FIXING REGIONAL CONNECTIVITY IN WA: FIELD OF DREAMS OR HIGHWAY TO HELL? - ROB SMALLWOOD, DIGITAL ECONOMY PROJECT MANAGER AGTECH/REGIONAL BUSINESS ...
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Fixing Regional Connectivity in WA:
Field of Dreams or Highway to Hell?
Rob Smallwood, Digital Economy Project Manager
AgTech/Regional Business Development Directorate
AGENDA 1. The Problem 2. Who is responsible? 3. WA Strategy - “filling the gaps” 4. Current DPIRD Programs 5. Whole of Government Initiatives 6. Future Opportunities 7. Q&A
Who we are/What we do • Small team of 8 based in Perth and Geraldton • Grant funding to private industry to commercialise connectivity projects that are otherwise uneconomic • Improving mobile coverage • Seek out proponents to form alliances and manage projects • Advocate to the Commonwealth government for policy changes • Testify before Parliamentary committees on various topics; e.g., NBN, regional voice services, regional digital connectivity. • Advise and brief relevant State ministers on topics such as spectrum allocation, 5G, illegal repeaters, anti-competitive behaviour, networks, etc.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=131453148951203
Cyclone Animation
• Video
https://www.facebook.com/794174828/videos/pcb.101609023
42669829/10160902341249829
Cyclone Seroja
11 April 2021
Mt Fairfax, WA
Telstra mobile sites offline
due to Cyclone Seroja on 11 April 2021
Connectivity across
vast areas of WA
disrupted
• Grid power loss to 177 Telstra
sites (entire area containing
markers)
• 113 Mobile sites offline
• 81 power poles down
• Multiple fixed line and wholesale
services impacted
• Outages due primarily due to
power failures and unavailability
of backup power and subsequent
loss of transmission capabilities
Data Demand Growth Source: Nokia/Bell Labs 2015
The Problem Digital Divide - with mobile phone penetration globally now above 95%, connectivity, (the quality and quantity of it) is accentuating inequality between those who have more and less bandwidth and more or fewer skills.
Telecommunications - a Commonwealth
Government Responsibility
REGULATION
INVESTMENT“Filling the gaps” - the WA Strategy
Advocacy Co-investment
Disruption
Policy AdoptionNBN • Originally envisioned as the Carrier of Last Resort – if there’s nothing else, the NBN will provide ‘something’ for everyone – but is that ‘something’ in the regions (e.g., Skymuster) enough for regional businesses to be globally-competitive? • Is it enough to attract new residents and new industries? • If not, what can we do about it?
Mid West NBN Fixed line/FW coverage
The Problem
NBN
Skymuster
(and
NBN Fixed
Wireless)
often not fit-for-
purposeFixing regional connectivity:
Just dreaming or realistic goal?
• Is it realistic for the WA Government to fix this problem? If we
build it, will they (customers) come? (Field of Dreams)
• Is it affordable?
• Can we deliver acceptable performance?
• Can it be future-proofed and made capable of regular upgrades?
• Are we just throwing away $$$s, and risking a huge failure that
is simply too big to fix? (Highway to Hell)Why do it? Regional Production Value
WA Digital Infrastructure Audit & Atlas
https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/digitalinfrastructureatlas
Premier’s Agriculture Atlas
Industry Engagement • Private and public
Consortium (June 2017) infrastructure (fibre,
towers etc.)
Ministerial Digital Audit Findings
Connectivity Forum • Commercial imperatives
(July 2017) resulting market failure
• The changing market
Digital place (“Last Mile
Providers”)
Connectivity • Potential to leverage
No. 1 Concern existing infrastructureCurrent DPIRD Programs
DPIRD focus – increase bandwidth to retain and enhance
WA’s global competiveness and digital inclusion
Backhaul Mobile Last Mile On Farm
Grainbelt Digital Regional Digital Farm Grants eConnected Grainbelt
Enhancement Project Telecommunications Program (Digital Exchange Platform/
Project (RTP/MBSP) Rounds 1&2&3 IoT/Doppler Radars)Regional Telecommunications Program
Total Investment since 2012:
• $108M State investment
• $232M Industry and
Commonwealth co-investment to
date
• 441 new base stations
• 480 blackspots to go at a cost of
approximately $440M – new
business model needed
• 89 base stations funded in WA
under the MBSP Rounds 4&5
• 23 macrocell sites in the
Wheatbelt
• 19 sites – Optus
• 4 sites - TelstraDigital Farm Grant Program 1 & 2
Affordable, enterprise-grade, farm scale broadband for regional WA.
• $7 million in co-contribution grants
• 6 providers / 15 projects
• Across 7 regions of WA
• 1,445 Farming Enterprises (21%)
• 65,000 Square kilometres (34% of Grainbelt)Digital Farm Round 3 • $6.3 million • 5 projects; 4 recipients • 600 agribusinesses and residents across more than 43,600 square kilometres in the Great Southern, Central Wheatbelt and South Coast of Western Australia. • A total of with up to $3 million for Esperance and surrounding districts and up to $3.3 million for the Central Wheatbelt and Great Southern
PRIVATE FIXED WIRELESS NETWORKS
Architecture • Mostly Class-Licensed 5.8GHz carrier with some 11GHz licensed. Round 3 programs, some LTE • All sites have grid-independent solar and battery power, generator availability when required • If congestion occurs due to demand, capacity can be increased by the addition of more channels using parallel links and more sectors usually without fear of spectrum conflict/interference.
