-days. In front of audiences over 6,000 from over 50 countries in the world it was one of the busiest booths at both events.

During 2006 Mr. Stevens co-founded a IP Communications venture uniquely target-marketed at various affinity groups. The company went beyond VoIP to add many additional features and functions to this service in the true style of IP communications; SIP, video communications, content delivery and social media.

Also during 2006, Mr. Stevens under Aspen Wireless Technologies was hired to write a response for a Municipal Wi-Fi project. This RFP response was written for Vail, Colorado on behalf of CenturyTel, Inc, the 8th largest telco in the nation. The combination of engineering, writing, and CenturyTel’s commitment won over competing bids by Earthlink/Google, AT&T/Siemens, and an agent of Qwest. The network is currently operating in Vail, including the nation’s first 1Gbps enterprise wireless service.

Please see his LinkedIn profile for additional information, or to join networks together. You may also download his vCard contact information at the top of this page.

In 1999, Jim Selby founded, engineered and deployed one of the first ubiquitous citywide Wi-Fi networks in Aspen, Colorado covering over 120 square miles. This innovative idea attracted attention and provided inspiration to others – think Hotspots, coffee shops, Boingo and metro Wi-Fi. This feat landed Selby on the front page of the Wall Street Journal where he was dubbed the “Wireless Guerrilla” and paved the way for alternative access to the Internet using license exempt technologies and (at the time) unconventional methods.

Mr. Selby’s visionary approach lead to insights and interest about this new wireless industry and was featured in San Jose Mercury News, NPR, Wired, Forbes, USAToday, TechTV, Denver Post, Aspen Magazine, and the Christian Science Monitor. Jim was featured as a keynote speaker at the Broadband Wireless World Forum and is guest speaker on numerous occasions by groups such as the FCC WISP showcase, Colorado Rural Broadband Initiative, Progress and Freedom Foundation, WISPCON, Telluride Technology Festival and WCA.

As an industry entrepreneur and pioneer WISP, Jim Selby continues to work with advanced wireless broadband technologies such as; WiMAX, Mesh, and Non Line-of-Sight. This has enabled him to engineer and deploy numerous WISP systems in the USA as well as internationally in Africa and Europe. He helps start-up and experienced service providers alike to decide on business strategy, technology architecture and services. Always pushing the envelope, Mr. Selby was called in to protect Homeland security at events like the Presidential Inauguration with this once considered rogue technology.

Internet service providers are the operational backbone of the future, the utility of the 21st century and beyond.

With literally every business relying heavily on technology and broadband to connect with and reach out to customers, the position of a service provider is a vital one. We understand the struggles and triumphs of providing high quality connection, managing infrastructure and providing affordable service and support to thousands of homes and businesses.

Whether you utilize fiber, wireless, cable or copper we have the expertise to help you. Maybe you’re consolidating resources after a rollup, refining your business model, looking for vc, loans and grants or looking to make a technology upgrade as you grow. We handle all the needs of service providers from business through technology, from concept through deployment.

We have been operators – we remember.
We helped 1,000 operators – we understand.
We pioneered national networks – we are confident.

... and we represent your needs as service providers and the broadband industry with our work in Washington D.C and involvement with leading policy groups and think-tanks.

There could be thousands of paragraphs written about being a service provider, but all you need to know is we understand and have the knowledge and expertise to handle all of your needs as a growing and evolving provider of the 21st century utility – broadband.

Contact us today!

Airspan has been a worldwide leader in broadband wireless since 1992, and their products have been deployed by more than 300 customers, in more than 100 countries. Airspan has one of the most comprehensive product and solution portfolios in the industry.

Airspan’s portfolio includes both Point-to-Multipoint (PMP) and Point-to-Point (PtP) products providing cost effective solutions to wide variety of applications. Today their products are being used in a great number of diverse applications ranging from delivering wireless DSL to homes, businesses and schools in urban and rural settings to providing communication solutions to the oil and transportation industries.

