Enter Googlegoogle Which Will Be More Stimulating for Fiber to the Home – the Federal Broadband Stimulus Program Or Google’S Latest Venture?

EnterEnter GoogleGoogle Which will be more stimulating for fiber to the home – the federal broadband stimulus program or Google’s latest venture?

By Masha Zager ■ Broadband Properties

Learn about fiber-to-the-home deployment challenges and successes at the Broadband Properties Summit in Dallas, April 26–28, where FTTH deployers of all kinds will Preview share their experiences with attendees.

e expected this issue’s fiber deployment roundup to Why does Google refer to its FTTH project as an “ex- feature the award of $4 billion in broadband stimu- periment”? As FTTH technology is well beyond the experi- Wlus funds and the news that fiber-to-the-home net- mental stage, any experimentation seems likely to involve works were being built across the land. In fact, several FTTH the open-access business model – which has been less suc- stimulus awards had been made as of press time (see below), cessful in the United States than in Europe – and new uses and I hope that additional awards will have been announced for gigabit broadband. by the time you read this. But decisions about the stimulus Google has a history of trying to act as a catalyst for the funds have been frustratingly slow, and even media outlets that don’t often cover broadband issues in any comprehen- telecom industry – in particular, to push it toward greater sive way, such as National Public Radio, have begun asking openness. In 2008, it succeeded, without actually buying pointed questions about who or what is stalling the program. any spectrum, in making open access a condition of sale in The exciting news this month didn’t turn out to be the a major auction of wireless spectrum. And by championing stimulus program at all, at least not the official one. In a open mobile devices, the company spurred other vendors surprise move, Google said that it planned to build one or to give smart phone users a wider choice of applications. more open-access FTTH networks, and it invited municipal Clearly, Google’s primary business stands to benefit in the officials, broadband activists and ordinary residents to nom- long term from innovation and competition in broadband inate their communities as sites for the networks. Within a services. For example, imagine the advertising Google few days, cities began to announce that they were interested could sell on an ultra-HDTV YouTube service. But what- in Google’s proposal, and the company seems likely to have ever Google’s FTTH experiment proves to be, we look for- as many applicants as the stimulus program does. For an in- ward to bringing you news of its progress in future issues. depth discussion of Google’s potential future as a network operator, see this issue’s Bandwidth Hawk column. – MZ

INDEPENDENT TELCOS RUS ❤ Fiber Fiber-to-the-home projects took cen- ing $309 million – 11 of them includ- the first companies in the United States ter stage in January when Agriculture ing FTTH. Independent telco awardees to deploy fiber to the home, along with Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that included the following: its subsidiary, Nex-Tech, will receive a the Rural Utilities Service had made Rural Telephone Service Com- grant of $49.6 million and loan funds 14 broadband stimulus awards total- pany, a cooperative telco that was one of of $51.6 million to develop broadband

12 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | Bonus Spring Issue services in unserved and underserved areas of central and western Kansas. Most In the most recent batch of broadband of the project will use FTTH technology, although some remote rural areas stimulus awards, nearly all the last-mile will be served with WiMAX. According projects included fiber to the home. The largest to CEO Larry Sevier, this massive construction project will span more than of them covers 23,000 homes and businesses. 4,600 square miles and bring service to 21 towns and 26 rural areas in 11 counties. Nearly 23,000 households and the requirements for telemedicine Occam Networks, will provide Internet businesses, including 335 community capabilities, both in-home and at access at speeds between 3 Mbps and anchor institutions, will benefit, and medical facilities 100 Mbps in the farming communities more than 400 jobs will be created. Proj- • improving educational opportunities of San Joaquin, Tranquillity and West ect partners include engineering firms for children Fresno. The project will pass 1,368 un- RVW, Finley Engineering and HunTel • improving communication capabili- served and underserved households, 125 Engineering along with contractors Mi- ties of public safety personnel and businesses and 24 community anchor chels Corporation, Midwest Contractors facilities. institutions. and Sellenriek Construction. Audeamus C-M-L Telephone Cooperative As- Although Rural Telephone’s num- (Latin for “let us dare”), sociation, an Iowa ILEC, received a $1.5 bers are large, they don’t tell the whole a subsidiary of Sebastian Enterprises, million grant and a $1.5 million loan story. Emphasizing the importance which owns two small ILECs in Cali- and contributed $1.5 million in match- of broadband to quality of life, Ru- fornia, was awarded a $2.7 million grant ing funds toward a fiber optic network ral Telephone wrote in its application, and a $2.7 million loan for its Westside that will provide the rural communities “Consider the Bolings, a deaf couple Broadband Project for Rural Central who desire broadband access to com- California. This all-fiber network, us- of Archer and Meriden with high-speed municate with friends. Or Karen Buss, a ing active Ethernet equipment from Internet access at speeds exceeding 20 widow trying to run a farm with her two college-age daughters, who could pre- pare for their futures through distance learning opportunities. The Gallentine SPECIAL EARLY BIRD OFFER family would benefit from telemedicine, as their doctor is 60 miles from their REGISTER TODAY home.” NTELOS, a large ILEC in Virginia, $485 USE VIP CODE: FIBERNOW was awarded an $8 million grant and Special Limited Time Offer – Expires Soon an $8 million loan to build an FTTH network to deliver triple-play and other www.bbpmag.com, CLICK REGISTER services to unserved and underserved homes, businesses and critical community institutions in rural Alleghany County. The proposed service area includes an estimated 4,216 households, 233 businesses and 36 community en- tities. NTELOS anticipates that long- term benefits from the initiative will include April 26 – 28, 2010 • enabling home-based jobs for home- SPECIALInterContinental EARLY BIRD Hotel RATE – Dallas EXTENDED bound residents and those who can- Addison, Texas not find local employment UNTIL MIDNIGHTRegister Today!MARCH 15th. • enabling home-based job training The Leading Conference on • attracting new businesses and em- Broadband Technologies and Services ployees that require access to robust To Exhibit or Sponsor, contact: Irene Prescott at broadband Internet, data and video [email protected], or call 316-733-9122. services For other inquiries, call 877-588-1649, or visit www.bbpmag.com. • improving health care by supporting

