Fiber Broadband Your Community: What Can Do For

bandwidth • reliability • economic development • future-proofing
sustainability • affordability • symmetry • standards-based • security
What
Fiber broadband
Can do For Your
CommunitY
12th Edition • Fall 2016
A Fiber-To-The-Home Primer
from the Editors of
Contents
Reliability… Security…
Bandwidth… Economic Development…
Affordability… Sustainability…
Future-Proofing… New Broadband Content & Services…
Symmetry… Higher Revenue…
3 WHY FIBER? 18 SMART CITIES, SMART FARMS

The world’s communications systems run on optical fiber. It Fiber transforms municipal services and agriculture.
can easily support current and future broadband needs.
19 BROADBAND, PROPERTY VALUES
6 FIBER AND BANDWIDTH AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
A guide to what’s filling up all those internet pipes and why Fiber boosts property values and economic growth.
fiber has the capacity to carry it.
20 FTTH FOR COMMUNITIES
7 FIBER: THE LIGHT FANTASTIC Municipalities can build their own networks or work with
Fiber is strong, resilient and impervious to lightning. providers to do so.
9 IS IT REALLY FIBER TO THE HOME? 22 COMMUNITY SUCCESS STORIES

Not all “fiber networks” are FTTH! Fiber communities retain growing businesses, attract new
companies or play host to tech startups.
11 TELEHEALTH AND FTTH
Broadband-enabled health care reduces costs and allows 24 BUILDERS, REAL ESTATE DEVELOPERS
the chronically ill to live more independently. AND FTTH
Questions real estate developers ask about fiber
12 WHY WE’LL ALWAYS NEED MORE
BANDWIDTH 26 PROPERTY DEVELOPERS WIN WITH FIBER
Bandwidth growth and innovation go hand in hand. New Fiber can make multifamily buildings more competitive.
devices and applications appear every day.
28 FOR MORE INFORMATION:

14 GIGABIT (AND MORE) TO THE HOME DIGGING DEEPER
Symmetrical gigabit service is becoming the standard. Resources for learning more about fiber to the home
16 VITAL FOR EDUCATION

Students need fiber connections in school and at home.
This primer was originally written by Steven S. Ross and has been updated by him and Masha Zager. It summarizes research commissioned by the FTTH Council
Americas and BroadBand Communities as well as independent reporting by BroadBand Communities staff. In addition, the case study of Charles City County is based on
a BroadBand Communities article authored by Andrew M. Cohill and and Matt Rowe, and the case study of Sandy, Oregon, is based on a BroadBand Communities article
authored by Christopher Mitchell and Hannah Trostle.
2 | What Fiber Broadband Can Do For Your Community | BROADBAND COMMUNITIES | www.bbcmag.com | FALL 2016
Why Fiber?
WELCOME TO THE BROADBAND AGE
This is the age of fiber optics.
T
he information and cellular) networks, private business The only debates involve the speed of
communications revolution networks and even data center networks. the transition.
is being brought to you by Without fiber optic cable, none of The reason for this striking degree
glass – long, thin, pure strands these systems would be cost-effective. of unanimity is simple: FTTH offers far
called optical fibers. So much data zips Most would not work at all. more bandwidth, reliability, flexibility
around the world today in commerce, The final step is to build fiber and security and a longer economic
education, entertainment and personal optic cables all the way to homes and life than alternative technologies, even
communication that copper wires and businesses and replace the old copper though its price is comparable. On
radio waves could carry only a tiny networks entirely. Worldwide, network average, it is slightly more expensive
fraction of it. Because fiber optic cable operators agree that only fiber to to build, but it is far less expensive to
has so much capacity, it has for decades the home, or FTTH, can meet the operate and maintain than copper.
formed the backbone of the internet, exploding demand for bandwidth Consumers who subscribe to
cable TV networks, telephone (including and deliver next-generation services. FTTH rate it as the fastest, most
One of the new services enabled by fiber networks is telemedicine, which can improve the health care available in smaller communities.
FALL 2016 | www.bbcmag.com | BROADBAND COMMUNITIES | What Fiber Broadband Can Do For Your Community | 3
Why Fiber?
that accepts credit and debit cards is
< 1% > 98%

