BKFSOHFT.RVW   990731

"The First 100 Feet", Deborah Hurley/James H. Keller, 1999,
0-262-58160-4, U$25.00
%E   Deborah Hurley deborah_hurley@harvard.edu
%E   James H. Keller keller@lexeme.com
%C   55 Hayward Street, Cambridge, MA   02142-1399
%D   1999
%G   0-262-58160-4
%I   MIT Press
%O   U$25.00 +1-800-356-0343 fax: +1-617-625-6660 www-mitpress.mit.edu
%P   209 p.
%T   "The First 100 Feet: Options for Internet and Broadband Access"

This book suggests that one can take the problem of the "last 100
feet," the drop from the telecommunications infrastructure or physical
roadside curb to the home or small business, and turn it around to see
some kind of business opportunity.  Certainly it is plain that there
is a growing demand for higher bandwidth to the end nodes of the
network, but the collection of articles here presents no new business
ideas, and seems to have grasped only the tip of the technical
iceberg.

Part one looks at market factors for these access services.  Chapter
one suggests that consumers provide the drop themselves, but never
really examines the idea.  A number of technical and business terms
related to the last mile are listed and semi-defined in chapter two,
but without significant analysis.  Chapter three asks, but never
answers, the question of whether consumers will be willing to pay for
access.

Part two looks at options for consumers to provide their own last mile
connections.  Chapter four looks at spread spectrum radio
communications, but doesn't delve into the areas of node connection or
mass installation.  Essentially the same material is repeated in
chapter five.  Chapter six tries to appear technically oriented in a
review of power line data transmission, but is somewhat behind the
curve.  Satellite options are discussed in chapter seven, but the text
does not deal with the last mile at all, and does not use any data
from the Iridium system which is now finally operating.

Part three opines on the chances of non-traditional service providers. 
Chapter eight is a meandering and unfocussed look at municipally based
networks.  The next two papers suggest that electrical utilities
should be interested in becoming access providers, chapter nine being
less convincing than eight.  Chapter ten talks about one specific
experience with a municipal network.

Overall, the essays collected into this work seem to have been
compiled by enthusiasts with limited technical knowledge who seem to
think they are onto something new.  While reasonably up to date, none
of the proposals, if there are any beyond "we need more studies," are
startlingly original.  All of the business or technical models are
variations on existing hierarchical patterns rather than true
community paradigms that might be derived from, say, extensions of the
dynamic routing model proven by the Internet married to a wireless
technology.

For those who have not been following the last mile activities, this
book does provide an introduction to some of the topics in the field,
but it paints neither a complete nor an original picture.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKFSOHFT.RVW   990731