Bonus Spring Issue | www.broadbandproperties.com | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | 13 Mbps, along with digital television and Other Independent branch offices to implement advanced telephone service. Telco News telecommunication services.” Wireless Another Iowa ILEC, F & B Commu- Syringa Networks, a privately held pro- cellular and data carriers in the area can nications, received a $1.6 million grant vider based in Boise, Idaho, is expanding meet smart-phone bandwidth demand and a $1.6 million loan to bring high- its fiber optic network into the Wasatch through Syringa Networks’ fiber-to-the- speed Internet services over fiber to the Front region of northern Utah, a rapidly tower (FTTT) program. rural areas surrounding the communities growing area that includes Salt Lake Medicine Park Telephone Com- of Bennett, Delmar and Lowden. Ser- City and Provo. This network expansion pany in Oklahoma selected the Mo- vices include high-speed Internet access more than doubles the company’s total torola GPON solution for its fiber-to- at speeds exceeding 20 Mbps, along with addressable market. The expanded fiber the-home network, which will allow it digital television and telephone service. plant will provide high-speed, self-heal- to offer dramatically higher-capacity North Central Telephone Coop- ing fiber optic network services to busi- broadband services, including new video erative in northern Tennessee received nesses throughout the Wasatch Front. offerings that use Motorola’s line of RF a $24.7 million grant and a $25 million Greg Lowe, CEO of Syringa Net- set-top boxes. Motorola is partnering loan to build out fiber in the communi- works, says, “Utah businesses that have with distributor Power & Tel to reach ties of Westmoreland, Lafayette, Pleas- connection needs into rural Idaho have rural providers such as Medicine Park. ant Shade and Defeated and to complete limited options with their current car- Etex, a subsidiary of Etex Tele- the builds it began in two other towns. riers. As eastern Idaho, Boise and Salt phone Cooperative in eastern Texas, The company will provide advanced Lake City continue to grow, there will has deployed voice, high-speed data and voice, video, and data services. be increased needs for high-speed con- high-definition video services to con- Northeast Louisiana Telephone nectivity within this market. Our ex- sumers and businesses over a Brocade Company will use its $4.4 million grant pansion makes it easier and more cost IP network. Etex deployed the Brocade and $8.1 million loan to build an active effective for businesses with distributed NetIron MLX 10 GbE routers and Ethernet FTTH network with symmetrical speeds of 20 Mbps in Morehouse Parish. Vendor Spotlight BEK Communications Coopera- Aksh Optifibre...... www .akshoptifibre .com tive, whose North Dakota FTTH build Alcatel-Lucent...... www .alcatel-lucent com. was featured in the January 2008 is- Amino Communications ...... www .aminocom com. sue of this magazine, will use its $1.9 Brocade ...... www .brocade .com million grant, $2 million loan and $2 Cisco...... www .cisco .com million in leveraged funds to provide Conklin-Intracom...... www. .conklin-intracom .com FTTH broadband service to under- EchoStar Satellite Services ...... www .echostarfixedsatellite .com served homes and anchor institutions Enablence...... www enablence. com. in Burleigh County. In the nearby area Entone ...... www entone. com. Ericsson ...... www ericsson. com. where BEK already provides broadband Finley Engineering...... www .fecinc com. service, it has achieved 53 percent pen- Genexis...... www. .genexis .eu etration, and 22 percent of users derive Geo ...... www geo-uk. .net household income from using the Inter- HunTel Engineering...... www .htleng com. net. BEK expects to duplicate this in the Michels Corporation ...... www .michels us. proposed area. Microsoft ...... www. .microsoft .com Halstad Telephone Company in Midwest Contractors...... www .midwestcontractorsks com. Minnesota received a $2 million grant Minerva Networks...... www .minervanetworks com. and a $2 million loan to provide 100 Motorola ...... www .motorola .com Mbps broadband access via FTTH to NetNordic...... www .netnordic .no 430 unserved homes and businesses in Occam Networks ...... www. occamnetworks. com. rural Hillsboro, N.D. PacketFront...... www. .packetfront .com Gervais Telephone Company, a Power & Tel...... www .ptsupply com. cooperative in Oregon, was awarded a Pulse Broadband ...... www .pulsebroadband .net $314,430 grant and a $314,430 loan. RVW...... www. .rvwinc .com Gervais will extend its existing fiber net- Sellenriek Construction ...... (636)488-3151 work to provide broadband connectiv- Tilgin...... www tilgin. .com ity in Marion County to residential and Uptown Services ...... www uptownservices. com. Westell ...... www westell. com. business end users, as well as four anchor Zhone Technologies...... www .zhone com. institutions.