We were recently outspoken on the vital topic of smartgrids, broadband, spectrum and datatopic at the National SmartGrid conference in Spokane, WA where we identified the need for involvement in broadband and spectrum policy for the short-term goals for utilities implementing intelligence for the grid.

This agenda goes even further in our keynote address and respective smartgrid sessions at the DataCenter Dynamics conference in Washington D.C. where leaders from the EPA and DOE joined with the leaders from the datacenter industry to discuss both the needs of utilities in data storage and access as well as conservation for datacenters as a significant power consumer.

Utilities have long been the unglamorous but critical business that makes the telecom industry a youngster by comparison. Utilities are appropriately cautious when they consider the use of new technology. After all, they know how to make their respective services and products perform reliably and by simple comparison, much of what is happening in the rapidly changing broadband industry doesn’t meet a utility’s metric for “reliable”.

In the last few years, that situation has quietly changed – there are lessons learned and new technologies in broadband and wireless that can demonstrably and cost-effectively deliver reliable “Utility-grade” service. But there is a methodology for choosing and deploying reliable systems and services that we uniquely understand.

Our experienced team is here to help utilities understand, identify, design, and implement “Utility-reliable” smartgrid and help address the complexities and integration with broadband systems and datacenters. We understand the whole picture, trust us to help you navigate your utility into the 21st century.

It is a considerable understatement to say that when Enterprises lose access to their Intranets or the Internet, productivity plummets… if not halts completely.

Broadband Wireless is simply a tool to extend and enhance corporate Intranets and Internet access. From private high-bandwidth point-to-point links between campus buildings, to Broadband Access while mobile, to merely insuring business continuity with alternate-path connectivity to telecommunications providers, Broadband Wireless is a key tool for Enterprise Information Technology.

While Broadband Wireless can sometimes be as easy as “twenty minutes on the roof slapping up a radio”, Enterprises typically demand robust, reliable, and well-supported solutions for key systems. Aspen Wireless can help to evaluate the best types of Broadband Wireless technology for a particular Enterprise’s use and, if desired, manage the procurement, installation, and support for Enterprise Broadband Wireless.

• STIMULUS UPDATED ***

  Yes, we can help your company or municipality (city, county, state) get $7.2B in ARRA Broadband Stimulus Funds via NTIA BTOP and USDA RUS. But also remember there are billions more ARRA funs available for investments in education, healthcare and infrastructure we can help with too!

  Please fill out our contact form with your request and we will get back with you to set up and interview with your executive staff to discuss the approach and your potential to stimulate your company or economy with ARRA Broadband Stimulus funds.

  http://www.aspenwireless.net/contact/

  ***

  Aspen Wireless has written winning RFP responses for its customers. These responses have won various towns and cities, both small rural and world-renowned places in the USA. Our engineering and response services combined with the right business approach between your company and the municipality, has won over incumbents like Earthlink/Google, AT&T/Siemens, Qwest and others.

  Municipal Broadband Wireless systems have become popular in the last few years to address the need for universal access to the Internet at Broadband speeds, both in economically disadvantaged areas as well as areas simply not served Broadband by conventional cable or telephony companies. Many municipal governments regard the availability… or lack of a availability of Broadband Internet Access as not only an economic development issue, but also a quality of life issue.

  

  The techniques, technologies, and systems for providing Broadband Wireless Internet Access on a Municipal scale are hardly new. Broadband Wireless systems have been deployed successfully for many years by, among others, Wireless ISPs. What is new is that there is now political will to make investments with public financing to deploy such systems, making universal Broadband Internet Access truly possible.

  Municipal wireless systems can be difficult to deploy… and even difficult to sort out competing proposals from different vendors, each offering their own unique technologies. Some vendors, especially those offering “simple and robust” Wi-Fi Mesh technology often run into unexpected obstacles that can compromise a Municipal Broadband Wireless system’s overall usefulness.