probably using cloud services.
In the United States, more than
one in four households have fiber
of any cellular phone connections available. That’s less than of cellular calls
the average for the rest of the developed
call actually travels world. U.S. broadband providers have
are carried at least
through the air. finally begun to catch up. The target is partially on fiber.
moving, however. China alone has more
than 100 million FTTH subscribers
and more than 700 million homes,
many in rural areas, passed by fiber.
reliable broadband technology. They for nearly a decade and are now
appreciate that fiber networks can WHO IS BUILDING deploying gigabit FTTH services in
deliver broadband services for medicine, FTTH NETWORKS IN multiple U.S. cities. Frontier inherited
education, home-based businesses, THE UNITED STATES? more than 1 million FTTH customers
home automation, video and games. Most of the FTTH connections in from Verizon.
For economic efficiency and for the United States come from large The large franchise cable
redundancy, critical business systems telephone companies. Verizon, which companies have also experimented
now operate at huge data centers – in started offering services on its Fios with fiber to the home, especially
the “cloud” – rather than on local network in 2005, was the first major in new communities. Their pace
computers. The speed, reliability and company to deploy fiber to the home quickened in 2015. As the demand
security of fiber connections make and now accounts for a third of FTTH for gigabit services grows, they have
cloud services viable for consumers and connections. AT&T and CenturyLink begun to build FTTH on a larger scale.
small businesses as well. Any business have built FTTH in new communities However, that doesn’t tell the whole
At the Noblis Center for Applied High Performance Computing, Danville, Virginia’s fiber network enables always-on videoconferencing.
story, because more than 1,000 entities
30 BILLION
(listed at www.fiberville.com on the
BroadBand Communities website) are
providing FTTH services in the United
States today, and most are small. Nearly The number of networked devices worldwide,
all were in the telecommunications
business to begin with – they are by 2020.
independent telephone companies,
franchised and private cable companies,
local internet service providers, wireless
ISPs and cellular providers.
wire for the rest of the trip. Fast cellular services, home security, home education
In addition, new companies have and medical monitoring services all
connections require fiber connections at
formed specifically to build fiber optic cell sites. Today, copper and millimeter- benefit from fiber’s high reliability.
infrastructure in underserved areas. wave, point-to-point wireless networks In general, access to utilities
Other nontraditional providers include can help bring broadband to especially makes private property more valuable,
cooperative electric utilities, property difficult-to-serve neighborhoods, and FTTH is among the utilities that
developers, technology companies and making fiber-rich networks even easier owners and renters especially value.
partnerships between municipalities to justify economically. They are Fiber connections make homes easier
and such private entities. It makes sense designed so that the non-fiber sections to sell and to rent – in fact, according
for these forward-looking organizations can be replaced with fiber over time. to recent surveys of residents by RVA
to build FTTH networks. But the copper and wireless “last LLC and actual real estate prices by the
Most property developers can miles” to customer premises still have FTTH Council, buyers of houses and
enhance the value of their real estate inherently limited capacity. Tweaking condominiums are willing to pay a 3
by putting fiber into new properties or more bandwidth from them becomes percent premium for a fiber-connected
upgrading existing properties. Some increasingly difficult and expensive as home, and renters are willing to pay an
small electric companies built fiber time goes on. This isn’t true of optical 8 percent premium. Fiber-passed homes
optic networks to manage their own fiber, whose capacity is effectively also sell and rent faster, on average.
facilities and can extend these networks unlimited. Renters and buyers both know
to provide broadband to their business The technologies for transmitting that with fiber, they can get the most
and residential customers as well. data over fiber are well understood, attractive services available on the
Local governments are attracted and the upgrade path for the electronic market today – and that if an exciting
to FTTH because it positions their components that send and receive new service is introduced in a few years,
communities for tomorrow’s jobs and signals has been defined for years into they’ll be prepared for that as well. In
economic growth. In 2010, when the future. If anything, increasing fiber addition, working from home – either
Google announced that it planned to bandwidth will become less expensive as a telecommuting employee or a
build fiber networks, more than 1,100 rather than more expensive. home-based entrepreneur – is far easier
local governments proposed their with FTTH than with other types
communities as suitable locations. More THE PAYOFF of broadband connections. In fact,
than 200 communities are served by FTTH providers enjoy much greater entrepreneurs are a third more likely to
municipally owned or public-private revenue than traditional broadband start a home-based business if they have
fiber networks. There are also about providers. FTTH subscribers today often FTTH than if they have cable or DSL.
a dozen FTTH networks built by spend 30 to 40 percent more per month That’s an extra $40 billion a year added
Native American tribal authorities. than DSL or cable subscribers – not to the U.S. economy.
Some community networks serve only because basic services are more expensive FTTH communities have an
businesses; most serve households as well. (they aren’t) but because more and better advantage in attracting everything from
premium services are available. advanced manufacturing to contact
FTTH IS THE ONLY For example, high-definition video centers to data centers. They can nurture
UNLIMITED BROADBAND communications are challenging to the tech startups and home-based
TECHNOLOGY implement well over any medium but businesses that will provide tomorrow’s
Cable providers have historically used fiber. Taking pay-TV services on the jobs. They can provide better education
fiber to get close to homes and then road (true TV Everywhere) requires and health care for residents, deliver
used coaxial cable for the last 100 to high upstream bandwidth at home. government services more efficiently and
2,000 feet. Many phone companies also On average, FTTH offers three times engage citizens in government.
bring fiber to within a few thousand the upstream bandwidth of its closest In these pages you’ll see…
feet of homes and use existing copper competitor. Home energy management the advantages of fiber to the home. v
Fiber and Bandwidth
Q: What is bandwidth? And, by the way, industrial settings for telepresence – requires between 50
what’s a gigabit? Mbps and 300 Mbps. 4K video, which has four times
A: In a network, bandwidth (what engineers call bitrate) is the pixels of today’s best-quality HDTV broadcasts,
the ability to carry information. The more bandwidth requires 16 to 32 Mbps even with the best compression
a network has, the more bits of information it can technology, depending on how fast the screen action is
carry in a given amount of time. (Each “bit” is a 0 or a and how much of the screen is taken up by fast-moving
1 – the smallest unit of information.) Networks with objects. Virtual-reality (VR) video is now readily
high bandwidth tend to be more reliable because fewer available for movies, games and even news reports. VR
bottlenecks disturb the flow of information and because adds visual information to each frame, making possible
the information flows through the network in less time,
multiple alternative views, and thus can vastly increase
reducing the chance a disturbance will happen during
file sizes and bandwidth requirements. Consumers
the trip. These days, many fiber networks are being
can easily create VR clips with “360-degree” cameras
designed to provide a gigabit (one billion bits) per second
to users who need it. In fact, some 2 gigabit per second that cost $300 or less and view them on phone screens
(2 Gbps) and 10 Gbps systems have been deployed. In a attached to simple headpieces – one style, from Google, is
1 Gbps network, a two-hour video can be downloaded in made of cardboard.
as little as 16 seconds, and the images will be perfect.
Q: What about other kinds of data?
Q: How much bandwidth – or information delivered A: Bandwidth requirements for many kinds of data are
by bandwidth – do we need? exploding. For example, think about uploading photos to
A: The amount of bandwidth we need grows every year. a cloud storage facility such as iCloud. Digital cameras
Worldwide internet traffic roughly doubles every two create larger and larger images; 30 megabytes is not
years and has increased even faster
lately because of smartphone use.
The biggest growth has been for
video – traditional pay TV, over- DSL Bandwidth Declines with Distance
the-top or internet-based video,
and video communications. By the from Fiber Node
end of 2013, network equipment 600
vendor Cisco noted that traffic
500 VDSL2
had reached levels not expected
until 2020 – seven years ahead of VDSL2, Vectoring
400
schedule. Traffic has continued to
G.fast, Vectoring
increase since then.
Mbps
300
Video requires not only
extra bandwidth but also extra
200
reliability. The smallest delay
in data transmission can result
100
in distorted views. People are
watching video on more screens at
0
once. In addition, video formats 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
are becoming more bandwidth- Feet from Fiber Node
intensive. HDTV can require 8
megabits per second (Mbps) or The bandwidth of a DSL signal declines with distance from the fiber node. VDSL2+, the most
even more for fast action, such as advanced form of DSL in general use, can deliver about 30 Mbps download speed at 3,000 feet,
in sporting events, with MPEG-4 depending on the quality of the copper. Vectoring and bonding (combining the VDSL signals
among multiple copper wires) can increase the speed. G.fast, a new technology, can reach 500
compression technology. So-called Mbps for 100 feet when copper is high quality, dropping to 325 Mbps download speed and 325
3D immersive HDTV – already Mbps upload at 150 feet. VDSL has very poor upload speeds (typically a fifth of download speed),
used in some academic and but G.fast achieves symmetrical speeds by adding a sophisticated transmitter at the customer end.
Fiber:
uncommon. Amateur HD video
cameras create about 10 gigabytes
per hour of video – the equivalent
The Light
of 300 of those 30 MB still images.
Voice-activated searches on Siri,
Google Search and Cortana take more
bandwidth than text searches, and they
require near-perfect transmission to
be decoded by supercomputers at data
centers (no, Siri doesn’t live on your
phone). As voice search becomes the
Fantastic
norm, upstream bandwidth is being
saturated quickly. Fiber optic cable is made up of hair-thin (or thinner) strands of glass that
In health care, the medical carry information by transmitting pulses of light, which are usually created
images produced by equipment by lasers. The pulses are turned on and off very, very quickly. A single fiber
such as CT scanners are easily a can carry multiple streams of information at the same time over different
hundred times larger than camera wavelengths, or colors, of light. Fiber has many advantages over copper wire
images. A 2D mammogram image is or coaxial cable.
about 20 megabytes; the newer 3D
1
mammograms top 500 MB. Business Great for rural areas. Signals travel long distances inside fiber cable
and science have both entered the era without degradation – 35 miles or more in some real-world networks
of big-data applications that collect and 65 miles or more in the laboratory.
and analyze data on massive scales.
2
Today’s big-data applications range Easy to deploy. Fiber cable is thin and flexible. An individual fiber
from consumer pricing models to DNA can be thinner than a human hair. Thin fibers can be packaged in a
sequencing to particle physics to control cable or a narrow ribbon or inside a hollow plastic microduct less than
of electrical grids. Big data doesn’t work 1/8 inch in diameter. Fiber cable can be hidden easily on the surfaces of walls
without big bandwidth. A single DNA in old buildings. There are even hair-thin fiber products that can be attached
sequencer produces enough data to to walls with adhesive and painted over.
3
monopolize a 3 Gbps connection.
Future proof. Once installed, fiber is upgraded by changing the
Q: Can’t copper carry high electronics that create and receive the light pulses, not by replacing the
bandwidth? cable itself.
4
A: Copper’s capacity is far less than fiber’s.
It can support high bandwidth for Rugged and weatherproof. Fiber cable has a longer life than copper
only a few hundred yards. The longer because it does not corrode, is not easily affected by water and generates
a signal travels on copper, the lower no heat. Lightning doesn’t damage it. Nothing hurts it except a physical
the bandwidth. That’s true for even cut or the destruction of the building it is in.
5
the newest copper-based technologies, Low cost and high environmental benefit. Fiber networks cost less
such as G.fast and vectored/bonded to operate than copper. The most common FTTH network technology,
VDSL. G.fast starts out with more GPON, uses no electronics – and therefore no power – between
bandwidth over very short distances, the provider’s central office and the customer premises, which minimizes
but older technologies such as DSL operating costs. Even optical networks that require electronics in the field use
catch up within 1,000 feet. G.fast has far less power than copper networks do. Glass is easily made from sand, an
an important role: Inside multiple- abundant resource.
dwelling-unit buildings that have
6
existing good copper wiring, G.fast can Reliable. Fiber is far more reliable than copper. Surveys by market
meet today’s bandwidth needs. researcher Michael Render of RVA LLC show that a typical DSL
Optical fiber is unique in that modem has to be reset by a user about once a week. For fiber, it is once
it can carry high-bandwidth signals a month or less. This is critical for telemedicine and for distance learning,
over enormous distances. Fiber uses but it is also important for businesses. We have all sought to pay for an item
laser light to carry signals. Under some by credit card only to find that the card reader is not working. This is usually
circumstances, a signal can travel because the DSL or cable modem connection has been lost. A few lost sales
60 kilometers (36 miles) without per month can cost a retailer more than the monthly fee for the connection!
Fiber and Bandwidth
35-PLUS MILES 300 FEET

is the distance a gigabit signal is the distance a gigabit signal
can travel over fiber. can travel over copper.
degrading enough to keep it from being received. The Providers severely limit wireless data, encouraging
international minimum standard is 20 kilometers (12 or forcing customers to use Wi-Fi connections instead of
miles). Fiber also is far better able to support upstream cellular networks for data. Those Wi-Fi connections, in
bandwidth – that is, from a user to the network. turn, work best when they can quickly offload data to a
fiber network. A typical cellular data plan allows 3 to 5
Q: What’s the difference between upstream and gigabytes per month. Use your phone to view video, and
downstream bandwidth, and why is it important? you quickly run over the limit. Over a gigabit fiber line, 5
A: In the debate about FTTH versus copper-based gigabytes would take just 40 to 50 seconds to download!
broadband, people tend to argue in terms of downstream So a typical phone’s monthly data limit is 1 minute of
bandwidth because most users have needed more peak usage on an FTTH connection.
downstream bandwidth than upstream – especially On the other hand, point-to-point wireless links,
for bringing video entertainment into their homes. typically using millimeter-wave antennas, can be very
But emerging consumer uses such as voice-activated useful to extend a fiber network to serve a specific
search and dictation, home video uploads, cloud neighborhood or building. (There’s a slight penalty in
storage, distance learning, video communication and reliability, however.) That kind of wireless is not cellular.
telemedicine may require as much upstream bandwidth Each user gets much of the total bandwidth potential of
as downstream. Small businesses, often home-based, the transmission link, as long as the wireless link can be
often need upstream bandwidth as well – consider a connected easily to fiber. Increasing the user density in
wedding photographer sending proofs by email to clients. a point-to-point wireless system makes the links shorter
Businesses now often copy all their working data files and thus more reliable. This is exactly the opposite of
upstream to a remote computer center for safekeeping. cellular, where higher densities mean that more people
Q: What about cellular wireless? I hear 4G wireless must share each cell site. Once bandwidth needs require
can provide 54 Mbps. In Singapore, there’s a an upgrade to fiber, the wireless link can often remain in
wireless carrier boasting 300 Mbps! place as a backup.
A: That’s the potential bandwidth shared by all users
Q: What exactly makes fiber “future proof”?
connected to a cellular antenna. A wireless user might get
A: The equipment used to send light signals over optical
high speeds for a moment or two if no one else is around,
fiber keeps getting better. So equipping an existing fiber
but average wireless speeds, even for 4G, are similar to
network with new software and electronics, and with
those for DSL. Wireless broadband depends on fiber to
lasers that pulse light faster, or lasers that use different
move information to and from cell towers. Even so, each
wavelengths of light, can vastly increase available
antenna can support only a finite number of cellular
bandwidth without changing the fiber itself. New
signals. Cellular data traffic grew 4,000-fold from 2005
electronics are very cheap compared with the original
to 2015 and will grow another eightfold by 2020.
cost of laying the fiber. At the customer end, the system
can be designed so that customers themselves can simply
pull an old unit out and plug a new one in. Therefore,
once fiber has been deployed, network operators can keep
2X
increasing bandwidth as needed at very little cost.
Q: How long has fiber optic technology been in use?