14 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | Bonus Spring Issue Velocity Achieves Takeoff Speed

Minnesota’s Twin Cities area may soon have a fiber broadband option, thanks to competitive provider Velocity Telephone . Velocity recently launched its first fiber-to- the-home build in the community of Eagan, south of Minneapolis and St . Paul . The Gigabit Ethernet network will provide triple-play services for business and residential customers . Velocity will begin by targeting about 250 small and mid-sized businesses in Eagan’s business district, offering the fastest Internet connection at the lowest cost in the Twin Cities area, along with colocation, hosting, data backup and disaster recovery services as well as a hosted VoIP service . In mid-2010, Velocity plans to expand to nearby residential neighborhoods with voice, data and IPTV services . Video is new for Velocity, which up until now has resold Internet access and other voice and data services over Qwest infrastructure . Unless an existing provider steps in through word of mouth (“We can’t yell loud enough to to offer video services over Velocity’s fiber network, Ve- compete with Comcast and Qwest,” Hickle says), and locity plans to form a separate company, the Minnesota the company will continue that approach with its fiber Open Video Network, to operate the video service . network . It plans to market fiber services with the help Velocity has made a number of unusual choices in of “fiber sponsors,” customers who agree to help spread terms of technology, marketing and finance . the word by showing their neighbors how fiber-based Metro Ring Technology solutions can improve their businesses . The active Ethernet network will be based on a small- Financing the Build fiber-ring architecture in both business and residential areas (blue lines on the map are fiber rings) . As company Velocity aims to build FTTP networks covering the entire president Jim Hickle explains, “We’ll be daisy chaining Minneapolis–St . Paul metropolitan area . At first, the com- the fiber from business to business and from house to pany sought municipal partners to finance open-access house ”. This redundant, self-healing architecture is de- networks but failed to find any takers . Joint financing ar- signed to reduce deployment costs, increase network rangements, such as secondary letters of credit issued by reliability and minimize repair costs . “It’s easier on my municipalities, are prohibited under state law . That left technicians in the long run,” Hickle says . “I won’t have to the company on its own to find financing . send them out at two in the morning ”. As a small company in a capital-constricted time, Another innovative technology Hickle is considering “we’re not going to get $1 billion at once,” Hickle says is a set-top box that integrates over-the-top (OTT) video with characteristic understatement . Rather than miss on demand with over-the-air (OTA) linear channels, with another construction season, he decided to start small . a single interactive program guide . Velocity’s initial video He would build as large a project as he could finance (in service in Eagan will be a traditional cable offering, but if this case, about $750,000 worth), make it cash-flow posi- the OTT/OTA solution proves feasible, Hickle may offer it tive as quickly as possible by presigning customers, and in other communities to avoid local franchising battles . move on to the next project . He selected Eagan for the “Franchise agreements are kind of a dinosaur,” he says . trial run because it is a community with a high demand for broadband – lots of high-tech companies and tele- Marketing Innovations commuters – that is largely underserved . Before beginning to build out fiber in Eagan, Velocity ap- After the Eagan network is up and running, what’s proached businesses there to preregister them for the next? Hickle is still optimistic about municipal financing, service . Its offer was simple: Buy copper-based services which would allow the company to build networks in from us today, and once the fiber is in place, you can have multiple communities at the same time; he says munici- 10 Mbps Internet access over fiber for the same price . palities are showing more interest now that Velocity is Many businesses – including both current and new cus- actually building a network . If public financing doesn’t tomers – have already signed up for fiber, so Velocity has materialize, however, he will continue with his piecemeal a guaranteed take rate from the day it turns up service . approach . There are plenty of underserved communities In the past, much of Velocity’s marketing has been in the Twin Cities area .