  Aspen Wireless, as a technology-neutral and vendor-neutral Systems Integration company with deep experience in the Broadband Wireless industry, is in a unique position to assist in preparation for Municipal Broadband Wireless systems:

  • Basic education on Broadband Wireless Internet Access – technology, trends, the “bigger picture”, for all personnel involved in a Municipal Broadband Wireless System
  • Assistance in identifying suitable technologies and potential vendors to target with RFPs
  • Assistance in crafting effective and vendor and technology-neutral Requests For Proposals (RFPs)
  • Assistance in evaluating and vetting RFPs
  • Assistance with evaluation work-in-progress and project completion phases of the construction of Municipal Broadband Wireless Internet Access networks

• Development of metrics for evaluating quality and availability of ongoing operation of Municipal Broadband Wireless Internet Access networks

We identify with your industry, guaranteed. Inside is a comprehensive list of market verticals, each with a specific narrative describing the positive impact your business and economy. Whether you are providing ‘Megabits to the Masses’ or require kilobits of mission-critical data reach its destination, we have the experience and knowledge to springboard your initiative.

STIMULUS UPDATED

Our services for the grants and loan process include business and technology, market analysis, strategy, engineering, broadband mapping (census block), proposal vetting, RFP authoring/management, narratives and more. We’ve built a decade of trust and reputation on our professional services, trust us to navigate you to the goal.

Whether it’s broadband itself or applications like smartgrid, we posses deep knowledge of the nuances facing each aspect in business, technology and implementation. As a technology-neutral company, let us help you navigate the options, dispel the myths and come up with a sustainable and unique design plan for the future that meets the exact needs of your initiative.

Celebrating 10 Years of Leadership

“Aspen Wireless has been instrumental to our successful ARRA RUS bid in Round One! They are easy to work with and were a critical member of our grant application team. The results speak for themselves – Rivada was selected as one in 18 out of 2,200 RUS BIP/BTOP applicants Nationwide to proceed to the second phase and the first company in the Nation certified as 100% complete and qualified on its app to the US Dept of Agriculture.” ~Rob Needham SVP, Rivada Networks

As the world begins its migration to a digital economy, each vertical is affected by broadband and the applications that ride over it. Aspen Wireless is acutely aware of those applications and the marriage between the network’s reliability, security, scalability and the success of the application.

We identify with your industry, guaranteed. Below is a comprehensive list of market verticals, each with a specific narrative describing the positive impact your business and economy. Whether you are providing ‘Megabits to the Masses’ or require kilobits of mission-critical data reach its destination, we have the experience and knowledge to springboard your initiative.

Find your industry below and click to understand how we identify with your needs and will help you realize successful solutions.  We have experience in working with customers in each market vertical:

Aspen Wireless Networks has provided a wide range of services over the last decade for clients from business to technology and all areas in-between. Our pride comes from knowing that our deep knowledge and experience in the industry provides our clients long-term success and satisfaction with our services.
Our firm has worked with hundreds of broadband providers over the past decade, in addition to having been operators ourselves.

Services at a Glance

Over the past decade we have formed long and healthy relationships with trusted strategic partners, which allow us to offer the most comprehensive and integrated portfolio of services in the market.

Business Planning

Entity, Strategy, Partners, Growth, Uptake, Competition

Financial Modeling

CapEx, OpEx, Funding, Debt, Revenue, Growth, Risk

Grants and Loans

Strategy, Planning, Narratives, Assembly, Submission

Strategic Relations

Partners, Vendors, Verticals, Gov’t Associations

Systems Engineering

Fiber, Wireless, IP and RF Engineering, Infrastructure

Technology Sourcing

Intro Vendor Selection for Services and Technology

Systems Integration

Installation of Towers, Radios, Energy, etc and Testing

Managed Services

Internal vs External/Hybrid NOC and Billing Services

Ongoing Support

Ongoing Business and Technical Support

*** IMPORTANT STIMULUS NOTE ***

We work with Cities, Counties, States and Service Providers alike because the ARRA Broadband Stimulus, especially NTIA BTOP Grants, require effort from both sides to get your fair share.

