BROADBAND COMMUNITIES is the leading source of information on digital and broadband technologies for buildings and communities. Our editorial aims to accelerate the deployment of Fiber-To-The-Home and Fiber-To-The-Premises.
Issue link: https://bbcmag.epubxp.com/i/138991
Municipal and public-private FTTP networks are found in 35 states. WhO'S ON ThE LIST? All the network deployers on this list • Are public entities, consortia of public entities, consortia of public and private entities or, in a few cases, private entities that benefited from significant investment or participation by local governments. • Own all-fiber networks that connect local homes or businesses to the Internet (or are actively developing such networks). • Make available – directly or through retailers – such services as voice, Internet access or video (or are planning such services). Excluded are the growing number of municipalities that provide broadband services exclusively for city facilities and schools, those that serve private entities only by leasing dark fiber and those that provide broadband services only over cable or wireless networks. Tis list includes only organizations with functioning networks or with approved plans and funding. However, plans do not always materialize; several projects that were reported on earlier versions of the list failed to survive. Others, although still in progress, have not met their deployment goals. Multiple-municipality projects have become more common because they can achieve economies of scale in construction and operation and, by aggregating demand, can attract thirdparty service providers more easily. UTOPIA, in Utah, is an example of an early FTTH network built by a consortium of cities. More recent projects are ECFiber in Vermont, May/June 2013 | www.broadbandcommunities.com SMBS in Minnesota and FastRoads in New Hampshire. Other examples include a number of countywide networks as well as LENOWISCO, which includes three counties and a city in Virginia. Urbana-Champaign Big Broadband is a consortium initiated by the University of Illinois (a state agency) and includes the cities of Urbana and Champaign. Even a network owned by a single town or city may provide service beyond city limits. For example, Jackson Energy Authority in Tennessee and NetQuincy in Florida both serve areas adjacent to the cities that own them. Te city of Williamstown, Ky., used broadband stimulus funding to expand its community networks beyond city borders. (Its original network was hybrid fiber-coax, but it is using FTTH | BROADBAND COMMUNITIES | 23