Number of Municipal FTTP Networks Climbs to 135
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COMMUNITY BROADBAND Number of Municipal FTTP Networks Climbs to 135 More cities – including larger cities – are building fiber to homes and businesses. Even more are considering the feasibility of doing so. By Masha Zager / Broadband Communities ROADBAND COMMUNITIES’ count of legal and political landscape, the availability public and public private fiber-to-the- of financing, the interest of potential partners, Bpremises networks now stands at 135, and the skills and assets possessed by public a 15 percent increase from 2012. The additions agencies. Communities have many options to the list include several new projects and a few and should explore as many as possible before older projects missed in earlier counts. committing to a plan or deciding that public One network on the list, iProvo, which was broadband is not for them. built by the Provo, Utah, city government, is Political opposition to municipal broadband about to be privatized for a second time; Google often constrains cities’ options. State legislatures has agreed to purchase it later this year. (See the impose some constraints; in other cases, Q&A with Provo Mayor John Curtis on p. 40 opposition comes from within a community. for more details.) Because the pendulum of public opinion shifts Many of these fiber networks continue constantly, a broadband project that proves to expand or to add new types of customers legally or politically impossible one year may and services. Often, a network begins in one become feasible a few years later, even in a community and expands by popular demand conservative community. In several cases, city into neighboring communities, though in some leaders and broadband activists have succeeded cases, expansions requested by residents have in changing public opinion by educating citizens been quashed by state legislatures. about the economic and social benefits of high- In addition, the number of new projects speed broadband. being planned appears to be higher than ever, Some states now actively support municipal with an announcement nearly every week that a broadband projects. For example, in Illinois, community is considering deploying fiber or has Gov. Pat Quinn launched a competition that commissioned a feasibility study. (Of course, will award up to $4 million in funding to ultra- not every feasibility study results in a network high-speed broadband deployment projects deployment; see, for example, “Can FTTP as part of the Illinois Jobs Now! economic Work in Palo Alto?” on p. 46.) development program. Several awards have already been made. In New York, the Connect Different ApproacHes NY broadband grants are helping extend As pointed out in prior years, there is no single high-speed Internet services to unserved model for public broadband. Each project takes communities; some of its projects involve city or a slightly different approach, depending on the county governments as partners. 22 | BROADBAND COMMUNITIES | www.broadbandcommunities.com | MAY/JUNE 2013 Municipal and public-private FTTP networks are found in 35 states. WHO’S on THE List? fiber and those that provide broadband SMBS in Minnesota and FastRoads All the network deployers on this list services only over cable or wireless in New Hampshire. Other examples • Are public entities, consortia of networks. include a number of countywide public entities, consortia of public This list includes only organizations networks as well as LENOWISCO, and private entities or, in a few with functioning networks or with which includes three counties and a cases, private entities that benefited approved plans and funding. However, city in Virginia. Urbana-Champaign from significant investment or plans do not always materialize; several Big Broadband is a consortium participation by local governments. projects that were reported on earlier initiated by the University of Illinois (a • Own all-fiber networks that connect versions of the list failed to survive. state agency) and includes the cities of local homes or businesses to the Others, although still in progress, have Urbana and Champaign. Internet (or are actively developing not met their deployment goals. Even a network owned by a single such networks). Multiple-municipality projects town or city may provide service • Make available – directly or have become more common because beyond city limits. For example, through retailers – such services as they can achieve economies of scale Jackson Energy Authority in Tennessee voice, Internet access or video (or in construction and operation and, by and NetQuincy in Florida both serve are planning such services). aggregating demand, can attract third- areas adjacent to the cities that own Excluded are the growing number party service providers more easily. them. The city of Williamstown, Ky., of municipalities that provide UTOPIA, in Utah, is an example used broadband stimulus funding to broadband services exclusively for city of an early FTTH network built by expand its community networks beyond facilities and schools, those that serve a consortium of cities. More recent city borders. (Its original network was private entities only by leasing dark projects are ECFiber in Vermont, hybrid fiber-coax, but it is using FTTH MAY/JUNE 2013 | www.broadbandcommunities.com | BROADBAND COMMUNITIES | 23 COMMUNITY BROADBAND for its expansion.) In Washington state, substations, then extend fiber to Gigabit Squared will build out fiber though each public utility district commercial buildings or business parks, to the home in 14 neighborhoods builds and operates its own network, add multiple-dwelling-unit properties throughout the city and also provide most or all belong to the Northwest and greenfield residential developments, wireless coverage in areas beyond Open Access Network (NoaNet), a and finally reach single-family those neighborhoods. The University coalition of public utility districts households and small businesses. The of Washington will use the network to that linked their fiber optic networks list shows deployers at various points test new applications for health care, together to achieve economic feasibility along this path. education and other public services. in underserved areas. NoaNet offers Thirty-eight of the municipal According to Seattle Mayor Mike long-haul transport and last-mile access networks, or more than a quarter McGinn, within two months after to wholesale communications providers of the total, deliver services only to the December 2012 announcement throughout the Pacific Northwest. businesses. Several others deliver of Gigabit Seattle, 3,300 citizens had fiber-based services to businesses and signed up for services, more than Municipal Utilities deliver residential broadband services 135 businesses had expressed interest Municipalities are more likely to via cable or wireless. A few that began in signing up, numerous apartment become broadband providers when as business-only networks, such as owners had requested services and many they are already in the business of Gainesville Regional Utilities in citizens had asked whether the network providing electric power. Citizens in Florida, now serve MDU or greenfield could meet the needs of home-based these municipalities are already used developments as well. businesses they were planning to start. to the idea of government-provided Cedar Falls Utilities in Iowa, which Gigabit Chicago is another new utility services. Many public power originally served businesses with fiber public-private venture involving Gigabit utilities were set up in response to the and residences with hybrid fiber- Squared. This project, which will begin failure of the private sector to deliver coax, has built out fiber to the home in Chicago’s Mid-South neighborhood, adequate services, and residents accept throughout its service area. However, will include funding from Gigabit that government might set up public Squared, the state of Illinois, the communications utilities for the same other municipal providers that once city of Chicago, Cook County and reason. In most cases, citizens have planned to follow a similar path, such the University of Chicago. It will had positive experiences with their as Ashland Fiber Network, have been eventually cover more than 79,000 municipal utilities and are prepared to stymied by lack of funding. households and 10,000 businesses. buy additional services from them. BIG Cities Enter THE Game North Carolina Next Generation In addition, public power utilities Traditionally, most municipal fiber Networks is a regional partnership already have back-office operations, deployers have been small to mid-sized composed of Cary, Chapel Hill, such as billing and customer service, cities or groups of cities outside major Carrboro, Durham, Raleigh and that they need for providing telecom metropolitan areas – large enough to Winston-Salem, supported by their services. Finally, public power carry out complex undertakings but utilities are increasingly building local universities – Duke, NC State small enough to be poorly served by communications networks for smart- University, UNC Chapel Hill and private carriers. Chattanooga, which grid applications; once they begin Wake Forest University/Wake Forest made fiber available to about 170,000 planning these networks, they often Baptist Medical Center, along with premises throughout the Chattanooga realize the networks are suitable for their associated chambers of commerce metropolitan area, was the largest city purposes such as business or residential – that seeks to bring ultra-high- to deploy FTTH.