USDA RUS BIP and NTIA BTOP Grants and Loans

We have a high success rate on loans submitted to USDA RUS where have been involved, with funding up to $34 million on a single loan. We hang out with the FCC, attended the NTIA meetings and have policy friends in Washington D.C. We offer all the services and expertise you need to invigorate your local economy or operation with ARRA Broadband Stimulus Funds via NTIA BTOP Grants and USDA RUS BIP Grants/Loans – and we realize what few others do, that up to $100 Billion in IT stimulus is available!
More on Loan and Grant Development »

Broadband Mapping

We have been providing broadband mapping, census mapping and RF mapping services for years down to the block level. We have access to data sets for cable, DSL and wireless (WISP) and cellular data in addition to broadband studies which allow us to provide highly accurate and compelling broadband mapping service. For many years we have been leaders in providing demographic overlays to ratify business plans and financial models, in addition to creating target customer maps and pre-qualifications. And all of this, down to the census block level.

Municipal Broadband

Our services include business technology analysis, strategy, feasibility/market studies, loan/grant proposals, proposal vetting. RFP authoring and management (for Municipalities) as well as RFP responses (for Service Providers). Our work has won bids for our clients against industry incumbents as well as awarded millions of dollars in USDA RUS loans and grants.
More on Grants, Loans and RFPs »

Business and Technology

Not only system and network engineering, business engineering. Nothing compares to real experience to ensure that paper engineering turns out as expected. We know the market, business factors, technology and future trends – let us validate your concept and “engineer” your business to success.
More on Engineering »

Deployment and Integration

The resources poured into engineering your business and network demand to be deployed by skilled professionals. Allow our network of certified Systems Integrators to deploy your system professionally so it will serve as a solid foundation for your business.
More on Integration »

Training and Education

The learning curve is tough in the fast paced broadband market and there is no time to spare or reputation to stake on failure. We will train your executive staff as well as technical team with the knowledge necessary to succeed in the wireless space.
More on Education »

Ongoing Support

Stay ahead of the curve by having Aspen Wireless Technologies provide ongoing support for your system. Whether engaging our expertise after deployment, or with our Virtual Technology Officer (VTO) program – let us support your success and overcome hurdles.
More on Support »

Managed Services

We engineered and built a centralizing intelligence that provides all necessary functions for your system to keep it operating smoothly. This ‘command and control’ allows us to provide a managed service to compliment the VTO program and our world-class support.
More on Managed »

Your Project Scope

National ambitions? Absolutely.
Campus interconnection? no problem.
Innovative new concepts? we love a challenge!

Whether it’s broadband itself or applications like smartgrid – we specialize in the business and technology aspects from planning to execution with deep knowledge and years of leadership experience.

As a technology-neutral company we will select the best next-generation technologies to ensure your network achieves the requirements of your initiative. If you have a technology or vendor preference we will happily work to with them to ensure the same success using the partners you trust.

Transmission Line

Transmission line technologies including fiber, telco copper, utility copper and cable provide unsurpassed quality and speeds and best of all, we work with them all.

Wireless and Microwave

Wireless opens doors. Doors that lead to areas unserved as well as doors to mobility in an increasingly connected world. Of all the expertise, we know wireless better than the back of our hands. It belongs married to the best of the wireline technologies.

Applications

Broadband is only the beginning. As we have long believed and as our Administration has acknowledged in the stimulus bill, broadband is the foundation to provide connectivity and imagination to our economy. Whether connecting users, schools, hospitals or the smartgrid; broadband is only as good as the applications that successfully ride over it.

Company Overview

For a decade our company has focused on making broadband work as a consulting firm specializing in all things broadband. The founders of Aspen Wireless have been featured on the cover of the Wall Street Journal, founded the Nation’s first National Broadband network, successful muni wireless networks, assisted in various Homeland Security deployments and served on the Obama Campaign Tech Policy Committee.

Aspen Wireless Networks has provided a wide range of services over the last decade for clients from business to technology and all areas in-between. Our pride comes from knowing that our deep knowledge and experience in the industry provides our clients long-term success and satisfaction with our services. Our firm has worked with hundreds of broadband providers over the past decade, in addition to having been operators ourselves.

