Harrisonburg ready for the next generation of Internet technology

by Doug Childers
for Virginia Business
October 2006

Many cities are beginning to offer wireless Internet access and broadband service on a large scale. Last fall, for example, Philadelphia announced a plan to build an inexpensive wireless, or Wi-Fi, network covering 135 square miles through a partnership with Earthlink.

But no American municipality has offered Wi-Fi and broadband citywide with the IPv6 format, which represents the next generation of the Internet. Harrisonburg, a city of 45,000, is about to change that. “We were looking at a wireless system for the city as a part of our technology initiatives,” says Jim Barnes, Harrisonburg’s assistant economic development director for technology. “We decided to do it right and be on the cutting edge. We’re looking to attract technology companies, so having the technology of the future is important.”

Currently, most of the Internet runs on IPv4, which is more than 30 years old and beginning to show its age. IPv6, which is an abbreviation for “Internet Protocol Version 6,” boasts considerable advantages over previous versions, including higher security and greater speed.

It also offers more IP addresses for network devices, which is an especially valuable feature, given the number of devices that require an IP address to access the Internet. IPv4 supports 4.3 billion addresses, and it is projected to run out of addresses by 2010. IPv6 supports 50 octillion — which is 50 followed by 27 zeroes, or 50 trillion trillion. Even with an explosion of Internet devices, IPv6 offers the Internet adequate room to grow.

Harrisonburg’s wireless network, which is being launched in stages, will be accessible citywide by Dec. 31. In later phases, fiber-optic cable will be installed to expand the service as a wireless/fiber-optic hybrid network.
City officials expect many benefits from the system. They believe the network will help attract companies looking to locate in a city that offers cutting-edge technology. “We see this as a great opportunity for companies wanting to test IPv6 technologies being developed,” Barnes says.

The network also will make the city more appealing to federal agencies, which face a government-mandated 2008 deadline to adopt IPv6.

In addition, the new network will help serve many of the 17,000 students at James Madison University. “One of our thrusts is to create more technology opportunities for JMU students,” Barnes says. “Having the latest technology for them to use provides a great advantage. We’re getting a fair amount of technology firms locating here, looking to hire JMU students.”

Down the road, IPv6 may offer a plethora of expansion options, including offering television shows across a network because it allows one data stream or video stream to be simultaneously broadcast to an unlimited number of computers. “IPv6 TV is the future — the resolution is phenomenal,” Barnes says. And it may broaden the program options currently available from cable and broadcast networks.

Because Harrisonburg set up the network as a franchise, its development costs will be paid by the franchisee, Winchester-based World Airwaves, which owns and operates the network. It received easement rights and right-of-ways from the city, just as cable companies do. It will generate revenue from monthly fees it charges users as well as fees it charges other Internet service providers which use the network to supply broadband to their customers. “We like that because it’s a clean model,” Barnes says. “It means another technology firm is coming to Harrisonburg to invest in the city.”

World Airwaves recently signed a franchise deal to build and operate a wireless IPv6 network for Morgan County, W.Va., similar to Harrisonburg’s arrangement. The company also has announced plans to develop an IPv6 network for Occoquan, Va. And it’s not done with the Shenandoah Valley.

“Our plan is to go from Winchester to Harrisonburg as far south as Lexington and turn the entire Valley region into a next-generation Internet [site],” says Mark Bayliss, president of World Airwaves. “We’re building a nice test area for the world.”