Bonus Spring Issue | www.broadbandproperties.com | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | 15 FastIron SuperX switches because they to fiber, the company says, is more eco- initial demand is already sizable. Our permit consolidation of data, voice and nomical than trying to bring the copper sales team is reporting a high level of video, which lowers costs and eases de- network up to date; its new bundles will excitement and sales results that are ex- ployment and management of advanced allow faster Internet speeds and multiple ceeding our expectations. Our voice and triple-play services. HDTV streams. Liberty reports, “We’ve data customers have been excited about Randolph Telephone, a coopera- completed the majority of the fiber-to- adding this new service, and we are also tive in North Carolina, reports that it the-home construction project in West capturing brand-new customers due to has implemented several FTTH projects Liberty, moved all DTV customers from its reliability and ease of use.” in “edge-out” (nearby) areas, including Myrio to Minerva [middleware], replaced Cincinnati Bell selected West- one community where 35 of the 40-plus all of the digital set-top boxes with new ell’s VersaLink 7501 Wi-Fi Gateway homes subscribe to fiber-based services. Entone and Amino boxes and launched to provide in-home routing and home These builds were enabled by recent North HD and digital video recorder services networking services for its Fioptics ser- Carolina state legislation allowing ILECs along with online backup services.” vice, delivered over Cincinnati Bell’s to bring broadband service to customers During December, GVTC Com- fiber network. The gateway, designed in nearby areas without forming a CLEC munications extended its fiber-to-the- to address the increased broadband subsidiary. One neglected community home network to 2,000 more residential networking demands of today’s high- had lobbied for service for years, signing lots across the Texas Hill Country and performance Internet services, connects petitions and writing letters to legisla- Far North San Antonio. via Ethernet to Cincinnati Bell’s fiber tors. Once the new law passed, Randolph More than 35,000 residential and optic service and distributes Internet agreed to serve the community. business lots are now connected to connectivity throughout the customer’s Marketing director Aaryn Slafky GVTC’s all-fiber network. GVTC premises via its integrated Wi-Fi access recalls, “I drove door to door – we had Communications has also added 15 new point. The VersaLink 7501 also provides a minimum to meet, but we gathered cable TV channels, including nine in advanced voice-over-wireless features enough [preregistrations] to start con- high definition. that support the seamless delivery of struction. The incumbent followed be- FTTH deployer BTC Broadband voice services using Universal Mobile hind us, and while we were plowing fiber, in Oklahoma will use ViP-TV video Access and dual-mode mobile handsets they put in DSL cabinets. We started up transport services from EchoStar Satel- that include Wi-Fi. in October and finished the last installa- lite Services to receive transport of up to Richland-Grant Telephone Coop- tion last week, and I don’t believe the in- 49 high-definition channels to its IPTV erative in Wisconsin initiated two large cumbent has DSL up and running yet. headend. It will integrate the ViP-TV fiber projects in 2009 that will be com- We’re able to bring the residents televi- streams into the fs|cdn IPTV middle- pleted this year. In the village of Soldiers sion [so they have] alternatives to satel- ware solution from Conklin-Intracom. Grove, road construction and bridge lite TV and WildBlue. … We’ve made BTC Broadband has deployed fiber to replacement projects required exten- some people very happy. One gas station the home to deliver video, voice and data sive changes in Richland-Grant’s plant; was going to have to spend thousands of services. “The new HDTV channels our rather than replacing its copper plant in dollars on a new connection for the gas customers will have access to as a result of the areas affected by construction, the pump; now they can do it with a broad- this new relationship is key for our strat- company decided to install fiber to cus- band connection, and they’re saving a egy of delivering the highest-quality ser- tomers’ homes and businesses. The sec- lot of money.” vices and content to our customers using ond fiber project is in the village of Blue Wabash Mutual Telephone, a the most current technology,” says Bob River, a more densely populated area subscriber-owned telephone company Rozell, chief financial officer and chief where fiber is a cost-effective method in west central Ohio, is deploying Oc- operating officer of BTC Broadband. for delivering services. Older copper cam Network’s FTTP equipment within Another provider to upgrade its feed cables in need of replacement and and beyond its existing footprint. Wa- IPTV service is SureWest Communica- all drops to homes and businesses were bash Mutual is completing a competi- tions in California, which has launched changed to fiber. tive FTTH overbuild that will include a its Advanced Digital TV service, pow- A third FTTH project, which will be series of 10 Gbps middle-mile transport ered by the Microsoft Mediaroom IPTV started later this year, involves the relo- rings feeding Gigabit Ethernet FTTH software platform, in the Sacramento cation of the entire village of Gays Mills access nodes. The first of these rings -al region. The new service includes whole- because of recurring floods. As the relo- ready provides broadband connectivity home DVR, crystal-clear high defini- cation involves all new construction, the to subscribers in rural communities. tion, extremely fast channel change cooperative says “it only makes sense to Liberty Communications in Iowa times and other new features. Steve install fiber cable from the beginning.” is celebrating its centennial year by in- Oldham, SureWest’s president and chief Richland-Grant Telephone is working stalling fiber to the home in the cities executive officer, says, “Just two weeks with village leaders and contractors as of West Branch and West Liberty, at a into our soft sales launch, and with the plans are formulated and construction cost of about $7.7 million. Upgrading marketing campaign still forthcoming, begins. BBP

16 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | Bonus Spring Issue Municipal Fiber Three Municipalities Move Ahead With Citywide Fiber The city of Salisbury, N.C., selected Enablence technology for its FTTP roll- and is considering adding residential Zhone Technologies’ MXK and zNID out in Ketchikan, Alaska, a community service, has received a completed design fiber-to-the-home solutions as the plat- of about 14,000. KPU, which currently for an FTTH network from engineer- forms for its municipal broadband ini- operates a DSL network and has de- ing firm Uptown Services. Uptown’s tiative now under way. In addition, Er- ployed FTTP on a trial basis since 2007, designs were delivered in late 2009 and icsson will provide the IPTV technology will now transition its network from DSL presented to the city council in Febru- for Salisbury’s deployment. Salisbury of- to fiber and offer high-speed voice, data ary. Dover has not yet committed to ficials cite interactive HDTV, telemedi- and digital HDTV. Through a contract deploying fiber broadband to residences, cine, advanced emergency services and worth approximately $660,000 over the but the completion of the detailed de- greater community cohesion as poten- next three years, Enablence will provide sign is a critical milestone in its decision tial differentiators in attracting knowl- its MAGNM-20 chassis for an active process. edge workers and seeding new business Ethernet network, along with indoor and UTOPIA, a consortium of 16 Utah growth in the digital economy. “We outdoor versions of its E-1320 optical cities that operates an open-access fiber- don’t want to rely on the technology or network terminal. to-the-home network, announced that timeline of existing carriers to meet our Cedar Falls Utilities in Cedar Falls, Voonami had become the eighth service goals for a communications network Iowa, which has been building FTTP provider on the network. Voonami, a that gives us a competitive advantage in in new subdivisions since 2006, has cloud computing and data center solu- attracting new businesses to our city,” launched a project to replace its citywide tions provider, will offer business voice, says Mike Crowell, director of broad- hybrid fiber-coax broadband network Internet and private networking services, band services for Salisbury. with FTTP over a six-year period. including virtual desktop, managed ser- Ketchikan Public Utilities Telecom- The city ofDover, Ohio, which pro- vices, dedicated servers, collocation and munications Division (KPU) selected vides fiber optic services to businesses IT outsourcing services. BBP

