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/256243
20 | BROADBAND COMMUNITIES | www.broadbandcommunities.com | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2014 EDITOR'S NOTE Broadband Communities (ISSN 0745-8711) (USPS 679-050) (Publication Mail Agreement #1271091) is published 7 times a year at a rate of $24 per year by Broadband Properties LLC, 1909 Avenue G, Rosenberg, TX 77471. Periodical postage paid at Rosenberg, TX, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to Broadband Communities, PO Box 303, Congers, NY 10920-9852. CANADA POST: Publications Mail Agreement #40612608. Canada Returns to be sent to Bleuchip International, PO Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2. Copyright © 2013 Broadband Properties LLC. All rights reserved. CEO & ED I TO R IAL D I R EC TO R Scott DeGarmo / scott@bbcmag.com PU B LISH ER Nancy McCain / nancym@bbcmag.com CO R P O R AT E E D I T O R , B B P L LC Steven S. Ross / steve@bbcmag.com E D I T O R Masha Zager / masha@bbcmag.com ADV ER T ISI N G SALE S A CCO U N T E X E C U T I V E Irene Prescott / irene@bbcmag.com O N L I N E N E W S E D I T O R Marianne Cotter / marianne@bbcmag.com D E SI G N & PR O D U C T I O N Karry Thomas CO N T R I B U T O R S Joe Bousquin David Daugherty, Korcett Holdings Inc. Joan Engebretson Richard Holtz, InfiniSys W. James MacNaughton, Esq. Henry Pye, RealPage Bryan Rader, Bandwidth Consulting LLC Robert L. Vogelsang, Broadband Communities Magazine B R OA D BA N D P R O P E R T I E S L LC CEO Scott DeGarmo V I CE PR E SI D EN T, B USI N E SS & O PER AT I O N S Nancy McCain CHAI R M AN O F T H E B OAR D Robert L. Vogelsang V I CE CHAI R M EN The Hon. Hilda Gay Legg Kyle Hollifield B USI N E SS & ED I TO R IAL O FFI CE B R OAD BAN D PR O PER T I E S LLC 19 0 9 Ave nu e G • R o s e n b e r g , Tx 77471 281. 3 42 .9 655 • Fa x 281. 3 42 .1158 w w w. b r o a d b a n d co m m u n i t i e s . co m masha@bbcmag.com Pathways to Fiber Though the United States has no grand plan to build world-class broadband, that shouldn't stop communities and providers from undertaking their own initiatives. A s Gig.U founder Blair Levin points out, the United States' continued economic leadership depends on access to world-class broadband networks. Both a strategic bandwidth advantage and a psychology of bandwidth abundance are necessary, Levin says – and neither one is much in evidence today. No wonder the latest OECD broadband report once again gives the U.S. a solidly mediocre score. What will move the country from mediocre to world-leading broadband? Reading the popular press on this subject could drive a person to despair. Te United States is too vast and sparsely populated; the telecom industry is too consolidated and uncompetitive; investors are too focused on short-term gains; consumers are too enthralled with mobile gadgets and apps. Tere are grounds for hope, however. Te recent Congressional omnibus spending bill increases funding for the Rural Utilities Service broadband loan program – a welcome development. As this magazine went to press, there were also indications that the FCC would soon make Connect America Fund dollars available to a wider range of organizations – another good idea. But federal policy is too blunt an instrument, and too uncertain, to provide a complete solution. Te real good news is that there are now many pathways to fber for the various players in the broadband ecosystem. Tis issue of BroadBand Communities discusses several of them. For example, • In the cover story, "Facilitating Broadband Construction," Joanne Hovis and Andrew Aferbach of CTC explain in detail how communities can reduce the costs of deploying fber for public and private builds. Many actions available to local governments are relatively inexpensive but produce great savings for fber deployers. • "Avalon: Georgia's First Fiberhood," by Carl Kandutsch and Stephen Mayo, shows how a real estate developer made gigabit service an integral part of a new development – and used the availability of world-class broadband to market the development to both residents and businesses. With multifamily housing and planned-unit develop- ments on the upswing, the Avalon model may be widely emulated. • "Fatbeam and Intermax Bring Fiber to Idaho Towns" shows that a competitive provider can proftably build fber networks even in small markets as long as it has the right anchor tenants and the right partners. Tere are plenty of overlooked markets that could beneft from the Fatbeam treatment. • Finally, "Is VDSL+PON the Cure for Consumer Broadband Addiction?" talks about the most widespread situation: incumbents with copper networks. Author Christopher Moezzi discusses new technologies that are helping telcos improve broadband services quickly – and generate revenues – while they position themselves to provide FTTH services economically. Te BroadBand Communities Summit will have even more examples of pathways to fber. Don't miss it! v BBC_Jan14.indd 20 1/27/14 1:42 PM