Growth in global business A: Fiber optic cable is the foundation of the world’s
telecommunications system. It has been used for almost
broadband traffic by 2020. 40 years to carry communications traffic from city to
city and from country to country. Almost every country
Is It Really Fiber
To the Home?
W
hen service providers continues over another access medium, fiber is brought very close to a home –
advertise “fiber rich,” such as copper or wireless, to subscribers. sometimes right outside, or even in the
“fiber deep” and “fiber basement of an apartment building –
optic” networks, how do SOME “FIBER” and the fiber termination unit (a
you know whether you’re really getting NETWORKS ARE NOT GPON ONT) is integrated with a
fiber to the home? In 2006, the FTTH FIBER TO THE HOME DSL modem in a small enclosure (the
Councils for Europe, Asia and North Other network architectures, such as distribution point). Signals are carried
America standardized the definitions FTTN, FTTC, FTTdp and HFC, do using one of the newer variants of DSL
for fiber to the home and fiber to not fit the FTTH Councils’ definitions. – VDSL2 or G.fast – to anywhere from
the building (also called fiber to the Their capacity depends on how far users one to 16 subscribers. Distribution
basement). They are as follows: are from nodes and on the number of points generally take their electric
users on each node.
power from the customer premises.
FIBER TO THE HOME (FTTH) A
FIBER TO THE NODE OR FIBER TO
fiber optic communications path that HYBRID FIBER-COAX (HFC) This
extends from an operator’s switching THE NEIGHBORHOOD (FTTN) In
architecture is used mainly by cable
an FTTN network, fiber is extended
equipment to at least the boundary TV companies and is also common
to a street cabinet or an on-pole
of a home living space or business in community broadband networks
cabinet an average of 1,000 to 5,000
office space. The definition excludes built before 2004. In a typical HFC
feet from users. From there, copper,
architectures in which the optical fiber system, fiber runs to a node in each
or occasionally wireless, serves users,
terminates before reaching either a neighborhood, and coaxial cable
typically through a variant of DSL.
home living space or business office running from the node serves between
space, with the access path continuing FIBER TO THE CURB OR FIBER 100 and 500 users. However, just
over a physical medium other than TO THE CABINET (FTTC) FTTC is because a cable company is still called
optical fiber. Also called fiber to the similar to FTTN except that the fiber a cable company doesn’t mean it can’t
premises (FTTP). is brought closer to user premises – use fiber to the home! Cable companies
typically closer than 1,000 feet and are increasingly deploying all-fiber
FIBER TO THE BUILDING (FTTB) A often closer than 300 feet. Service networks for new construction, using
fiber optic communications path that continues over copper (rarely wireless), any of several methods to integrate
extends from an operator’s switching using a DSL variant or Ethernet. G.fast, their FTTH and HFC networks.
equipment to at least the boundary a new copper-based DSL technology,
of a private property that encloses may be employed, usually when the gap HYBRID FIBER-WIRELESS (HFW)
homes or businesses. The optical fiber between the user and where the fiber Extending millimeter-wave wireless
terminates in the basement or, in larger ends is less than 300 feet. from a fiber node to a building is an
buildings, in a closet on each floor, but emerging technology, similar to but in
not in home living spaces or business FIBER TO THE DISTRIBUTION some cases less expensive than hybrid
office spaces. The access path then POINT (FTTdp) In this architecture, fiber-coax.
has some fiber optic cable, delivering services reliably and A: Don’t be fooled! It is true that most cable and FTTN
inexpensively. The first time fiber delivered a signal directly (DSL) networks use fiber. In these networks, the fiber
to a home (in Hunter’s Creek, Florida) was 30 years ago. carries the signal close enough to homes so that copper
can carry it the rest of the way. However, this approach
Q: All providers seem to claim they have fiber or requires expensive, difficult-to-maintain electronics at
“fiber-rich” networks. What’s different about fiber the point where fiber meets copper. These electronic
to the home? devices use a great deal of power and are quite sensitive
Fiber and Bandwidth
periods of heavy use, such as when teenagers come
Callout goes54%
home from school. Copper networks are also subject to
here. Callout goes speed degradation when the condition of the wiring is
poor. Fiber has enough bandwidth and reliability that
here. Callout
of U.S. carriersgoes here.toCallout
are likely offer providers can guarantee high speeds with little or no
oversubscription. If a fiber network is designed properly,
gigabit
goes service
here. by 2019.
Callout goes here. users will always get the speeds that are advertised – or
better. Data published by the FCC in June 2014 showed
that, on average, fiber-to-the-home services delivered 113
percent of their advertised speeds.
to lightning strikes. Even the cost of bringing electric Q: My cable company says it can deliver fiber all the
power to them can be huge, depending on where they way to my home. Is this possible?
are located. The available bandwidth is far less than in an A: Yes, using any of several methods, including a new
all-fiber network. And most of these halfway approaches technology called DOCSIS 3.1, which can work well
do not allow symmetrical bandwidth – cable and DSL with fiber. However, DOCSIS (whether 3.1 or earlier
systems generally can’t upload information as fast as they versions) limits upstream bandwidth – and in some
can download it. cases, downstream bandwidth, too – even if there is fiber
Q: Isn’t a network with some fiber good enough? all the way to the home. At the same time, some cable
A: It may be fine to send emails, download songs or share companies are beginning to install true fiber to the home,
family photos. If you want to log on to the corporate LAN replacing DOCSIS with standards, such as GPON,
from home and work effectively or run a home-based EPON or active Ethernet, that allow symmetrical gigabit
business, you’ll need more. If multiple people in your services. It’s confusing – and that’s why consumers need
household use the internet at the same time, you’ll need to find out exactly what a cable company is offering.
more. And what about uploading a high-def video of your
Q: Is FTTH technology expensive?
child’s football game or sitting down to dinner virtually
A: In new construction, fiber costs about the same as
with family members a thousand miles away?
copper to build. (At the time of writing, copper is
Q: Why does it matter how close to the home more expensive to buy, as copper prices rose sharply in
fiber comes? fall 2016; copper is also too valuable as scrap to leave
A: With copper cable, bandwidth drops precipitously with unguarded on a construction site). Fiber costs much less
distance. Vectored DSL allows 50 Mbps downstream than copper to operate and maintain. Fiber to the home
for as far as 1,800 feet under ideal conditions, though it is expensive only when compared with not building a
won’t work on very old copper wiring, it limits upstream new network – that is, with making minor tweaks to an
bandwidth and it requires expensive electronics. However, existing copper network. However, these less-expensive
it is touted as an interim solution. A new technology, solutions won’t meet users’ needs in the near future, even
G.fast, under ideal conditions and with vectoring if they work now.
(crosstalk cancellation between individual copper strands) Some providers that do not upgrade to FTTH shut
and bonding (simultaneous use of more than one pair off or slow down service or impose prohibitive fees for
of copper wires), can provide 750 Mbps symmetrical customers who exceed monthly data caps. Customers
bandwidth up to 300 feet from a fiber node – at least don’t like these restrictions, and they don’t appreciate
in the lab. G.fast is an excellent solution for retrofitting being called “bandwidth hogs” for using services they
apartment buildings with fiber to the basement (as long as have paid for. It’s not clear that providers save money by
those buildings already have good internal copper wiring), failing to meet users’ needs because limiting bandwidth
but it requires bringing fiber very close to customer means limiting revenue potential as well. v
premises and is still limited in comparison with true fiber
to the home.
Q: With cable and DSL, there’s often a gap
90%
between advertised and actual bandwidth.
Is that true for fiber?
A: No. Cable, DSL and wireless networks are often heavily
oversubscribed – that is, providers promise users more of seniors who own condos
than the total amount of available bandwidth because
they know not all users are going full throttle most demand fast internet.
of the time. As a result, networks slow down during
Telehealth and FTTH
F
iber has long been the has invested more than $20 nursing home care, are able to
technology of choice for million in telehealth. Its virtual live safely in the community with
in-hospital networks and for emergency room, JeffConnect, supportive services and reside in
the consultations between connects patients with doctors 24 a PACE service area. In the LIFE
local clinics and off-site specialists that hours a day to deliver care and program, remote monitoring
improve the standard of health care consultation by videoconferencing helps substitute a $125 per month
outside major metropolitan areas. through phone, tablet or computer. technology cost per person for
Today, telehealth is even making • The Centerstone Research $225-plus per day (usually more) in
its way into homes and offices. Reliable, Institute, a nationwide behavioral nursing home costs. By employing
high-speed internet connections, health provider headquartered remote monitoring over broadband,
combined with secure videoconferencing in Nashville, runs a telehealth NewCourtland’s pilot project
systems and networked health- program, Coaction Health, for enabled 33 residents to move safely
monitoring devices, allow patients to health care “superutilizers.” from traditional nursing home care
receive health care services from home Coaction Health provides to less restrictive environments,
or from the workplace. broadband connections and realizing an annual savings of more
Until recently, regulatory and intensive broadband-based than $1.8 million.
insurance restrictions limited the monitoring for clients whose • A U.S. Department of Veterans
opportunities for such home-based multiple physical and mental Affairs review of its home telehealth
telehealth. But use is now expanding, health problems make them very program found a 25 percent
in part because reliable fiber broadband expensive to treat. Clinicians reduction in the average number of
is more available and in part because conduct daily assessments of each days hospitalized and a 19 percent
of new products aimed at the young client, and sensors in clients’ reduction in hospitalizations for
and the well-off. Currently, 32 states homes alert clinicians to the patients using home telehealth.
and the District of Columbia require need for additional interventions Fiber providers, whose networks
that private insurers cover telehealth (for example, if a client has not rarely suffer outages, have a huge
the same way they cover in-person gotten out of bed). By reducing advantage in supporting programs
services. Medicare covers some costs in unnecessary hospital visits and by like these.
areas (especially rural) that don’t have getting clients to the hospital in The future of telehealth looks
easy access to caregivers, and Medicaid a timely fashion when they are in even better as even active young adults
coverage is available in 48 states plus need of care, the program greatly get used to monitoring their waking
the District of Columbia. reduces the costs of their care. and sleeping hours with sensors on
• NewCourtland, a senior services smart watches tethered to home Wi-Fi.
HOME-BASED CARE
provider in Philadelphia, has Large computing firms, most notably
Following are some examples of how
operated its LIFE telehealth IBM with its Watson supercomputer
telehealth is being used:
program, modeled on the technology, are rolling out services
• The Cleveland Clinic, one of Medicare/Medicaid Program of to monitor and interpret such data
the leading U.S. health care All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly automatically for physicians who
providers, now operates a (PACE) initiative, since 2007. care for those with chronic medical
nationwide virtual urgent-care PACE serves individuals age 55 problems. Apple and other marketers of
clinic called Express Care Online. or older who are certified to need “fitness” watches aim to do the same. v
A patient can call in from any
smartphone, tablet or computer
and have a secure video call with
a clinician, with or without an
1 IN 9
appointment. In most patients’
states, the clinician can provide a
prescription if appropriate.
• Thomas Jefferson University and U.S. households subscribe to FTTH.
Health System in Philadelphia
Why We’ll Always
Need More Bandwidth
I
n a century of telephone cloud. Phones and computers magically where their files are located or their
communications, the bandwidth respond to voice commands, aided by programs are running – that’s what
on voice channels changed very internet connections to supercomputers. makes it a cloud. All they need is fast,
little. But for the past 25 years. Who had even heard of the reliable internet access.
internet bandwidth needs have grown “cloud” a few years ago? Today, Families stay in touch via social
exponentially. Cisco Systems estimates consumers and businesses store data, media and video calls – Facebook,
that global internet traffic in 2020 will run programs and access computing Skype and Twitter have become
be equivalent to 95 times the volume power in the cloud. Most new household words. Businesses use video
of the entire global internet in 2005. computers, tablets and smartphones communication whose quality is good
In 1992, global internet networks come with a free cloud service, above enough to bring the illusion of “being
carried approximately 100 gigabytes of and beyond what Apple (iCloud) and there” to teleconferencing. It’s called
traffic per day. Ten years later, in 2002, Microsoft (OneDrive) provide free. It is telepresence. High-definition video
global Internet traffic amounted to 100 little wonder that about 1 billion people communication has even reached
gigabytes per second. In 2015, global have access to the cloud now. The the home market; telecommuting
Internet traffic reached more than default storage location setting in the workers can send telepresence robots
20,000 gigabytes per second! Globally, most recent version of Microsoft Office in their offices to sit in for them at
annual internet traffic will reach 21 is OneDrive, not your own PC. Most meetings while they participate via
gigabytes per capita by 2020, up from 6 users no longer know or care exactly their home TVs.
gigabytes per capita in 2014. By 2020,
the gigabyte equivalent of all movies
ever made will cross the global internet
every 2 minutes. Monthly worldwide IP
traffic will reach 25 gigabytes per capita
by 2020, up from 10 gigabytes per
capita in 2015.
On the internet, bandwidth drives
innovation, and innovation drives
bandwidth demand.
Sure, increased bandwidth lets
us send email faster, but bandwidth’s
real value is that it lets us do entirely
new things. In the past decade,
internet video evolved from a novelty
to the standard way of accessing news,
information and entertainment.
New internet-connected devices
emerged – always-on smartphones and
tablets that keep us connected with
the world full-time, smart TVs (and
TV-connected devices such as Roku
boxes and Chromecasts), home security
devices and thermostats that broadcast
alerts and video images to our phones,
smart watches and fitness trackers that
save our workout information in the Virtual reality will create massive new bandwidth demand.
Today, people visit doctors from
home or work, saving trips to the On the internet, bandwidth drives innovation,
doctor’s office or emergency room if they
don’t need to be seen in person. (Home and innovation drives bandwidth demand.
telehealth is a great way to reduce
hospital readmissions.) A BroadBand
Communities editor recently their employers would be less likely to great for upstream bandwidth as
participated in a video conference let them work from home without fast, for downstream.)
between a relative, her in-home physical reliable fiber broadband. There appears • Seamless audio control and
therapist and cardiologists at two to be a pent-up demand for working voice recognition capability for
different hospitals. The therapist used a from home at least part-time – in a all digital devices – the devices
mobile app to live-stream the physical recent survey of federal employees, get their smarts from remote
therapy session. 93 percent said they valued the option computing centers.
Taking classes from home or to telecommute. • E-jamming and rehearsal
dormitory has become routine for There is every reason to believe applications for musicians and
many. MOOCs, or massive open online that innovation will continue, that music teachers, requiring perfect
courses, give anyone and everyone a bandwidth needs will keep on growing synching of multiple remote audio
taste of what the country’s leading – and that only fiber to the home, streams.
universities have to offer. The most with its superior reliability and vastly • Remote operation of complex
popular MOOC platform, Coursera, superior upstream capacity, will be able equipment, such as medical
boasts about 20 million users enrolled to keep delivering the goods. robots, electron microscopes,
in almost 2,000 courses from 29 Here are a few new applications radio telescopes and even nuclear
countries and 149 institutions – and emerging today: power plants.
Coursera accounts for less than half of • Virtual reality and ultra high- • Interactive classes in which
such online activity. definition video with four times students not only watch their
Telecommuting and home-based the pixels of conventional HD, professors but also participate in
businesses are on the rise, too. A quarter creating massive bandwidth real-time, video-based discussions.
of all owners of home-based businesses requirements. (With the new home • Videos and games created in
say they could not operate without fiber video cameras that can shoot in 4K virtual-reality formats, including
to the home, and telecommuters say HD format, the demand will be as 3D virtual reality. v
196 NO. 1
FIBER The amenity most desired in multifamily
buildings is fast internet.
STRANDS
each thinner than
a human hair, in a
bundle not much
thicker than a
pencil, can carry
all the world’s 1 IN 4
internet traffic. U.S. households have access to FTTH.
Gigabit (And More)
To the Home
A
gigabit (1 Gbps, or 1,000 end of 2016, large companies such as 1 Gbps subscribers are heavy internet
Mbps) is about 100 times AT&T, CenturyLink and Cox had users. They are online an average of
higher than the average begun offering gigabit FTTH service eight hours per day, compared with
downstream internet speed in selected locations, and Comcast the overall average of 2.5 hours, and
in the United States and many times offers 2 Gbps FTTH service in some they have many networked devices.
higher than the average upstream locations. So at least some residents in Some may be streaming movies
internet speed. However, it will soon 500 communities or more have gigabit and chatting on Facebook while
be the standard for both downstream access today. participating in multiple online games
and upstream bandwidth. Only fiber to The first residential 10 Gbps through multiple consoles.
the home (or fiber to the building with deployment was announced in late In addition, many are content
excellent inside wiring) can support 2014 by US Internet, an ISP in creators. Superfast connectivity also
symmetrical gigabit speeds consistently Minnesota. Several others followed appeals to work-at-home professionals
to multiple users. during 2015, including EPB Fiber who need low latency and rapid file
Google Fiber made “gigabit” a Optics, Fibrant (the municipal utility in transfers. BroadBand Communities’
household word, but it was hardly Salisbury, North Carolina) and Rocket interviews with gigabit users suggest
the first to offer these speeds. Many Fiber, a new ISP in Detroit. Residential that these speeds are especially useful
providers now offer gigabit – or 10 Gbps service is still well beyond the for telecommuters who need to work
even 10 gig – speeds to businesses. “affordable” range, but some customers without interruption while other
Among residential providers, EPB have already adopted it for home-based household members watch videos or
Fiber Optics (the municipally owned business use. engage in other recreational uses.
network in Chattanooga, Tennessee)
was the first to offer 1 Gbps access WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH A NEW APPLICATIONS
throughout a large service area. Other GIG (OR 10 GIG)? Soon, gigabit speeds will enable entirely
network operators, both public and A survey by Telecom Thinktank and new applications. US Ignite, a nonprofit
private, quickly followed suit. By the RVA LLC found (not surprisingly) that coalition of industry, academic and
government partners, is promoting
the development of new applications
in health care, education, workforce
Chattanooga STEM students access USC researchers, 4K microscopic development, energy, advanced
images and knowledge from 1,800 miles away. manufacturing and public safety, and
many of these – such as applications
for managing smart cities and smart
electric grids – are now reaching the
stage of commercialization.
Cities across the United States
are holding “hackathons” – events in
which software developers collaborate
intensively over a weekend or other
short period – to encourage the
development of high-bandwidth
applications.
In just a few years, gigabit
applications may revolutionize the
delivery of government services, health
services, education and more. v
Aha! CUSTOMIZED
Courses at Your Site
On Fiber-to-the-Home Financing and Operations
Education is our mission at Broadband Communities, HOW IT