Other Providers Electric Cooperative Wins Stimulus Funds Ralls County Electric Cooperative in and nonproprietary data will be shared. initiative. Installed in the home, the Missouri is the only nontelephone com- The cooperative is working with Pulse gateway converts signals on optical fi- pany in the most recent batch to receive Broadband, a contractor that helps small ber to in-home services including voice, stimulus funds from RUS for a last-mile operators deploy and manage advanced television and Internet. Significantly for project. Its $9.5 million grant and $9.5 broadband networks. Pulse will use its this project, the gateway can provide million loan will provide a fiber optic proprietary optical tapping technology, multiple services from a variety of pro- network for residential and commercial which is also the basis of CommScope’s viders at the same time. members of the cooperative and for the BrightPath solution. (For more details, “Access to broadband communi- underserved safety and anchor agencies see Optical Tapping in Rural Applica- cation is a necessity for fully engaged in its service area. The cooperative plans tions in this issue.) economic and social development,” says to offer Internet access at speeds up to 20 Case Western Reserve University Lev Gonick, Case’s vice president for in- Mbps downstream/10 Mbps upstream announced a partnership with Genexis formation technology services. “With a and automated meter reading. In ad- for its inner-city gigabit network. (See gigabit fiber network, communities can dition, it is also considering providing the January 2010 issue of BBP for a full access services such as health care and high-definition television, telephone and description of this initiative, now called e-learning and at the same time provide security services. the Case Connection Zone.) Genexis people with open access to the economic This project has been designated as a will provide its 1 Gbps optical commu- opportunities that the Internet enables. state of Missouri demonstration project, nication gateway to the Cleveland-based This combination of strengthening the

Bonus Spring Issue | www.broadbandproperties.com | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | 17 community structure and providing enable people to use the full potential of network. Offerings include a 200 Mbps people with a superhighway to the digi- broadband in a simple and user-friendly symmetrical service for home businesses tal world is vital to improving lives in way. In addition, the gateway is power-ef- and an asymmetrical residential service. American cities. ficient and installer-friendly, a key factor With the stated vision of becoming one “In the end, communications and In- when installing fiber in urban areas.” of Metro Vancouver’s major communi- ternet is not about just technology; it is Novus Entertainment, a Vancou- cations service providers, Novus is con- about people,” Gonick continues. “Gen- ver broadband provider, is now offering tinuing to expand services in Vancouver exis has understood this very well and the fastest Internet speeds in Canada – and Burnaby and plans to launch ser- has developed products for the home that 200 Mbps over a fiber-to-the-building vices in Richmond in 2010. BBP

Google To Build FTTH Networks

A search engine … an advertising platform … a leader attracting service providers to their networks . Some in cloud computing … a supplier of desktop software … of these deployers have resorted to providing services a smart-phone vendor … and now a fiber-to-the-home themselves; of those prohibited from doing so, some deployer . Google continues to evolve its corporate iden- have faltered when their service providers could not tity in new and unexpected ways . The technology giant meet customers’ expectations . In part, this is an issue of says it plans to build and test ultra-high-speed broad- scale: Open-access FTTH networks generally have not band networks in a small number of trial locations across been large enough to attract established service provid- the United States, delivering Internet speeds of 1 Gbps ers . For example, although large, nonfacilities-based ISPs over fiber-to-the-home connections . It will offer services such as EarthLink and Covad have publicly called for the at a competitive price to “at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people ”. Locations for Google’s networks Federal Communications Commission to unbundle FTTH will be selected from communities that respond to the networks, they do not provide services on open-access company’s request for information by March 26 . Munici- FTTH networks, such as UTOPIA . Nor have open-access pal officials, broadband activists and ordinary residents networks attracted nontraditional providers willing to are encouraged to nominate their communities as candi- experiment with next-generation apps . This suggests dates for Google FTTH networks . that Google may need to scale its network at the high Google’s stated goal is to experiment with new ways end of, or even beyond, its stated plans if it is to achieve to help make Internet access better and faster for every- the effects it hopes for . one, including Will the experiment push public policy toward requir- • next-generation apps ing more open access in broadband networks? “If new • new deployment techniques applications and new business models arise out of the • openness and choice . experiment, that gives [Google] an arrow to shoot to the Consistent with its past advocacy of net neutrality, FCC,” comments Occam Networks’ marketing director, Google says it will operate an open-access network and Juan Vela . “Google has a couple of years to get the exper- manage it in an open, nondiscriminatory and transpar- iment proven in . The current administration is willing to ent way . look at open models . If it makes sense for the economy Can the experiment work? Other open-access net- and for businesses as a whole, they will support it . If it work deployers in the United States have had difficulty fails miserably, that could be the end of it ”.

RBOC UPDATE FiOS Deployment Speeds Up; Customer Acquisition Slows Down FiOS Internet and FiOS TV each added nancial report. These additions brought centage of potential customers) has been 153,000 net customers in the fourth the total at year-end to 3.4 million total increasing steadily. Internet penetration quarter of 2009 – only about half the FiOS Internet customers and 2.9 mil- was 28.1 percent by the end of the fourth number added in the second quarter, lion total FiOS TV customers. quarter, with the product available for according to Verizon’s most recent fi- FiOS penetration (customers as a per- sale to 12.2 million premises, compared

