Large Scale Deployment of Public Wireless LANs -

Preface I have carried out this study as a final part of the Industrial Engineering and Management program at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, as partial fulfillment of the degree M.Sc. in Engineering. The Industrial Engineering and Management program-containing the equivalent of a B.Sc. and a M.Sc. degree in Engineering-combines studies in science and engineering (the core of the program) with knowledge in fields such as economics, business administration and the history and philosophy of science and technology. This particular project/thesis is carried out after the completion of a specialization in radio communication systems. This study is performed at Wireless@KTH – The KTH Center for Wireless Systems. I would like to thank the center for financial support, and for the provision of computing and workplace facilities. In particular, I would like to thank Jens Zander and Bo Karlson at the center, for support and guidance. In addition, I would like to thank Jonas Lind and Bertil Thorngren at Stockholm School of Economics (Handelshögskolan), who both provided valuable insights and support along the way. I would also like to thank everyone who took their time for discussions and interviews. In particular, I would like to acknowledge the efforts of Gerald Maguire, Matthias Unbehaun and Mats Wilhelmsson at KTH, Rune Gunnarsson at Powernet, Philip Nyströmer at Ericsson and Mikael Hedberg at Stokab. Without the insights I gained through discussions with these persons I would not have been able to carry out this study. Abstract The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of large scale deployment of Wireless LANs in urban environments. The study is divided into three main parts; an initial literature study, a quantitative analysis and a final part with non-quantifiable factors and policy aspects leading to recommendations for policy-makers in the Stockholm region. Among the conclusions from the literature study is that both 3G/UMTS and Wireless LANs are likely to survive in the marketplace. There is room for pure Wireless LAN operators, providing limited coverage and mobility in a number of public areas. In the Wireless home network market, a segment predicted strong growth within the next few years, the standard 802.11b (Wi-Fi) is likely to dominate. The quantitative analysis contains a cost-benefit analysis, where the costs of large scale deployment – defined as the coverage of all inner city squares, streets and park walks, all metro, commuter and small track stations, all public …