Fixed Wireless links
Digital Farm
Grant Round 1
New coverage
• Approximately 1,100 farms
• $2.3M in matching funds to five
carriers:
• LogicIT
• Telstra
• Pivotel
• SuperLoop
• CipherTel
• Areas previously which only had nbn
Skymuster satellite Internet or ADSL
• Delivering business-grade Internet
(up to 100 Mb/s)Digital Farm Rounds 2 & 3
Wireless backhaul example
Towers
Fixed Wireless • Speeds and download quotas similar to NBN FttP: (100/40) (nbn Skymuster: 25/5) • Cost: Approx $90/mo for 250GB (peak) (unlimited off-peak) • Customer must contribute to cost of antenna for roof at a cost of approx $500-$3,000 (depending upon installation complexity). • Range: depending on terrain: Up to 40km from each Access Point. But not all locations may be able to receive the signal.
Cost/performance comparison • Cost of a typical Fixed Wireless tower ranges from $80,000 to $400,000. (40-60m steel, guyed) • NBN FW or 4G towers are typically around $800,000 to $1,000,000. (Free standing concrete monopole – 35-50m or free-standing steel frame matrix, up to 90m) • DPIRD-funded Private Fixed Wireless delivering better than 100mbs for a fraction of the cost of similar services provided by NBN in regions
Does it work? Performance at user premises
Shire of Chapman ValleyKalbarri WA 11 April 2012 Post Cyclone Seroja
Resilience? • None of the 27 Digital Farm Fixed Wireless towers in the path of the cyclone were damaged by the cyclone. A few relay dishes were shifted by the winds, but no services were lost. • By comparison, 113 mobile phone tower sites in the region went out of service after the cyclone on 11 April, primarily due to transmission system failures and absence of grid power, which remains off in much of the area eight days later. • Of note, mobile services in Kalbarri were restored within 24 hours by Telstra using portable generators.
Kalbarri Free WiFi
Cyclone Seroja,
Northampton & Perenjori
WAOther Programs
eConnected Grainbelt Project
Weather Website & Data Exchange
3rd Party API Data Requests per Month
oData sourced from 285 physical https://weather.agric.wa.gov.au
weather stations (DPIRD/BoM/DBCA/Water Corp) Weather Website DPIRD’s busiest – attracts on average
11,000 visitors per month
o Huge growth in Data Exchange Platform requests - 42m in
2018 growing to 92m in 2019 - 119% increaseeConnected Grainbelt Project
WA IoT DecisionAg Grant Program
• Bridging the Digital Divide via Fit for Purpose Solutions
• Matching Grants – State $600K Applicants $700K Total $1.3M
• 15 “on-farm” projects:
• 8 Grower Groups
• 5 Agricultural Schools/Colleges
• IoT deployment:
• Wireless Mesh
• Long-range WideArea Networks
(LoRaWAN)
• Sigfox and Private LTE networks.
Ministerial Launch at Cunderdin’s College of AgricultureRegeneration of Southern
Rangeland landscapes:
• A Pilot Partnership between Industry and GovernmentRegional Connectivity Program COMMONWEALTH ‘REGIONAL CONNECTIVITY PROGRAM’ • Successful applicants announced 16 April 2021, using a model similar to the DPIRD Digital Farm Grant Program • $90million Australia-wide; 81 projects, 15 in WA • Targeted investment in ‘place-based’ telecommunications infrastructure projects designed to maximise economic and social opportunities. https://www.communications.gov.au/departmental-news/improving-connectivity-regional-australia
WA Supernet
Open-Access, Carrier-Neutral networks • Infrastructure Australia currently creating a 10-year national infrastructure strategy which now includes Digital Connectivity as a priority • WA Government has contributed extensively and is advocating for government-funded infrastructure to be mandated as carrier- neutral, open-access.
EVOLUTION: Now and near-future:
The on-farm broadband network
Core Network Wireless links
Gigabit fibre connection Wireless IoT sensors,
soil moisture, soil content ,
Exchange/ livestock food levels, dam levels, etc.
POI/POP Point to multipoint Controllers for feeding,
watering stock, etc.
Access Point
Point-to-point wireless link
“Fibre to the farm”
or Wireless e.g., 500Mb/s per link
up to 40km, 5.8GHz Class In-field
multi-gigabit speed mobile devices
and capacity Homestead/ License, Public Spectrum.
$0 opex costs for data, except
farmhouse power and maintenance. Shed, workshop,
remote Internet
Entire network monitored and access etc.
controlled from farmhouse.
Headers, tractors,
Farm Area Weather station
machinery, etc.OUTCOMES • Private FW providing many times the coverage of NBN FW footprint at a fraction of the cost • Typical speeds are 10X+ what RSP are reporting for NBN FW at a similar monthly retail cost • Upgradeable for a fraction of the cost of LTE • Plenty of Class Licensed spectrum available • Higher reliability and uptime • More resilient; quicker recovery during natural disasters • Technology evolving rapidly, delivering more performance • Still need more carrier-neutral, open-access fibre backhaul for the future
What about LEOs & HAPS? • Low Earth Orbit satellites 400km – 2,000km orbits • HAPS (High Altitude Platform Services) Balloons, gliders, drones, etc. • Promising technologies but still unproven at scale--network loading will change performance • WA Government has a Non-Disclosure agreement with Space- X/Starlink; engaging with Airbus Zephyr • High cost, high power-consumption terminal equipment • Could be game-changing—e.g., satellite-to-mobile phone direct • WA Government monitoring and participating as appropriate
Future Opportunities
Zephyr is a High Altitude Pseudo-Satellite (HAPS) UAS/UAV which runs
on solar power.
• Leverage existing infrastructure
• Trial emerging technologies
• (Microsoft’s Airband, Nano Satellites, Google Loon
balloons (now cancelled), Airbus/Zephyr (High
Altitude Platform Station) (HAPS)
• SpaceX (Starlink) HAPS (DPIRD/DPC
Engagement) © Airbus
• HAPS Alliance formed
• 5GThank You Q&A
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