18 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | Bonus Spring Issue with 24.9 percent penetration and 10.0 million premises open for sale at the end Verizon is aiming for 40 percent FiOS TV of the fourth quarter 2008. FiOS TV penetration was 24.5 per- penetration, compared with today’s 24.5 cent by the end of the fourth quarter, percent. The service is still new in much of the with the product available for sale to 11.7 million premises, compared with FiOS footprint, and take rates rise over time. 20.8 percent penetration and 9.2 million premises open for sale at the end of the fourth quarter 2008. New York City is one place Verizon is of $77. Consumer ARPU overall grew This slowdown in new customers, marketing FiOS intensively. “Rollout of by 12.6 percent from the fourth quarter coupled with increases in penetration, FiOS TV is on the fast track in the city,” of 2008. would seem to imply that network con- says Christopher Creager, president of At a recent investor conference struction has slowed. However, 900,000 Verizon’s Northeast region. In 2009, the in San Francisco, Verizon CEO Ivan homes were passed in the fourth quarter, company expanded FiOS service into an Seidenberg said FiOS was close to be- a much higher number than in any recent period. As of the end of 2009, the additional 140 New York City neighbor- coming operating-income positive in FiOS network passed 15.4 million prem- hoods, located throughout the five bor- 2009, and could become net positive ises, up from 14.5 million at the end of oughs, bringing its fiber optic network in 2010. He also announced a goal of the third quarter and 400,000 ahead of to a total of about 810,000 households. 40 percent penetration for FiOS TV – a the planned total. Verizon has not yet And FiOS TV is expected to be available long way from today’s 24.5 percent. begun marketing services to more than in parts of dozens more neighborhoods Taking advantage of GPON’s ca- 3 million of the homes it has passed with by the end of this year. pacity, Verizon added a new 35 Mbps fiber – and it is continuing to build out Average revenue per user (ARPU) symmetrical Internet service tier for the network faster than it can bring ser- for FiOS users is more than $140, nearly both consumers and small businesses. vicesAMT to28075 market. CED Magazine:AMT 27603 2/9/10double Verizon’s10:23 AM overall Page wireline 1 ARPU This tier is designed to enable videocon-

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Bonus Spring Issue | www.broadbandproperties.com | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | 19 Deployer Spotlight

States with deployments referenced in this article

Alaska

North American Telcos NTELOS www .ntelos com. AT&T CA, IA, VA , KS, TN,www LA att. , ND com. , OR,Randolph OK, TX Telephone, NC, www .rtmc .net Audeamus/ Richland-Grant Telephone Cooperative www .rgtelecom com. Sebastian EnterprisesOH, ID, WI,www MN, .sebastiancorp AK, UT ,com. MO, Rural Telephone Service BEK Communications Cooperative www .bektel .com Company/Nex-Tech www .ruraltelephone com. Bell Aliant www .aliant .ca SureWest Communications www .surewest .com Bell Canada www .bell .ca Syringa Networks www .syringanetworks .net BTC Broadband www .btcbroadband .com Velocity Telephone www velocitytelephone. com. C-M-L Telephone Cooperative Association www .netins .net/ Verizon Communications www verizon. com. ricweb/telco/cml .htm Wabash Mutual Telephone www wabashtelephone. com. Cincinnati Bell www .cincinnatibell .com Etex www .etex .net Other North American Deployers F & B Communications www .fbc .bz Case Western Reserve University www .case .edu Gervais Telephone Company www gervaistel. com. Cedar Falls Utilities www .cfu .net GVTC Communications www gvtc. .com Dover, Ohio (city) www .dovertechnology .com Halstad Telephone Company www .halstadtel .com Google www google. com. Liberty Communications www .lcom .net Ketchikan Public Utilities Telecommunications www .kpunet .net Medicine Park Telephone Company www .medicinepark com. Novus Entertainment www .novusnow ca. MTS www .mts ca. North Central Telephone Cooperative www .nctc com. Ralls County Electric Cooperative www .rallscountyelectric .com Northeast Louisiana Salisbury, N C. . (city) www .ci .salisbury .nc us. Telephone Company www .northeasttel com. UTOPIA www utopianet. .org

20 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | Bonus Spring Issue ferencing, working at home, online multiplayer gaming, tele- need increased bandwidth, and MTS will be in a position to medicine, electronic home-energy and security monitoring and meet that demand with our new fiber-to-the-home network.” data transfer – and to help small businesses look as if they have Through 2010, MTS will begin using FTTH to serve a ma- the IT capabilities of Fortune 500 businesses. The company jority of new housing developments in Winnipeg; it also ex- adds, “And, unlike some providers, Verizon does not penalize pects to deploy fiber to existing customers in a smaller commu- customers for using all the speed they need.” nity outside Winnipeg. Overall, MTS expects approximately 500 homes to receive FTTH services in 2010. U-verse Voice Reaches Ontario and Québec: Bell Canada is deploying FTTH in the 1 Million Mark Québec City and in new housing developments throughout On- AT&T announced that it now serves 1 million AT&T U-verse tario and Québec. It announced a three-year plan to deploy fiber Voice digital home phone lines. The milestone comes two years in multiple communities across the Québec City region and of- after AT&T introduced the advanced VoIP service, which is fer Internet download speeds of at least 100 Mbps and upload now available to millions of homes across 22 states. speeds of at least 20 Mbps to both consumers and businesses. U-verse Voice is delivered over the AT&T U-verse network. Bell says its Québec initiative is by far the largest citywide The company says more than 67 percent of new U-verse TV FTTH rollout in the country. Because the Québec City region customers bundle the voice service, more than 90 percent of U- is served largely by aerial infrastructure, these extensive fiber verse TV customers bundle high-speed Internet and more than deployments can be accomplished much faster and more eco- 75 percent of U-verse TV customers have a triple or quad play. nomically than in cities with underground infrastructure. AT&T added 248,000 U-verse TV subscribers in the fourth Bell also announced that it will deploy FTTH in all new quarter of 2009, totaling 2.1 million U-verse TV subscribers urban and suburban housing developments in Ontario and nationwide, and added 1 million U-verse TV customers in the Québec beginning in the second half of 2010. This is in addi- last year alone. tion to the company’s deployment of FTTB already under way, which will deliver 60 Mbps service to approximately 1,600 Canadian Incumbents condominium and apartment buildings in Ontario and Qué- Roll Out Fiber bec by the end of 2012. BBP Canadian ILECs announced several major FTTH projects. New Brunswick: Bell Aliant launched its FibreOP FTTH services in two New Brunswick communities last year and is now accelerating its deployment. In 2010, the company will more than double its 2009 spending on fiber technology to pass 140,000 homes with fiber by the end of the year. CEO Karen Sheriff says, “With this investment, we are accelerating and leveraging our natural assets of aerial footprint and low-density geography to invest for the future. We expect Private Broadband Communications, LLC to continue to gain efficiencies in our capital program, and this, in combination with the completion of a significant capital project in 2009, will allow us to advance our fiber network this year without increasing our overall capital spending from 2009 levels.” She adds, “Having access to the fastest and most innovative technology will undoubtedly help New Brunswick attract and retain new and existing talent in the near future, furthering the goal of economic prosperity provincewide.” By end of 2010, Bell Aliant will have invested $80 million to bring FibreOP technology, with 60 Mbps/15 Mbps Internet speeds, to 35 percent of homes and business in New Bruns- wick. By mid-2011, it expects to extend the service to 45 percent of homes and businesses in the province. Manitoba: MTS has launched FTTH services in Waverly West, a large new housing development in Winnipeg. The company is delivering triple-play services with Internet speeds of up to 25 Mbps and potential for future speeds above 100 Mbps. MTS president Kelvin Shepherd says that, although MTS’ existing VDSL network provides excellent services today, “over the long term, customers will be looking for home services that

