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Wavion has announced that systems integrator CONXX will incorporate a minimum of 300 WS410 spatially adaptive APs into a new multiservice wireless communications network for Cambria County, Pa. The new network, to launch in 2008, will ultimately deliver high-performance connectivity to all government agencies, educational institutions, public safety organizations, commercial buildings and more than 150,000 residents over the county’s almost 700 square miles.

By deploying its own carrier-grade network, Cambria County will eliminate most of its current communications costs while securely providing a variety of services and applications to a diverse user community. The savings generated by the network enables the county to include high-speed Wi-Fi Internet access through Wavion’s APs. Wavion’s proprietary digital beam-forming technology saves as much as 50% on capital and operating expenditures by requiring far fewer units than other outdoor APs to cover identical areas.

“Wavion’s technology offers system integrators and network operators a new path to profitability,” Benny Zilberstein, Wavion’s corporate vice president sales and marketing, said. “While Wi-Fi is a phenomenal way for communities to bridge the digital divide facing rural residents and governments, someone still needs to pay the capital and operating costs of the network. Other companies may be struggling with their business models, but CONXX has proven that a community network with the right technology can literally pay for itself.”

In traditional metro Wi-Fi deployments, municipalities ask the private sector to finance the deployments. Prospective network operators must find anchor tenants to finance the deployments. The typical mesh infrastructure can only support a limited set of services and applications because of bandwidth and security constraints. Several notable deployments around the world have been delayed or canceled because of these challenges.

CONXX pioneered a different approach. Since 2003, the CONXX carrier communication platform has been operating successfully in Allegany County, Md. The Allegany County Net, or AllCoNet, is a self-reliant network provider with ATM at its core and Ethernet at its edge. Operated as a utility, the network rivals major RBOCs at a fraction of the cost while providing a catalyst for performance-based contracting opportunities.

“When we found that we had to upgrade our public safety system, I was concerned about the cost,” Brian Feist, director of emergency service for Cambria County, said. “We needed to find a system that would not only fix our public safety problems, but could also address some of the bigger communication issues we have to leverage the investment. I think we succeeded.”

Rather than outsource ownership of their network, Cambria County looked to the model pioneered in Allegany county. There, the CONXX platform offered public Wi-Fi access, T1 and DS3 replacements for education and municipal buildings, HD video surveillance for public safety, carrier-grade VoIP, business-grade Internet, automatic meter reading (AMR) and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems among other applications.

“The rural counties we serve cannot afford systems that don’t deliver substantial savings and performance,” David Kartchner, president of CONXX, said. “CONXX and Wavion have proven that municipalities can pay for their own carrier-grade wireless networks through performance contracts while delivering the quality and reliability demanded by private enterprise, public agencies and local residents. Everyone wins.”