Telco to test forerunner of local Wi-Fi network

By Jeff Smith, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Saturday, January 5, 2008

C-Com Affinity Telecom plans to install a high-speed wireless test site in Boulder this spring, in what it hopes is the first step toward a regional network.

The Boulder-based telco was chosen over six other bidders by the Colorado Wireless Communities consortium in August to develop an affordable wireless broadband network for residents and businesses in 10 metro area municipalities.

Fred Chernow, C-Com founder and CEO, said Friday the company has completed negotiations with the municipalities, but is still working on obtaining financing. While C-Com is planning a test site, construction on the entire network won't start until financing is in hand, he said.

C-Com's efforts come at a time when companies like EarthLink and Google have pulled out of municipal broadband wireless projects because they say they're unprofitable.

Chernow said C-Com has had to explain to potential investors why its project will be different. C-Com thinks it can make money by packaging voice and high-speed Internet services.

"When you look at the financial structure of just doing the Internet, it becomes quite clear that it's not a profitable venture," Chernow said. "But as soon as you put voice in . . . the numbers change very dramatically."

C-Com already is providing telephone and Internet services to more than 3,000 residential and business customers in the area.

Chernow said he couldn't disclose the names of potential investors, but said there are four interested parties at this point. "It's looking very good," he said of possible financing, while declining to predict when a deal might be signed.

Some of the municipal officials in the wireless consortium confirmed recently that negotiations have been completed with C-Com, and that financing by outside investors is the final major hurdle. The project is to cover 137 square miles of Arvada, Boulder, Broomfield, Golden, Lakewood, Louisville, Northglenn, Superior, Thornton and Wheat Ridge.

While the municipalities support the project, they've also stressed they don't plan to spend tax dollars on operating a network or keeping it afloat.

C-Com thinks it will be able to offer high-speed Internet services at 1.5 megabits a second for $14.99 a month, and local telephone service for about $13 a month that includes features like caller ID. Basic phone service would be $9.99 a month, and Internet-phone packages could start as low as $20 a month, Chernow said.

He said the company is in the process of designing a trial area of about one square mile in Boulder. He expects construction of the test market to start in March.

C-Com doesn't have wireless experience. But two prominent wireless equipment companies have been helping C-Com with the design: Toronto-based BelAir Networks and MetaSwitch, a division of British-based Data Connection.

smithje@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5155