Consulting

TaylorWarwick works closely with each client to ensure that their needs and requirements are properly understood prior to any engagement. All work is then specifically tailored to both optimize and leverage our working relationship and ensure that the results and implications of the work are delivered in a manner that can be easily understood and integrated into existing operations.

The future is an exciting place full of endless possibility and we appreciate all opportunities to discuss and explore it - both formally and informally. In all aspects of its work, TaylorWarwick operates professionally and with the highest degree of integrity. With TaylorWarwick, time is always of the essence, high quality work is a given, and you can be assured that all privacy and non-disclosure requirements will be fully respected. Begin a dialogue to day - either send TaylorWarwick an email or give us a call. We look forward to hearing from you.

BROADBAND PLANNING & STRATEGY: NEEDS ASSESSMENT AND STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT

Broadband has become essential infrastructure for new developments, communities, businesses, and local government.

TaylorWarwick guides developers, communities, and local governments through the comprehensive traditional strategy development process shown below: (1) determine where things stand and the assets that can be drawn upon, (2) determine the requirements that need to be met, and then (3) determine and evaluate the options and strategies available to satisfy those requirements.

Phase 1: Current State

As many wireless ISP and other telecom providers deem their network reach and capabilities competitive and confidential, developing a reasonably exhaustive and accurate current state requires a neutral and trusted third party that can collect and aggregate the required data while keeping individual providers' data confidential. Supplementing provider data with client speed test data is often enlightening and always helpful. Developing an inventory of all planned civil works in the area is necessary so that it might be leveraged where possible to reduce deployment costs.

Phase 2: Desired State

The deceptively straightforward question of 'where do we wish to be in five (ten) years' is not straightforward at all. It often takes time together and significant understanding and input from stakeholders throughout a community or region to properly work through this and arrive at a set of recommendations - likely a set, because the results may vary with population density across the deployment area in question.

As illustrated in the next figure, networking technologies are not created equal. Whereas wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi and WiMax point-to-multipoint (PMP) systems can be deployed quickly with comparatively little expense, the available bandwidths are small compared to the 'wired' alternatives of copper, coax, and fibre.

In today's world, only wireless and fibre options are worth considering for new deployments. The default assumption is that wireless is best for rural environments, while fibre is best in urban settings. Whether this assumption is valid or not depends on three typically overlooked considerations: off-balance-sheet benefits (externalities), service requirements, and scalability. These considerations significantly impact both the desired endpoint and the upfront capitalization required to get there.

Phase 3: Strategy

Whereas identifying the gaps between the current and target environments is straight-forward, charting the strategic options available to best close the gap and then working with area representatives to determine which best meets the needs of the target area as a whole is a much more interesting undertaking. There are likely many alternate routes to meet and exceed the requirements identified and working through these prior developing the business case will both ensure strong alignment with the client's vision and reduce the options that need to be evaluated. Considerations include:

• Technology: includes not only the expected fibre and wireless options but also choices related to the civil deployment such as microduct versus traditional outside plant infrastructure.
• Architecture: trade-offs include home-run point-to-point versus shared fibre distribution, whether the fibre distribution hubs should be connected via self-healing rings or not, and which options will best utilize infrastructure you may have already deployed.
• Service Options & Applications: key issues include maximum available Internet speed and whether or not voice and broadcast video services will be supported.
• Business Models and Structure: public vs private, co-operative, utility, profit or non-profit, and other options need to be considered.
• Operational models: these alternatives include business model options, considerations on out-sourced versus insourced operations and service infrastructure, the required degree of structural separation, and the levels of integration required with client engineering and utility departments.

The good news is that we will work through the key alternatives with you and, once a general direction is set, move straight to conceptual designs and business case development to provide financials that will enable straight-forward quantitative comparisons and enable sound decisions on which to move forward.

ECONOMICS & SUSTAINABILITY: BUSINESS MODEL, STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE, AND RISK

TaylorWarwick assists clients with market research and demand aggregation surveys, GIS mapping, and vendor evaluation and procurement to clearly identify, upfront, deployment and implementation issues and costs, funding and cashflow requirements, and other challenges the community will face. Using proven and comprehensive in-house business and financial modeling software, a Business Plan focused on ensuring long term sustainability and appropriate risk management is then developed.

The accuracy of the TaylorWarwick financial models arises from both their detail and the careful modeling of deployments across time. All major revenue and cost components scale based on anticipated network and service deployment schedules. The overall structure and logic underlying the models is apparent in analysis modules appearing below for a structurally separated network and service deployment scenario.

The importance of accurate business and financial planning to the overall success of any broadband undertaking cannot be underestimated. Detailed capital estimates resulting from the preliminary design form a key part of the financials required to develop the Business Plan. Not only will the associated costs dominate capital projects in any business model considered, but also because all of the costs are generally incurred upfront, thereby putting significant demands on the initial funding requirements and on the implementation and start-up of the related network and service businesses. Some staging is possible, but any delays in business acquisition, services deployment, and even service penetration due to increased activities by competitors will directly impact revenue generation and cashflow. Without sufficient capitalization, very careful planning and execution in the early stages of the project is critical if longer term sustainability is to be achieved.

SERVICES AND MARKET DEVELOPMENT: OPERATIONS AND CAPACITY BUILDING

Whether in-house or outsourcing options are selected, TaylorWarwick will provide the necessary guidance to ensure network and service operations are established in an integrated, sustainable, and non-burdensome manner.

While investments in broadband infrastructure will help attract and retain business, support job creation, and positively impact economic development and community well-being, these are not things that can be left to chance. TaylorWarwick and its partners in the community capacity and market development space will help ensure that once you build it, they will indeed come.

DEPLOYMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION

Through dedicated partners in regulatory licensing, local government management and land use, and project management, TaylorWarwick will assist communities with all aspects of network deployment and services development. This includes managing the bidding process for engineering, construction, and supplier selection, managing the design/build or build firms selected for deployment, overseeing services development, and ensuring, in the end, that the network and systems work as planned.

WIRELESS AND WI-FI NETWORK DESIGN, PLANNING, AND EVALUATION; COVERAGE ANALYSIS AND VERIFICATION

With the state-of-the art Mentum Planet 3D propagation modeling software and extensive RF experience, TaylorWarwick provides complete design, planning, and evaluation services in support of community Wi-Fi, wireless internet service provider (WISP) point-to-multipoint, and point-to-point network requirements. For mixed rural - urban communities, hybrid fibre/wireless network options can be developed to optimize coverage, bandwidth, and cost trade-offs.