Circle Gx, an investor-funded Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP), is working with Qualcomm and Zyter to fund a fixed wireless broadband network called Planted Circle to serve mostly poor communities in Dallas County, Texas.
The group expects to deploy 20 LTE CBRS cell sites early in 2022 across a four-square mile area, then add another 60 sites later next year running over 5G, said Sanjeet Pandit, global head of smart cities and digital transformation at Qualcomm. The original 20 LTE sites will be reconfigured for 5G as well.
A range of technologies will be supported over the Planted Circle network, including smart streetlights and outdoor and indoor customer premises equipment (CPE) that will be equipped with Qualcomm’s Fixes Wireless Access Platform. The project also includes initiatives for smart classroom technologies and smart trash collection.
About 42% of Dallas residents lack access to broadband, city officials said. Of the 940,000 households in the county, 43,000 children and 133,000 homes are in “real trouble” with lack of broadband access, according to Pete Goodwin, founder and CEO of Circle Gx. “There’s such a gaping hole.”
Goodwin described himself as a wireless industry veteran who sees Planted Circle as a way for Circle Gx “do good and do well.” He would not place a dollar amount on the project but said it can be funded in a variety of innovative ways that include promoting local businesses so that broadband users receive credits toward their broadband bills when they shop in the community.
Rewards for residents to shop local “may include heavy discounts on broadband to keep it sustainable,” Goodwin said. Because there are few green vegetables available in food stores nearby in the affected neighborhoods, one initiative calls for providing “bushels of green vegetables that people can purchase through connections on the ecosystem…with rewards against the broadband bill or other resource,” he added.
Residents could take advantage of federal emergency broadband benefit funds to pay for broadband, but that is not envisioned as the source of funds people will pay, said Ken May, chief commercial officer at Circle Gx. Investors and supporters include Emmett Smith, former Dallas Cowboys running back. “These communities have not been properly served in the past,” May said. “We saw a need and thought it could be provided affordably.”
Pandit said smart classroom connectivity will cost schools about $11 per student per month which could be reduced with savings derived from smart trash collection. Trash bins will be equipped with sensors to detect when they are full, which reduces the number of trips that trash trucks make for greater efficiency and lower cost.
The smart streetlights in the network will change color in an emergency to guide first responders to someone in need. They will also function as Wi-Fi hotspots.
Planted Circle sponsors said the pandemic has made the digital divide more apparent, but the need for broadband has existed for years. “We think it’s time we close these digital divides,” Pandit said.
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