No matter the business model, technology or regulation we are absolutely committed to success in meeting our client’s needs. Our deep knowledge coupled with our experience with a wide range of broadband transport and applications provides you a significant edge. Whether you are providing ‘Megabits to the Masses’ or require kilobits of mission-critical data reach its destination, we will provide successful and proven consulting services guaranteed to springboard success in your initiative.

Press Coverage

– Wall Street Journal – San Jose Mercury News – Wired Magazine – USA Today – NPR – TechTV

Speaking Engagements

– WCA – PFF Aspen Summit – FCC Rural WISP Showcase – Broadband World – Datacenter Dynamics – Internet Telephony (TMC) – WISPCON – WiMAX World – Tech Policy Summit

Memberships and Associations

– WCAI – Wireless Communications Association International – TPI – Technology Policy Institute – PFF – Progress and Freedom Foundation – OSDV – Open Source Digital Voting Foundation – OEN – Oregon Entrepreneurs Network – GTA – Gorge Technology Alliance – P15 – Part 15.org – SAO – Software Association of Oregon – CUB – Citizens Utility Board of Oregon – MHCRC – Mt. Hood Cable Regulatory Commission, Bureau Advisory Committee – ORTCC – Oregon Telecommunications Coordinating Council

Industries Served

Find your industry below and click to understand how we identify with your needs and will help you realize solutions and success.

Service Provider »

Utility Company »

Education »

Healthcare »

Public Safety »

Municipalities»

Homeland Security »

Not Listed? We have you covered! See our extensive list »

Mission Statement

Provide immense value to our clients through our unique methodologies and broad range of expertise. Utilize our strengths of knowledge and insight to use technology to create true solutions. Approach business with integrity, be responsive to our clients needs and provide superior support as a partner in business.

ASPEN, Colo. – On a hillside overlooking downtown Aspen, three entrepreneurs; Jim Selby, Scott Stevens, and David Peterson describe The Aspen Wireless Network, an ultra-advanced Wi-Fi Mesh-networking system that now blankets this resort community with a high-quality wireless broadband cloud. Listening with obvious fascination was one of the most powerful people in American communications.

“This is breathtaking,’’ said Michael Powell, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, as the trio wrapped up its presentation. He was continually impressed, he added, at how modern technology has upended traditional assumptions of what it takes, in money and time, to create such a system. - Dan Gillmor, Mercury News Tech Columnist

San Jose Mercury News (FULL STORY – free registration)
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/technology/9489638.htm?1c

Dan Gillmor Blog Entry
http://weblog.siliconvalley.com/column/dangillmor/archives/010722.html#010722

A long time customer of ours, Rural Telephone, made National headlines. Good job guys, keep up the good work!

“In scattered small towns of the prairie, one vigorous little business can make the difference between dissolution and survival. ”

The New York Times Article (registration needed)
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/02/national/02KANS.html?th

The Rural Telephone Article (unregistered)
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031202/ZNYT01/312020347

Rural Telephone Company Web Site
http://www.ruraltelephone.com/

ASPEN, Colorado—While top telecommunications executives talked at an annual free-market conference about delivering Wi-Fi without a business model, Wi-Fi entrepreneur Jim Selby and his Aspen Wireless crew were outside the room selling Wi-Fi cards to conference goers.

Those with Wi-Fi had Internet access from within the bunkerlike conference room while BlackBerries were silenced.

All the telecommunications players agree that customers want Wi-Fi—and they’re all willing to provide it. The difference is, Selby believes he can make money offering Wi-Fi now, using fixed wireless service as a base, while Verizon Wireless, Qwest Communications and SBC Communications are searching for a model that makes sense.

In the meantime, the relatively inexpensive cost of rolling out Wi-Fi allows the larger companies to experiment without a lot of risk. FCC Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy, a Republican who comes from the telecommunications industry, says the chance for businesses of all sizes to get involved shows the beauty of Wi-Fi and the unlicensed spectrum.

http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,60118,00.html