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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42 | BROADBAND COMMUNITIES | www.broadbandcommunities.com | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 SERVICE PROVIDER STRATEGIES aging phone systems with VoIP. Other savings, however, are less obvious. Sandy police ofcers now use high-speed connections to deliver grand jury testimony. What would have taken added fuel costs and extra time to travel to the grand jury location many miles away now takes only an hour at the local police station. Having reliable, afordable, high-speed Internet gives people greater opportunities to work from home. Tis has even changed the real estate market in Sandy. Kyle Ball, principal broker for Mal & Seitz Real Estate, explains: "Being in real estate, I encounter a lot of people who have very specifc Internet needs – people who do work from home, primarily. And in the outskirts of Sandy, where Internet is not as available, that's a big concern for a lot of people. And some people even choose to live closer to town because of it." Residential speeds are symmetrical, with two tiers available – 100 Mbps for $39.95 and 1 Gbps for $59.95, with no caps or contracts. Phone services can be bundled with Internet access, but digital TV packages are still being negotiated. Incumbent providers have shown little reaction to SandyNet's citywide fber program. Frontier and Wave Broadband have been ofering DSL and cable respectively in Sandy for many years, but they have done little to improve their services. Instead, they have lowered their promotional rates, which has done little to dampen enthusiasm for the new fber network. But now, Sandy residents have options. For many businesses, the fast speeds and responsive customer service of SandyNet are essential. Te car dealership Suburban Chevrolet depended on SandyNet even before fber was available. For selling parts, looking up customer information or upgrading vehicle software, the dealership needs Internet connectivity. When the city deployed the original wireless network, it partnered with the dealership to gain access to its roof. According to service manager Ron King, SandyNet and the dealership have maintained a good partnership: "Quite honestly, that was a win-win for everybody. It worked well for us, and it was good for the city, and then we were able to transition into the fber optics. … I know we are close with the people at SandyNet, I know they bring their vehicles in here for service, so it's good to have those close relationships. It's not something you'd get from your local Qwest, or your local Comcast. Tat's not something you see, typically." More businesses will soon experience the same level of service and reliability the car dealership has long enjoyed. Sandy is using an urban renewal district (often called a tax increment fnancing, or TIF, district) to add a business fber loop to the almost-completed network. Until recently, individual businesses paid to connect to the fber network because utilities in the downtown area were underground, and each new fber path required signifcant construction. However, businesses that take advantage of the network expansion during this window enabled by some $650,000 in funds from the urban renewal district will have no connection fee and will be able to take advantage of the new business rates from SandyNet. Te city will use the urban renewal district funds to connect businesses and ofer commercial services at prices seen nowhere else in the country: $39.95 for 100 Mbps and $59.95 for 1 Gbps – the same as residential pricing. Te usual $350 installation fee will be waived for businesses previously connected to the wireless network. If a business wants a dedicated line, pricing will still be on a case-by-case basis. SandyNet is succeeding in its goal of ofering ultra- high speeds at very afordable prices for both homes and businesses. v Christopher Mitchell is director of community broadband networks at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), a nonproft that supports environmentally sound and equitable community development. Hannah Trostle is a writer for MuniNetworks.org, a publication of ILSR. Quotations in the article are from interviews conducted for the recently released video about SandyNet by ILSR and Next Century Cities. Watch the video at http://muninetworks.org/content/gig-city-sandy- home-60-gig.