Bonus Spring Issue | www.broadbandproperties.com | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | 21 INTERNATIONAL DEPLOYMENTS Fiber in Latin America Grupo Cable Sula, Honduras’ second- largest cable operator, is deploying a The French government is providing $2.7 new fiber-based broadband network to 5,000 business customers over the billion to subsidize the buildout of fiber to the next two to three years. Already a user home in rural areas of France. of Enablence’s TRIDENT7 Compact OLT, Grupo Cable Sula turned again to Enablence to expand its offering to Zhone to Sigmanet, a neighboring wire- business area of the city known as the business customers. Under the brand less service provider that was planning Corridor. Households and businesses will FiberLink Pymes, Grupo Cable Sula to deliver FTTH services in Campinas be able to purchase services over the 100 is rolling out new service packages to Brazil, a city of 1.1 million and major Mbps open-access network. (MDDA’s small- and medium-sized businesses telecommunications hub for the state announcement adds, somewhat mysteri- that include Internet access at speeds of São Paulo. Sigmanet will now use ously, “There is also potential for services of up to 10 Mbps, two dedicated phone terabit-scale FTTH platforms and op- and applications to be made available for lines, optional analog or digital TV ser- tical network terminals from Zhone to free without having to go through an vice and a corporate data link at speeds provide VoIP, HDTV and ultra-high- Internet service provider.”) The project’s of up to 100 Mbps. Grupo Cable Sula speed data to corporate, residential and initial phase, which starts this spring, purchased Enablence’s TRIDENT7 multitenant unit customers throughout will provide connectivity to 200 homes Universal Access Platform, optical line the city. and businesses around the Corridor terminal, optical networking terminals “Growing from an all-wireless net- area. Connections to an additional 1,500 and the Element Management Suite to work to a fiber network with the highest homes and businesses will be phased in support this deployment. capacity platforms available not only ex- over the next 12 months. Jorge Canahuati Hoch, CEO of pands our service model, but it represents In France, Prime Minister Francois Grupo Cable Sula, says, “The TRI- an extraordinary expansion in the way Fillon said the government would pro- DENT7 has allowed us to leap past our we view our possibilities as a company,” vide telcos with €2 billion ($2.7 bil- competitors and capture an untapped says Mucio Camargo de Assis Filho, ad- lion) to accelerate FTTH deployment market opportunity with a fiber network ministrative director for Sigmanet. in the less densely populated areas of that is far more secure, reliable and faster BT: To Infinity and Beyond France. The plan follows the European than cable modem, DSL or wireless. De- BT Commission guidelines on state aid ploying this kind of network gives us a The retail arm of British incumbent launched its new fiber-based broadband for broadband deployment. According leadership position in the Central Amer- service, BT Infinity. The new consumer to Marcela Perez Sirio of research firm ican telecommunications industry.” service, delivered over fiber to the cabi- Ovum, by mid-2010, operators should Brazilian service provider Desktop net and fiber to the home, offers down- have the regulatory clarity they need selected Zhone’s MXK multiservice ac- load speeds of up to 40 Mbps for as little to invest in both the densely and less cess platform and zNID optical network as $31 per month. Upstream speeds will densely populated areas of France. terminals for its GPON expansion into be the fastest in the UK, reaching speeds Additional details on the greenfield São Paulo. Desktop’s choice of GPON of 10 Mbps. Business services will offer fiber project in Gelsenkirchen, Ger- is a response to customer demand for the same speeds as consumer services, many, mentioned in BBP’s November/ higher speed and premium services with for somewhat higher prices; the extra December issue: This network, built in flexible pricing. Future-proof bandwidth charge ensures that business traffic will the housing development of Wohnen am capacity, lower total cost of ownership receive priority at times of contention. Bachlauf by municipal utility Gelsen- and robust platform design all factored These services will be available to 4 mil- Net, is based on GPON technology into Desktop’s selection of the Zhone lion homes and businesses by the end of from Alcatel-Lucent. Alcatel-Lucent also platform. Desktop currently provides December 2010 and to 10 million prem- managed the network installation and VoIP and data services to the eight cit- ises by mid-2012. integration and will support the main- ies in the state of São Paulo and plans In Manchester, U.K., the Man- tenance of the network. Alcatel-Lucent to add GPON services, expanding into chester Digital Development Agency installed its 7342 ISAM FTTU optical neighboring cities by mid 2010. (MDDA) engaged Geo, a firm that de- access platform, its 5520 AMS access After selecting Zhone for its own signs and builds fiber networks, to install network management software and its deployment, Desktop recommended fiber optic infrastructure in the high-tech latest generation of optical modems.