and now we are offering a new way to carry it
out – a service focused on fiber-to-the-home. Our WORKS.
editors and experts will visit your community or We customize our on-site
courses to suit your needs.
organization to help you learn about …
INNOVATIVE PATHWAYS toward paying for the network you need. WHO CAN
NEW OPPORTUNITIES for public-private partnerships.
NEW WAYS to phase and bootstrap a project with current cash flow …
BENEFIT?
Everyone interested in
sweat equity … and savings on a municipality’s existing communications or already building a
costs. broadband network.
VENDOR FINANCING that is often available in the form of delayed
payments … just-in-time inventories … and equipment leasing.
THE NEED.
Courses can include use of any or all of our unique tools: Our custom courses are a
convenient, low-cost way to
• MSO, ILEC or Muni Financial Calculator
bring people up to speed
• MDU/PCO Calculator on the latest technologies,
• Rural Calculator what they cost, and what
• Monthly Revenue Calculator they can provide.
• 18-Month Operations Cash Flow Calculator
Take the first step toward
your community’s fiber
future … BBC experts can
Our sessions will give you such important information as:
customize a program that
• How FTTH has MUCH higher revenue potential than copper
• How you can get to positive cash flow as fast as possible will meet your needs. And
it’s surprisingly affordable
Let us come to your site for daylong or two-day – as little as $2000 plus
intensive lessons. expenses.
We’ll start with whatever tools you need, and teach you how to use
them. We’ll also talk about what has worked, what hasn’t, and where Barbara DeGarmo, CEO
projects similar to yours have succeeded or gone bad. Our classes Broadband Communities
include custom exercises drawn from your situation, to give you Magazine
hands-on experience in both the spreadsheet math and the thought 281-342-9655
processes involved. You’ll get beyond some old misleading rules of classes@bbcmag.com
thumb and gain a solid understanding of how FTTH is different. www.bbcmag.com
Vital For Education
C
an communities afford not lessons as videos on YouTube or similar and courses that are available in other
to assure high-capacity sites and students study the lessons at districts but not in theirs. Preschoolers
broadband for their students? home. In school, students solve problems at the Little School in Clarkesville,
U.S. communities and private based on the previous night’s lesson and Georgia, recently watched a puppet
schools spend $700 billion a year get individual help from teachers. show staged 80 miles away – too far
educating 55 million K–12 students. Yet One big issue that is taking longer for a “field trip” – as it was streamed
these students rank 35th in math, 23rd to solve: ensuring that all students have into their classroom. When it was over,
in reading, 27th in science and 16th in access to broadband after they leave the they participated in a live Q&A with
technological readiness compared with the puppeteer.
school building for home. Fortunately,
students in other developed nations. “This is just one example of how
marketing surveys show that families
High-speed broadband is one key to our technology is giving children
closing the gap – and getting a better with K–12 children at home are more
likely than any other demographic to amazing learning opportunities,”
return on taxpayer investment. said Michael Foor, VP of marketing
Today’s fiber-connected schools buy broadband services. Still, not all
homes have broadband available, and at NGN. “We are constantly on the
demonstrate how broadband enhances
not all parents can afford broadband lookout for new and exciting ways
students’ educational opportunities.
connections. for students to benefit, and we’re very
Though most schools now have internet
excited for the future of this technology.”
access, adequate school broadband is Here are a few of the many
still a work in progress. But over the districts that have solved the problem. OWSLEY COUNTY,
next few years, fiber-connected schools KENTUCKY
should become more common, thanks NORTH GEORGIA NETWORK
For the Owsley County School District
to the federal government’s ConnectED North Georgia Network Cooperative
in eastern Kentucky, the mission
initiative. (NGN), a regional fiber provider,
is “to create an innovative learning
School districts with superior supplies dedicated gigabit internet
environment that breaks down all
broadband capabilities use “flipped connectivity to area schools. High
barriers to student learning and
classrooms,” in which teachers record schoolers connect to labs, teachers
prepares all students for college, career
and the 21st-century world.”
It’s a big goal for one of the poorest
counties in the nation: Median family
Photo courtesy of the San Mateo Daily Journal.
income is less than $20,000 in the

