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/90470
strongly in facilities-based competition and appear to be threatened by market- based services competition that open- access networks enable." Open-access networks rely on service providers for revenue – without them, the networks are not sustainable. OFL president and CEO Lance Douglas believes market size is also an issue. "Large incumbents don't feel this community – or any of the other rural communities, for that matter – is big enough for them to bother with," he says. Te institute eventually shifted strategy and built the fiber network it- self while partnering with an operating company that would light the fiber. Te institute hoped to develop a wholesale services business using the open-access infrastructure, and it created OFL as a for-profit company to develop a more lu- crative set of retail services. Unfortunately, conflicts related to managing the wholesale and retail ser- vices resulted in a mutual decision to part ways with the partner. Te institute and OFL continued alone. In the mean- time, OFL received valuable informa- tion about market needs from Calix, the fiber access vendor it ultimately selected, and this helped clarify key questions about how to move forward. Te institute debated using a home- run, active Ethernet solution in lieu of GPON, which many telecom compa- nies favor, in part because it is less ex- pensive to build out. Dobson explains, "With active Eth- ernet, you can deliver 1 Gbps symmetri- cal speed to each home because you have one strand per home running from the central office that's not shared. However, because they're not shared, you need more fiber and electronics for the net- work overall, and this increases the costs. GPON allows us to run just one shared cable from the central office that is then split into as many as 64 strands." As a compromise, Olds built a hybrid archi- tecture that has a GPON structure with only a 1:16 split as well as several indi- vidual active Ethernet strands of fiber for customers who want dedicated service. THE VALUE OF SELF-RELIANCE Olds came to fully understand the value of self-reliance in owning and man- Central-office equipment (above) and outdoor-plant construction (below) for the Olds municipal fiber network 70 | BROADBAND COMMUNITIES | www.broadbandcommunities.com | OCTOBER 2012 Network planners debated the merits of GPON and active Ethernet and decided to use a combination of the two approaches. aging its network, a lesson that could serve other communities well. Own- ing its network enables a town to make business decisions that are in the best interests of its community. By having a well-managed, community-owned enterprise, a town such as Olds could retain the millions of dollars that other- wise were leaving the community every year for voice, Internet and TV services.