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.
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MAY/JUNE 2016 | www.broadbandcommunities.com | BROADBAND COMMUNITIES | 67 • Inclusion of conduit as part of public works projects, new developments and land divisions. Te key challenges to policy development and implementation relate to internal departments' working together and communicating the shortcomings in their current practices and policies. A better understanding of interdependent responsibilities can help cities improve policies. In addition, because changes often come with associated costs, a municipality needs to establish a fund to fnancially assist early adoption of certain policies. PUBLIC SERVICES PROVIDER Public services providers utilize fber and broadband resources to connect multiple public organizations with fber or wireless connectivity. Tese organizations are generally limited to the community anchors within their jurisdictions, including local governments, school districts, higher educational organizations, public safety organizations, utilities and health care providers. Te majority of these anchors require substantial connectivity, and often a local government's network can provide higher capacity at lower costs than these organizations can obtain in the commercial market. Seminole County, Fla. Seminole County owns and operates a 450-mile fber optic network that it installed over the last 20 years primarily to serve transportation needs. Te county's trafc engineering group developed the network in the early 1990s by connecting trafc signals to fber to provide enhanced communications and better reliability. Te network, originally conceived exclusively for transportation use, became a resource that connected public organizations across the county. To date, the county's trafc engineering department has connected 26 fre stations, 58 county buildings, 44 schools, four Seminole State College campuses, 41 city buildings and 17 water treatment plants. In addition, the department maintains more than 375 trafc signals, 148 school fashers at 73 locations, 46 beacons and fashers, and 29 variable message signs. Te fber network consists of diferent types of cables and strand counts: single-mode, multimode and hybrid. Altogether, there are approximately 1,246 active strand pair miles of fber. Seminole County's network has saved public organizations millions of dollars and enabled the county and its cities to • Share resources among themselves and schools and community colleges • Aggregate demand for public procurements to attain volume purchasing power • Provide interjurisdictional public safety communications between the county and cities • Reduce public organizations' spending on communications services on a countywide basis • Future proof the communications needs of all organizations connected to the network. Signifcant challenges resulted from commingling of fber assets with the Government Does Not Operate Government Operates Public Policy Only Infrastructure Only Public-Private Partnerships Public Services Provider Open Access Wholesale Retail Provider Business-Only Retail Provider Residential & Business Services Provided None Dark Fiber Only None Dark Fiber, Transport, Internet, Phone Transport Internet & Phone Internet, TV, Phone & Value- Added Services Customers None Broadband Providers None Public Organizations Only Broadband Providers Businesses Businesses & Residents Funding Required Low Moderate Low to High Moderate Moderate High High Competing with Broadband Providers No No No No No Yes Yes Operational Requirements Low Low Low Low Moderate High Very High Regulatory Requirements Low Low Low Low Moderate High Very High Revenue Generation Low Low Low to High Low Moderate High Very High Operational Costs Low Low Low Low Moderate High Very High Financial Risk Low Low Low Low Moderate High Very High Execution Risk Low Low Moderate Low Moderate High Very High Comparison of business models Seminole County in Florida saved millions of dollars for public agencies by building and operating a public services network.