small rural school district, 41 percent
of adults lack high school diplomas and
nearly 90 percent of the 740 students
qualify for free or reduced-price meals.
But Owsley is rich in broadband.
Almost all students have gigabit-
certified fiber internet access, both at
school and at home, thanks to People’s
Rural Telephone Cooperative (PRTC),
the district’s local telephone company.
Superintendent Dr. Tim Bobrowski
said that PRTC has donated service in
some cases and that the district tries to
help students with surplus equipment if
they don’t have home computers.
Students take courses online
that are not available locally, and
sophomores, juniors and seniors are
Middle-schoolers in San Carlos, California, take a virtual field trip to a museum in Denver. offered dual-credit courses at several
increase student engagement and boost
100 GB
academic performance. Students can
learn at home on their own or at school,
using high-speed internet connections,
Global internet traffic per day in 1992. and be rewarded by their teachers in
collaborative settings.
Forsyth lets students use their
individual internet-capable tablets,
laptops, netbooks and cellphones
20,000 GB to work in classrooms. (Other
schools around the country have
Global Internet traffic per second in 2015. substituted standard equipment –
iPads, Chromebooks and so forth
– vastly cutting their maintenance
costs and creating new learning
environments.) In Forsyth schools,
local colleges. In May 2014, Owsley The district keeps finding new ways students participating in the NOBLE
High graduated its first student to take advantage of the community’s Virtual World project interact in a
receiving both a high school diploma robust fiber infrastructure. Two of digitally created world where they can
and an associate of arts degree. its school buses are now equipped create anything they imagine. Students
One of Owsley’s most innovative with Wi-Fi. develop creativity, data analysis and
ideas is virtual snow days. Each winter, The latest new program? problem-solving skills by working in
students missed nearly a month of school Telemedicine. Equipment provided teams and creating plans and solutions.
when snow and ice made traveling to by a county health department grant Forsyth County Schools reduced its
school too dangerous. Now kids log connects the school nurse with a local textbook costs by about 85 percent using
in to Blackboard Learn, the district’s health care provider, who can virtually
interactive online content, including
learning management system, and tackle examine a patient and then call in
streaming video, simulations and other
the day’s work from home. Blackboard a prescription or refer the child to a
digital resources that, unlike physical
allows teachers to upload lessons and specialist. Staff members have access to
textbooks, are kept always up to date.
supplemental materials for students to the service as well.
Administrative offices also benefit from
access anywhere, electronically.
FORSYTH COUNTY, fast, efficient data transmission as well as
“Instead of just learning from the
GEORGIA from file sharing and document storage
book, it gives you a lot of additional
Since 2012, the Forsyth County school via the district’s central server.
material,” said one Owsley High
district just outside Atlanta has used “Bandwidth is the key. The only
student, who says she accesses the site
a business Ethernet connection from way to have access to all that digital
frequently to supplement her Spanish
Comcast to support streaming video, content is to connect the technology
classwork.
Thanks to programs such as interactive whiteboards, mobile devices and infrastructure in support of it,”
MasteryConnect, which monitors and digital content for its 40,000 K–12 says Bailey Mitchell, chief technology
student performance and spots students in 35 schools. The system and information officer for Forsyth
remediation needs, teachers can deliver provides learning plans based on County Schools. “My view is that every
individualized lessons. Both teachers and individual students’ needs, preferences time you increase the speed of the
administrators monitor the coursework and performance. It takes into account network, you are enabling incredible
to ensure that the virtual day parallels learning interests and learning style to educational opportunities.” v
the learning that would have taken place
on a regular instruction day.
Owsley’s teachers don’t get snow
days off, either. “I send [students]
Facebook messages, email them, text
and call,” reports one math teacher. 2 MILLION
Notices and requirements for each snow Robotic surgeries could be performed each
day also go out on Twitter and Infinite
Campus Messenger. With students year in the U.S. with reliable broadband.
messaging back, it’s a two-way street.
SMART CITIES,
SMART FARMS
F
iber networks benefit all types the safety of its public housing when it sensors to measure the city’s air quality
of communities. In particular, installed a high-performance, fiber- in real time. In another experiment,
the emerging “Internet of based physical security solution. The sensors were installed to measure traffic
Things” offers applications that high quality of the camera images, on two routes. “We can start to tap into
are transforming both cities and rural which enabled the housing authority to the Internet of Things’ full potential –
areas. Internet of Things applications aid in prosecutions of crimes, was made opening up a world in which
collect vast quantities of real-time possible by having enough bandwidth to everything is connected,” says Bart
data from sensors or other devices and transport and store the camera footage. De Wever, mayor of Antwerp. “When
transmit it to centralized computers Using a fiber network, the the bpost vehicles cross those traffic
for analysis, and sometimes take action Housing Authority also linked its routes, we can examine the relationship
based on the results. Sensors are often emergency operations center to the between traffic and air quality. And
connected wirelessly, especially if they Police Department and the Office of that’s just the beginning. We want
are attached to movable objects – but Emergency Management, allowing all to connect a lot of sensors so we can
real-time collection and upload of large three entities to share camera footage efficiently gather loads of intelligent
data sets depends on dense, reliable and databases. information about what is going on in
fiber networks. In the Belgian city of Antwerp – Antwerp. That is information we can
In cities, fiber connections are one of the first cities in Europe to then use to make living in Antwerp an
revolutionizing the delivery of services. invest in fiber infrastructure – the even more enjoyable experience.”
One common application is IP cameras Antwerp City of Things includes tens
for protection of lives and property. of thousands of sensors and connected RURAL APPLICATIONS
Security cameras are used both by local devices built on the city’s underlying The Internet of Things is just as
governments and property owners. For broadband infrastructure. In one important in the most remote areas.
example, the Newark (New Jersey) project, cars from the Belgian postal Energy companies monitor wind
Housing Authority greatly increased office, bpost, were equipped with turbines, check the status of oil
wells and tanks and monitor power-
generation equipment.
Farmers use fiber-enabled solutions
to prevent expensive equipment and
Newark’s fiber-enabled emergency operations
center keeps the city functioning in an emergency.
livestock from leaving the perimeters of
their properties. By placing sensors on
grain bins, they can receive alerts if any
grain is missing. Sensors in barns or
chicken coops monitor temperature and
humidity and close curtains or turn on
fans and water pumps if animals are
likely to be in distress.
Most important, broadband
allows farmers to practice “precision
agriculture.” Sensors in the field or on
tractors can measure soil conditions,
enabling farmers to apply exactly the
right amount of fertilizer, water and
other inputs to each square foot of
farmland. This reduces costs and avoids
harmful pollution and runoff. v
Broadband, Property Values
And Economic Growth
R
ecent studies continue 2016 Fiber access increases residents’
to show that access to Michael Render of RVA LLC surveyed satisfaction with their homes and
high-quality broadband MDU residents in the U.S. and Canada appears to reduce churn, helping
boosts property values and to find out what they would pay for building owners and operators maintain
contributes to economic vitality. high levels of occupancy and provide
access to ultra-high-speed, reliable
broadband. Respondents were asked to a quality living environment. There
2014 is evidence that residents in MDUs
Fiber to the Home Council Americas consider what discount would have to be
with better broadband also spread the
releases a study finding higher per given on an otherwise equal $300,000
word, reducing customer acquisition
capita GDP in U.S. metropolitan areas condominium purchase or on $1,000 costs for these MDU properties. Using
in which gigabit internet is widely monthly rent for them to live where they base financial data from the National
available. Infrastructure investment, job would not have access to fiber. Render
creation, entrepreneurship, productivity Apartment Association, the study
showed owners would need an average estimates fiber can add 11 percent to net
gains and companies relocating to
discount of $8,628 and renters would income for MDU owners and operators
or expanding in gigabit cities are all
elements of this growth. require an $80 discount per month. per average apartment unit. v
BroadBand Communities’
examination of all 3,144 U.S. counties
shows a clear relationship between
access to robust broadband and
population gain or loss.
2015
FTTH Council Americas finds that
access to fiber to the home increases FREE to those who qualify.
a home’s value by up to 3.1 percent.
Using the National Broadband Map
and a nationwide sample of real estate Broadband Communities
prices from 2011 to 2013, the study’s continues to be the leading source
authors investigated the relationship of information on digital and
between fiber-delivered internet services
broadband technologies for
and housing prices. The boost to the
value of a typical home – $5,437 – is buildings and communities.
roughly equivalent to that added by a
fireplace, half a bathroom or a quarter In every issue, we offer in-depth news,
of a swimming pool. For homes where expert insights, and practical know-how
gigabit-per-second broadband was on all aspects of outfitting properties and
available, transaction prices were more communities with broadband solutions.
than 7 percent higher than comparable Our editorial aims to accelerate the
homes where the highest speed available deployment to Fiber-To-The-Home and
is 25 Mbps or lower. Fiber-To-The-Premises while keeping readers up to date on the available
BroadBand Communities solutions capable of serving their practical needs.
shows that the 20 states that restrict
municipal broadband have lost rural
population at a faster rate than other Subscribe bbcmag.com/subscribe | 877.588.1649
states even though overall population today!
growth in those states is higher.
FTTH for Communities
B
y the end of 2016, the number of public and public- upgrading them to offer gigabit-speed service. However,
private fiber networks in the U.S. reached about the bulk of communities that have FTTH are served
175 – and many of these serve multiple by private carriers, and municipal efforts often focus on
communities. Many communities are expanding attracting private investment rather than on building
the networks they started building in earlier years and are municipally owned networks.
Questions Municipal Officials