22 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | Bonus Spring Issue Deployer Spotlight

Norway United Canada Kingdom Lithuania Netherlands Germany France Switzerland

Tu rkey International deployment activity India

Honduras

Malaysia

Brazil

International Deployers BSNL ...... www .bsnl .co .in Reggefiber ...... www .reggefiber .com BT ...... www bt. com. Sigmanet...... www .sigmanet .com .br Desktop...... www desktop. com. .br Gelsen-Net...... www gelsen-net. de. Superonline...... www .superonline .com Grupo Cable Sula Swisscom...... www. .swisscom .ch Manchester Digital TEO ...... www teo. lt/en. Development Agency...... www .manchesterdda .com Norsk Fibernett...... norskfibernett .no TIME dotCom...... www time. .com .my

Jürgen Katzer, vice president of sales speeds of 200 Mbps, according to ven- to upgrade its other FTTH networks and carrier account manager for Alcatel- dors Cisco and Genexis. FTTH opera- to the new standard and to introduce Lucent in Germany, explains, “The Ruhr tor Reggefiber is deploying the fiber op- 200 Mbps symmetrical service. area has one of the highest population tic network, Internet provider XMS will TEO, the largest integrated tele- densities in Europe. Next-generation ac- offer services, and Cisco and Genexis com provider in Lithuania, announced cess networks are particularly effective have been selected to supply the equip- its new ZEBRA Internet plan, which in such settings, and so the Gelsen-Net ment. As demand grows, the bandwidth offers residential customers up to GPON network is a lighthouse project can easily be increased to 1 Gbps. 200 Mbps Internet access services. TEO for the region as a whole. Gelsen-Net is Cisco will supply its 7609 routers for is deploying fiber at a rapid pace; its fiber performing first-class pioneering work the central office and its Catalyst 4506 optic access network currently operates to enhance the attractiveness of the new switches for distributing broadband In- in more than 30 Lithuanian cities and housing estate.” Residents of the new ternet signal to homes in Zeewolde, and is available to nearly one-third of the development have access to a triple-play Genexis, a Netherlands-based company, country’s residents. More than 62,000 offer that includes an Internet connec- will supply gigabit home gateways. Peter customers are using FTTH-based ser- tion of 100 Mbps downstream/10 Mbps Kamphuis, Reggefiber’s director of op- vices today, and TEO expects this num- upstream, analog and digital telephony erations, views the launch of the 1 Gbps ber to exceed 100,000 by year-end. services and video. network as the first step toward a new Norsk Fibernett, an association standard in FTTH networks, saying, of several fiber networks in Norway, 200 Mbps Is the New 100 Mbps “1 Gbps equipment will replace the provides broadband over open-access Zeewolde will be the first town in the current 100 Mbps equipment.” Before networks to about 4,000 customers in Netherlands with symmetrical Internet the end of this year, Reggefiber plans Oslo, Bergen and five other cities. To

Bonus Spring Issue | www.broadbandproperties.com | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | 23 consolidate these networks, Norsk Fi- and telephone services. Chief technol- Internet access to more than 30,000 bernett will use PacketFront’s BECS ogy officer Guido Garrone says that, in customers in Jaipur and will eventually provisioning and control system, ASR addition to providing the capacity for bring FTTH to its 8 million customers routers and DRG customer-premises network bandwidth growth and qual- across the state. equipment. NetNordic, PacketFront’s ity of service, the Cisco router also helps In Malaysia, competitive provider Norwegian partner, will deliver and im- simplify network operations. TIME dotCom (TdC) launched TIME plement the solution under a three-year Superonline, a subsidiary of Turkish Fibre Broadband, an FTTH-based In- contract. Norsk Fibernett will extend its telecom provider Turkcell, is deploying ternet access service offering speeds of newly consolidated network with sev- a fiber-to-the-building network with a up to 50 Mbps. Launching the new ser- eral thousand connections per year and 100 Mbps Ethernet connection to each vice, TdC’s CEO Afzal Abdul Rahim plans to continue building out regional home. Superonline is using a solution said TdC is the only telecommunica- fiber networks throughout Norway. from Ericsson and Tilgin to provide tions provider in Malaysia offering 100- high-speed Internet connections and percent fiber optic connection to the Fiber to Every Swiss IMS-based IP telephony. Tilgin will home. “TIME Fibre Broadband is the Household provide home gateways and software for answer to the long-awaited needs of Swiss incumbent telco Swisscom is roll- the first phase of Superonline’s project, Malaysian Internet users, providing the ing out FTTH services to every house- which will pass some 300,000 homes highest speed and bandwidth capacity hold in Switzerland. As of last Sep- with fiber during 2010. Local implemen- available in Malaysia,” Afzal said as he tember, the company had 1.8 million tation will be managed by Ericsson and demonstrated the capabilities of the new broadband subscribers. Swisscom will Tilgin, together with Superonline’s staff. service by performing multiple video use Cisco’s ASR 9000 series aggregation Indian state-owned telecom provider calls, streaming HD content, down- services router as the edge platform, cit- BSNL launched its first FTTH service loading multiple HD movie trailers and ing its ability to support the simultane- in Jaipur, using technology from fiber playing a game online. The service is ous use of three high-definition televi- cable supplier Aksh Optifibre. BSNL currently available in Mont Kiara, with sion channels, Internet connections of will provide multiplay services with coverage expanding over the next few 50 Mbps downstream/5 Mbps upstream high-definition content and 100 Mbps months in the Klang Valley area. BBP People WHERE FIBER MANAGEMENT COMES TOGETHER. Information Technology

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