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Broadband Access
Broadband: It’s a community thing
Communities bypass providers to build fiber-based broadband networks
by Sean Buckley
Having only two sources in the northeastern Massachusetts town of
Dracut for my TV and telephone services (no FTTP yet), I am intrigued
that some communities are taking broadband matters into their own
hands.
If several local communities here banded together to offer FTTP-based
services, I would be the first to sign up.
Such a network would be a boon to new residents like myself who want
one bill with enough horsepower for whatever future services I desire,
and with two kids I can see how a community fiber network could be
leveraged by local schools to enhance the learning experience.
Vermont steps up
But while I sit and pine for FTTP, a group of Vermont communities is
taking action. The East Central Vermont Community Fiber Network, an
open access FTTP network initiative launched by 25 rural towns, shows
some communities will take matters into their own hands if incumbent
providers won’t.
Not surprisingly, Vermont has suffered years of relative neglect by the
big broadband providers. According to research by the Vermont
Broadband Council and Burlington Telecom, another community-based
FTTP initiative, Verizon and the former Adelphia, which at the time was
going through bankruptcy, were unwilling to make further network
investments into that northern New England state.
This is not the first time Vermont has taken last-mile access matters into
its own hands.
In addition to Burlington Telecom, ValleyNet, the non-profit organization
spearheading this new project, helped bring dial-up Internet access to
the upper Valley region prior to getting out of the business in 2006.
To head up the ambitious East Central Vermont Community Fiber Network
project, ValleyNet appointed Tim Nulty, former director of the Burlington
Telecom Fiber network.
Nulty is confident he can give every potential user in the 25 communities
supporting the proposed network a fiber connection, just like he helped
bring fiber to Burlington. “We will even run the network to the house in
the hollow down the dirt road,” he said.
Overcoming challenges
FTTH access has been mostly relegated to the larger urban and
suburban communities. Looking to get a good return on their
investments, service providers target communities with higher densities.
Unfortunately, this leaves most rural communities without much more
than a dial-up connection.
That’s not saying bringing broadband into rural towns isn’t fraught with
challenges.
Take Minot, N.D.-based SRT Telecom. Like many independent telcos,
SRT’s territory spans both metro and rural areas and varied service
domains (it offers everything from ADSL2+ data, voice and cable TV to
wireless service).
Taking part of its name from the Souris River, one of the telco’s main
challenges is its diverse service territory. In its traditional metro network
area, it plans to continue leveraging its existing copper plant via
ADSL2+, bonding and VDSL2, while using active Ethernet-based FTTH in
its rural sections.
“We have targeted FTTH in our rural areas,” said Shawn Grosz, SRT’s
director of network technology. “I am not talking rural towns, but the
very rural: out to the farmsteads where, in some cases, we have loops
of 20 miles where broadband is very difficult to reach. We [serve] those
customers who can’t be served with fiber.”
While Grosz admits carrying fiber out to these remote locations is initially
expensive, SRT believes making targeted investments in both its existing
copper plant and FTTH will pave a high-speed path to future services
such as IPTV when ready.
Along with paving a road for future services, community-based
initiatives—despite the legal challenges they face from incumbent
operators who take issue with public entities providing telecom services—
can become an economic attraction to local businesses.
As one of the first U.S.-based utility companies to offer FTTP services,
Bristol, Va.,-based BVU Optinet was able to attract large government
systems integrators such as Northrop Grumman.
What’s more, businesses with FTTP-based access are able to offer their
employees more effective teleworking opportunities. Teleworking not only
can reduce the amount of office space a company needs, but also cut
down on automotive emissions since it reduces the amount of cars
traveling on the roads. (See:
Green to go for fiber)
During the 2003 Winter NTCA (National Telecommunications Cooperative
Association) show, then newly appointed FCC Chairman Jonathan
Adelstein said no matter how big the community is, every community
should have access to broadband.
“Don Quixote has a saying: have much, have little,” he said. “I want to
band together everyone and make all areas part of the ‘have much’
family, as the whole country benefits from having access to broadband
service.’”
And while I do have an ADSL broadband connection, I still think a
community-based approach could indeed put more communities into
the “have much” family.
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