Ask About FTTH
Q: How will a fiber network help our local economy? Municipal officials are keenly aware of the
A: Fiber connectivity encourages businesses to stay, potential for using ultra-broadband to promote
helps businesses grow and become more productive, economic development and enhance the quality of
and attracts new businesses, particularly in high-tech life in their communities – and more aware that they
industries. FTTH supports home-based startup businesses need to take proactive roles in getting better broadband
and helps workers telecommute. It makes a community for their communities.
a more attractive place to live – especially for young More municipalities than ever before are exploring
people – which can stem the population loss that many the possibility of building networks. In addition, they are
small communities experience. If inadequate health care looking for new ways to encourage private providers to
resources hamper economic growth, fiber connections build FTTH networks, new partnership arrangements
permit local health care providers to call upon specialists with telecom providers and new ways to leverage such
in regional health centers. And if an unprepared municipal assets as conduit, utility poles and existing fiber.
workforce is a hindrance to business expansion, fiber Q: How can I get fiber to my residents without
connectivity can enable cost-effective distance learning. building my own network? My town has too
FTTH is only one component of an overall economic much debt now to borrow more, and we have no
development strategy – but it’s a vitally important one. experience operating a municipal utility.
A: Lobby the incumbents – the cable and telephone
Q: Will not having a high-quality broadband network
companies that serve your town now. Lobby competitive
hurt my community?
providers or even local businesses that need more
A: Yes. Award-winning research conducted by BroadBand bandwidth and have the capability to undertake such
Communities found that, on average, counties with little a project. Offer such incentives as reduced franchise
or no broadband access had almost no population growth fees, access to public property or an accelerated
in 2014 and 2015. In fact, most such counties have lost permitting process. Consider using tax increment
population since 2010. These years are the first extended financing or helping providers apply for grants.
period in U.S. history during which a majority of rural If you own an institutional fiber ring that connects
counties lost population. municipal buildings, schools and libraries, or if your
Restricting municipalities from building their own traffic lights are connected by fiber, you might propose
broadband networks appears to harm local economies. fiber swaps to a potential provider. Take a fiber inventory
In states that have such restrictions, rural counties are to find out whether there is abandoned or unused fiber
losing population faster even though the states as a in your town that might either revert to the locality or be
whole are growing faster. Overall, lack of broadband donated in exchange for a tax exemption.
is responsible for almost exactly half the rural Educate residents about the value of FTTH, and
population loss in the United States. encourage them to commit to taking fiber services if and
Pulaski Electric System, a municipal electric utility in Pulaski, Tenn., uses its FTTH network to operate a smart electric grid and deliver triple-play services
to residents.
when a provider offers them. Start a community fiber service can thus be considered an application on a fiber
campaign online so you can document the extent of network rather than a separate type of network.
subscriber interest in fiber broadband. Wireless access alone cannot attract new businesses
Alternatively, enter into a partnership to build a fiber to a community or enable businesses to grow. Wireless
network jointly with a private partner. In Europe, such networks that cover wide areas are not reliable enough
partnerships are common, and this approach is gaining to deliver video and other emerging broadband services
traction in the United States. A variety of arrangements with high quality of service. Wi-Fi is highly desirable in
between the public and private parties are used, targeted areas such as commercial shopping streets and
depending on legal requirements and on each party’s common areas, but no one has developed a compelling
assets and capabilities. business case for a municipalitywide Wi-Fi network.
Complete the Google Fiber city checklist (goo.
Q: Don’t all wired broadband networks use fiber?
gl/RYX3hu) to provide information about existing A: They use fiber, but not all the way to the home.
infrastructure, help ensure access to existing Generally, the last 1,000 to 5,000 feet from the fiber’s
infrastructure and help make construction speedy and endpoint to the home is copper – coaxial cable in cable
predictable. Then use that information to issue a request networks, plain copper wire in telephone networks. That
for information, a request for proposals or another formal limits bandwidth, reliability and versatility.
document that outlines your community’s goals for
expanding broadband access and invites service providers Q: How do I know whether my community is
to propose how they might meet those goals. underserved?
A: If you can’t get corporate site selection committees to
Q: Would it be better – and cheaper – to put in a look at vacant commercial properties or if your residents
community wireless network? have trouble selling homes due to their poor internet
A: Wireless services are important public amenities, but connections, your community is underserved.
they are not substitutes or replacements for FTTH. Without a fiber network, your community is
Rather, they complement and extend existing fixed fiber underserved – or it will be very soon. Even with
networks. Many wireless access points and cell sites are upgrades, your non-fiber network won’t be able to handle
already fiber-connected, and most will be soon. Wireless the ever-increasing bandwidth demands placed on it. Be
FTTH for Communities
cost will be much lower if the fiber can simply be blown
1000+
or pulled through ducts.
Q: Is it better for the same company to run the

U.S. companies and others are network and provide services, or should we
consider an open-access network with multiple
deploying FTTH. providers?
A: Both methods have been successful. Open-access
networks, in which public or private network builders
“rent” bandwidth to a potentially unlimited number
of service and content providers, are more common in
sure to consider the needs of the business community Europe and Asia than in the United States. However, they
in addition to those of residents – many economic have succeeded here as well and offer an alternative for
development officials believe that affordable, symmetrical municipalities that either are legally restricted from selling
1 Gbps access is needed to lure new businesses to a town retail services or simply do not want to be in that business.
and eventually to keep existing ones from leaving. Today, however, municipal utilities sometimes prefer
to provide services directly, at least at the outset, for two
Q: The telephone company that operates here is reasons: First, being the service provider gives them more
installing FTTH in the new development just 10 control over the quality of user experience; second, they
miles up the road. Why not here? may have difficulty attracting third-party providers to
A: Installing fiber in new developments is usually easier new networks.
than installing it in existing neighborhoods. The fiber The downside of a closed network is less variety
can go into the same trenches that have to be dug anyway in content and services. Many public broadband
for water, electricity and sewer service. In fact, copper advocates believe that opening networks to innovative
wiring usually can’t be run that way, so fiber is usually service providers is the best way to maximize the
cheaper. Also, the new residents have not yet subscribed networks’ value for their communities. Networks built
to cable or phone service, so whoever installs an FTTH with federal broadband stimulus funds are required to
network in a new community has an easier time signing allow open access.
up customers. That’s why most new, large housing Because both direct service delivery and open access
developments are being equipped with fiber. have advantages, some communities are experimenting
with different ways of combining the two models. v
Q: Would installing fiber require that my streets be
dug up?
A: It depends. Many network builders in North America
use aerial fiber installed on poles along with existing
telephone, electric and cable wiring. Where trenching is
impractical, contractors can often use horizontal drilling
or pull fiber through existing ducts, water pipes, sewers
and gas lines rather than dig up streets and sidewalks.
When there is no good, cost-effective alternative to
trenching, microtrenching techniques allow fiber to be
laid with less disruption to traffic. In microtrenching, a
deep groove is cut quickly into the pavement or road with
a large circular saw on wheels, and fiber is laid into the
groove.
Finally, many cities already have usable fiber under
their streets – fiber that is not being used to its limit or
that has been abandoned altogether.
Q: What can I do to make installing FTTH less

expensive?
A: Start preparing for fiber now by adding underground
ducts whenever you or a utility repair a street or open
it to excavation. You can also adopt an “open trench”
policy that gives telecom providers the opportunity to
install ducts any time a street is opened. When it comes Danville, Virginia’s use of its own utility poles for the nDanville network
time for the city or a private provider to install fiber, the saved the city time and money.
THE FIBER-TO-THE-HOME PRIMER
helps the whole world understand
the benefits of fiber networks
Build
“The Primer is an excellent way to
not only educate people about
the basics of FTTH but also inform
them of its many benefits.”
Community
—Mark Erickson
City Administrator and Economic
Development Director - Winthrop, Minn.
Support
Printed FTTH primers
are helping thousands in Community Besides the primer, mailing
communities get on packets include brochures,
leaders and fiber questionnaires and schedules
the same page about the champions are of public meetings about fiber
benefits of fiber networks. launching
networks.
FTTH marketing campaigns
mailing campaigns use volunteers, both adults
to send FTTH primers and children, to reach every
to every household household and business in a
project area.
and business.
Get more information or place your

request for a bulk shipment of printed
primers for your community at:
www.FTTHPrimer.com
877-588-1649
Community Success Stories
A
lmost every new FTTH name, the county has no cities, and representatives, businesses and regional
community offers a success its population of 7,256 is only 1,668 chambers of commerce, civic groups,
story – young people who more than it was in 1790. Residents churches, and schools. Residents
didn’t leave town or new and businesses have struggled with completed another 200 survey
businesses that arrived. However, poor telephone and internet service for submissions.
economic development doesn’t inevitably years; in 2013, officials resolved to do One of the county’s largest existing
occur as a result of investment in fiber something about it. employers, along with a new business
infrastructure. Bankers have to be sold The businesses in the county’s planning to relocate there, approached
on investing in local businesses. Existing one office park employed more than the county’s economic development
business operators have to learn how 500 residents. As these businesses director to say they were questioning
broadband can help them. Government increasingly competed in regional their future in the county. With close
agencies, local health care providers, and global marketplaces, the need for to 175 total jobs at stake, there was new
educational institutions and builders reliable, affordable telecommunications urgency. The new network, which at
all have to be brought up to “speed” on became more apparent. Company press time had just gone live –
what fiber broadband can do. representatives and the county’s director including several fiber rings, much
The good news: Broadband offers of economic development documented improved broadband connectivity
more “bang for the buck” than any regular internet outages linked to for administrative offices and county
other major infrastructure category – degraded, obsolete infrastructure. schools, and new wireless towers for
and it can be built faster. The bad Several businesses revealed that improved residential, work-from-home
news: Most planners have never studied they were considering relocating and small-business connectivity –
bandwidth issues, and few know how because of it. The economic kept the jobs and attracted a private
important broadband is to fulfilling a development department decided economic development project with an
master plan. to prioritize upgrades based upon anticipated investment of more than
Following are a few of the many economic impact, number of residents $300 million, the largest single private
FTTH success stories BroadBand and businesses served, and costs. The investment in the county’s history.
Communities has reported on. county applied for and received a
planning grant administered by the SANDY, OREGON
CHARLES CITY COUNTY, Virginia Department of Housing and Sandy, a town of 10,000 in the forests
VIRGINIA Community Development. 25 miles east of Portland, built its
Charles City County is a rural area Local officials created an online own gigabit fiber network. In 2001,
between Richmond, Virginia, and survey and solicited more than 130 when the local telephone company
historic Williamsburg. Despite its letters of support from government couldn’t provide a DSL connection to
city hall, city officials began to worry
about broadband availability for local
businesses and residents. Sandy formed
its own utility to provide DSL over
the phone company’s infrastructure
before investing in a wireless system
that would ultimately stretch across and
beyond city limits. After concluding
in 2008 that the wireless network
was unreliable and could not provide
the high-capacity connections that
were already becoming necessary, city
leaders decided to provide broadband to
businesses via municipal fiber. By 2012,
most of the larger companies in the
downtown area had connected to the
Charles City County saved jobs for county residents by deploying a fiber network. network, which sold 100 Mbps service
for an eighth the cost of 10 Mbps from
the previous provider.
One company, AEC, uses internet
access to communicate better with its
facilities and offices around the world.
It serves global companies such as
Lufthansa, Technik, LifePon and Biz.
Jet International.
In 2010, city officials held a
“Why Wait for Google?” contest
that invited residents to demonstrate
demand for fiber to their homes. The
city intended to build an FTTH pilot
project in the neighborhood that had
the highest response rate. But the
LightTUBe Installer Robert Overman assists in a residential installation.
contest demonstrated strong demand
everywhere. After comparing the cost
of the pilot project with the level of
demand, the city decided to build fiber municipal fiber systems, already in its Other smart-grid applications include
everywhere. SandyNet calculated that eighth year of delivering FTTH services. automatic reconfiguration of circuits
the network would need a 35 percent But the city isn’t resting on its laurels; to minimize the effects of outages and
take rate to pay off the bond. Even in 2012, it became the smallest U.S. supervisory control and data acquisition
before finishing the network, SandyNet gigabit city (since that time, even smaller (SCADA) to monitor and control the
achieved a take rate of 60 percent. cities have gone gigabit), and it continues water and wastewater infrastructure.
The network enabled the city to to earn high marks for service quality, Like many municipal broadband
replace its aging phone systems with reliability and customer support. networks, LightTUBe contributes to
VoIP. Other savings, however, were Of the roughly 9,000 premises now the city’s economic vitality. Tullahoma
less obvious. Police use high-speed eligible to receive LightTUBe services, is trying to attract technology, health
connections to deliver grand jury more than 3,500 are subscribers, and retail businesses, and Skelton
testimony. Having reliable, affordable, including an estimated 50 percent notes that the fiber network helped
high-speed internet gives people greater of local businesses. Customers can attract a new call center and enabled
opportunities to work from home. That subscribe to internet, telephone and existing businesses to expand. It also
improved the real estate market. video services. Residential internet attracted new residents who need to
Sandy is using an urban renewal offerings range from 30 Mbps/5 Mbps be able to work from home. “From an
district (often called a tax increment to 1 Gbps symmetrical, and Tullahoma infrastructure perspective, we can be a
financing, or TIF, district) to add Utilities Board (TUB) general manager one-stop shop for companies looking
a business fiber loop to the almost- Brian Skelton says the video service is to move here,” Skelton notes. “We can
completed network. Businesses that “super high quality, with no compression customize speeds based on their needs.
take advantage of the expansion will off the satellite.” To differentiate its They won’t get 100 Mbps symmetrical
have no connection fee. service even further, TUB created two service from twisted-pair or coax.
City Council President Jeremy local TV channels, which broadcast Businesses need to send information
Pietzold, an elected official with a local news, high school sports, school out, not just receive information.”
technical background, has long been plays and community events. About 100 residential customers
a strong supporter. While attending In addition to selling triple-play have now subscribed to the gigabit
the 2015 BroadBand Communities services to residents and businesses, service tier. Even if the market for
Summit, he bumped into an engineer TUB is its own best customer: It uses gigabit service is small, the fact that
from Google Fiber who noted that the fiber network for several smart-grid TUB can offer the service is a matter
Google is watching Sandy. Pietzold was applications. Its automated metering of civic pride, and TUB has generated
surprised enough to clarify, “Sandy, infrastructure (AMI) system reads excitement about it through ads,
Oregon?” Sure enough, Sandy’s success electric and water meters and uses the billboards and community sponsorships.
is attracting attention. fiber backbone to backhaul information “Most people think of LightTUBe as
from the wireless collectors. TUB their utility,” Skelton says. “The fact that
TULLAHOMA, TENNESSEE now bills all its electric customers on a we’re owned by the community means
Tullahoma, with a population of about time-of-use rate, which it “couldn’t do that we think about customer service
19,000, has one of the older, established without AMI,” according to Skelton. differently from our competitors.” v
Builders, Real Estate
Developers and FTTH
M
ost large developers of single-family homes Q: How can I justify increasing my construction cost
and many developers of multiple-dwelling- by adding fiber?
unit (MDU) communities add FTTH to new A: First, don’t assume that fiber is more expensive to install
properties. Many MDU owners are retrofitting than copper – that’s not necessarily the case. Equipment
older properties as well. As early as 2006, FTTH was rooms and ducts can be smaller with fiber, and electricity
economically viable in new developments with as few as has to be supplied only to the point at which fiber enters
80 MDU living units or 100 single-family homes. That the building or an individual unit. Fiber does not conduct
number has continued to fall based on improvements in electricity, so it does not have to be grounded. Labor costs
in most markets tend to be a bit higher for fiber than for
deployment technology.
deploying copper, but even that gap is eroding.
FTTH ADDS VALUE Second, as noted, homes sell for higher prices when
Since the mid-2000s, the market research firm RVA LLC they are wired for high bandwidth and provide access to
fiber. And because FTTH homes sell faster than non-
has surveyed home buyers and developers. Through boom,
FTTH homes in the same market, this may translate into
recession and recovery, surveys found that FTTH adds more a greater profit. This is equally true for rental properties.
than $5,000 to the price of a single-family home. The most Developers of MDU communities say their new
recent survey indicates that fiber access adds between $5,000 buildings lease up faster if they can advertise them as
and $6,000 to the value of a $300,000 home. RVA’s 2014 fiber-connected, especially when many of the new tenants
survey of MDU residents found condo buyers were willing are students or recent college graduates.
to pay a 3 percent premium for an FTTH connection, and
renters would pay an 8 to 15 percent premium for FTTH. Q: Do I need to hire an engineering firm to design
A spring 2015 analysis of median-price single-family home the installation?
A: Fiber does need to be engineered in large apartment
sales by the FTTH Council Americas showed that a fiber
complexes – but that’s true for coax, too, as well as
connection increases housing value by about 3 percent. A
managed Wi-Fi. But smaller installations do not
follow-on survey of higher-priced homes by the council in need that kind of sophistication to work well. Greater
2016 showed the same effect. Fiber equals higher prices. standardization, clever new systems from equipment
Fiber adds value because FTTH subscribers (as shown in vendors, fiber that can be stapled and bent tightly around
many surveys) are more likely to be very satisfied with their corners, distributors’ growing design expertise and an
broadband and video services and much less likely to consider expanding corps of qualified technicians have made less
moving from their current homes. According to RVA’s most formal design regimes feasible and common.
recent survey of MDU residents, good broadband is now the
No. 1 amenity, beating out even in-unit washers and dryers. Q: Do any building codes pertain to fiber?
A: Yes, all the usual fire and life-safety issues apply. For
Similarly, a 2015 survey by the National Multifamily Housing
instance, just as copper with PVC sheathing would be
Council found that high-speed internet was the No. 1 home
considered a life-safety hazard because of the combustion
amenity for apartment renters. products released when it burns, so would various plastics
used in fiber that is meant for outside installation.
Indoors, look for Low Smoke Zero Halogen (LSZH)
cables. If you are using thin plastic microduct, it should be
labeled Halogen-Free Flame Retardant. You use a simple
7X junction box to change from “outside” to “inside” wiring,

just as you might with electrical cables. Unlike electrical
Growth in global video game cables, some fiber can be stripped of its outer sheath with a
simple hand tool and used inside or out without a splice.
traffic by 2020. Of course, you should check with your local
building code inspector. Aside from fire issues, codes
2 MINUTES 25
The time for all the movies Gigabytes of IP traffic per month
ever made to cross the global per capita worldwide by 2020
internet in 2020. (up from 10 GB in 2015).
may govern where fiber optical network terminals network connection running during a power outage, you
(ONTs – the boxes that convert pulses of light from fiber need a battery at the user premises or a fiber cable that
into electrical signals for the computer or TV) may be includes a thin copper conductor connected to an off-site
placed on the outside walls or in common areas. A few battery. This requirement is changing as cellular phones
municipalities specify where network connections should replace landlines – a change that has already taken place
be placed in homes. in most of Europe. In North America, where about
40 percent of all households still have landlines, many
Q: Where should we put users’ network connections, standard designs are available for in-wall, between-stud
assuming no specific building code or guidance
boxes that hold the battery, ONT and fiber connections.
document covers that subject?
A: Expect users to desire broadband connections in virtually Q: Does every dwelling unit or office need its own
any room in the house – bedrooms, office-dens, the ONT located at the unit?
kitchen. That’s because internet connections these days A: No. Separate ONTs for each unit in an MDU building
accommodate telephones, televisions, set-top boxes, can be located centrally, often in a basement or an
thermostats, security sensors, fire and smoke monitors equipment cabinet. There are also ONTs designed to serve
and, of course, computers. As the “Internet of Things” multiple units, typically four or eight. This flexibility is
develops in the next few years, more appliances will be made possible by small, low-power circuitry and by the
internet-enabled. Many manufacturers already provide fact that many ONTs can deliver 1 Gbps or more – often
such connectivity.
enough bandwidth to share among multiple customers.
The newest generation of FTTH gateways (802.11ac
and 802.11ad) can handle close to 4 Gbps wireless Q: Is lightning a problem with fiber?
throughput, and some FTTH deployers now use wireless A: No. Because fiber does not conduct electricity, lightning
connections for all devices except whole-home DVRs. strikes do not directly affect fiber at all. Fiber does not
Creating a wireless home network requires careful have to be grounded.
placement and tuning of equipment, but it is generally
much simpler and less expensive than rewiring homes, Q: Is FTTH a sustainable technology?
which was standard practice until very recently. A: Glass is made from sand – an inexhaustible resource
that uses far less energy and creates far less pollution
Q: In single-family homes, I often see ONT boxes – to manufacture than does extraction of copper from
the fiber terminals – hung on the outside walls.
its ore. FTTH generally consumes less power than
Can they also be placed indoors?
other broadband technologies. Passive optical networks
A: Yes. In harsh climates, where heat or heavy snow could
(GPON and EPON) are especially energy-efficient
affect the outside installation, you will probably want to
because they require little or no active electronics in the
put ONTs indoors. Outdoor ONT models are sometimes
field. FTTH enables more sustainable lifestyles, too. A
placed in unheated garages or utility rooms; you can
2008 study by PricewaterhouseCoopers showed that the
also buy small, portable indoor models that look more
like cable or DSL modems and connect them with greenhouse gas emissions associated with deploying an
tough, flexible fiber that can be laid anywhere. Indoor FTTH network are outweighed within five years by the
ONTs, which are popular with apartment dwellers, are savings from increased telecommuting. Other fiber-
sometimes designed to be user-installed. Most are not enabled applications, such as telehealth, telepresence,
much bigger than a cellphone. distance learning and cloud computing – and, of course,
smart-grid applications and home energy management –
Q: Why do ONTs sometimes require backup batteries? reduce travel, minimize heating and cooling loads or help
A: Optical fiber cannot conduct electricity. Thus, to keep a shift energy consumption to renewable sources. v
Property Developers
Win With Fiber
F
or a collection of detailed Fuller had done many bulk service each building distributes the fiber to an
articles on these and other deals with cable companies, obtaining ONT in each unit.
properties that have deployed bandwidth at one-third the street price Said Andrew Fuller: “The field
fiber to the building or fiber and using cheap and plentiful internet subcontractors … knew mostly electrical
to the unit, see www.bbpmag.com/ access as a marketing tool. By the time and standard copper communications
property/Property_Land.php. There Park Square was being designed, bulk cabling, but installing an optical fiber
you will find details of the technologies wasn’t such a good deal. It would have network was something many had never
used at more than 40 properties in all cost 80 percent of market price. been involved with before. Surprisingly,
property sectors and in all regions of the Instead, Fuller decided to bring with the help of a local network cabling
U.S. Here are three recent examples. fiber to the 224-unit, mid-rise property, expert, they discovered that it was really
build a traditional copper Ethernet pretty straightforward.”
$25 GIGABIT WOWS LAN and provide internet services The total cost was about $100,000,
RESIDENTS directly – an approach he had used once or a bit more than $400 per unit.
Park Square at Seven Oaks in before. But the 14-acre Park Square site Fuller Apartment Homes saved up
Bakersfield, California, is an upscale needed cable lengths that far exceeded to $150,000 by building the network
apartment community whose developer the limits of Ethernet over copper. itself. But the true ROI, says Fuller,
built its own fiber-to-the-unit network. The solution: a full FTTH came from halving network power
Now every resident receives gigabit network. Installing the GPON fiber consumption and reducing the space
internet service for an unbeatable $25 LAN cost considerably less than needed for telecom closets and from the
monthly price – an attractive amenity Fuller would have paid a service longer usable life of fiber.
for high-tech professionals. provider, and the costs of operation,
Bakersfield, halfway between maintenance and future expansion FIBER TO THE UNIT IN DEER
Los Angeles and Fresno, is home to are also lower. Consultants helped RIDGE APARTMENTS
high-tech hipsters and oil executives. raise the contractors’ comfort with Jamestown (aka “The Buffalo City”)
Telecommuting is popular there, in the technology. is a thriving city in North Dakota
part because it reduces employers’ Network operations and technical with a diverse economic base – the
needs for high-priced office space. For kind of place people want to move to.
support are outsourced to a local service
telecommuters, the basic prerequisites IRET Properties, a midwestern real
provider. Fuller Apartment Homes has
are a strong cellphone signal and a estate investment trust, had already
a commercial contract with a national
built rental properties there, but rental
broadband connection – preferably a carrier for bandwidth to the property.
vacancy rates were still below 2 percent.
gigabit. Andrew Fuller, president of The carrier’s fiber terminates in the
As Steven Paul, IRET’s regional
Fuller Apartment Homes, knew he Park Square clubhouse. Fiber is run
manager, says, “This showed the need
needed first-class broadband to appeal directly to each of the 16 buildings,
for quality housing in that market,”
to his target audience. and a fiber patch panel on the side of
so IRET decided to build another
multifamily property.
Deer Ridge Apartments, which
opened in fall 2015 with 163 units
“In the future, apartment properties might be in three buildings, is now the largest
apartment community in Jamestown.
branded or labeled in terms of their internet It’s targeted to a broad range of middle-
to upper-income residents – anyone
access as much as their curb appeal. If owners from University of Jamestown students
to empty nesters – and offers such
don’t plan for that, they’ll miss an opportunity.” amenities as a heated underground
garage, a game room and a fitness
center. “The entire project is the
amenities,” Paul says. “That’s what has
differentiated us.”
Once the plans for Deer Ridge
Apartments got underway, the
opportunity for a new type of amenity
presented itself. Jamestown is a CLEC
community for Dakota Central Telecom
(DCT), a telephone cooperative based
in Carrington, North Dakota, about
40 miles from Jamestown. Over the last San Travesia
few years, DCT has upgraded all its
facilities, both in its home territory and
its CLEC territory, and it is now 100
percent fiber-based. young professionals who aren’t ready to
its financial and health care institutions,
Because DCT’s service area is buy their first houses.
and the cities of Phoenix and Tempe.
mostly rural, MDU buildings are One thing Mark-Taylor expected
“It’s a phenomenal location,” says
relatively rare. DCT does serve another discerning residents to want was good
John Carlson, vice president of the
Jamestown MDU with fiber, but that internet access. Fortunately, the property
residential division of Mark-Taylor,
building has copper cabling from was being planned at about the same
one of Arizona’s largest apartment
the comm room to the individual time as Cox Communications’ 1 Gbps
developers. So phenomenal, in fact,
apartments. As Deer Ridge was new service, branded as Gigablast. When
that Mark-Taylor chose it as the site of
construction, DCT saw it as a great Cox approached the developer about
a Next Generation community – the
opportunity to try out some new installing the new technology at San
designation it gives its newer assets,
fiber-to-the-home technology that Travesia – based on fiber to the unit and
whose living units, Carlson says, are
it hadn’t had a chance to use before, wireless 802.11ac gateways – Carlson
“more like modern, custom homes”
such as indoor riser-rated microduct jumped at the chance. “Our strategy is
than like apartments.
and 3mm pushable/pullable fiber, as long-term hold,” he explains. “We’re not
Assembling the 29-acre site was a
well as managed Wi-Fi. IRET saw a looking to exit. We wanted to be armed
complex undertaking – Mark-Taylor
great new amenity for its residents – an with the right technology to take care of
had to redevelop several parcels,
amenity that no other service provider our residents on a going-forward basis.”
including the dilapidated mall – and
in Jamestown was offering. The choice appears to have been
took several years. It was worth the
And the residents? After some a good one. When the property first
effort, Carlson says: “We felt this
initial puzzlement about where to plug opened, leasing agents had to explain
was the ideal product for an urban
in their computers, “they’re excited to prospective residents what a gigabit
about it,” Paul says. environment like south Scottsdale.
was; today, residents tell their friends
An opportunity with this much
about the gigabit service, and the
SAN TRAVESIA: space is quite rare. We leveraged the friends call the leasing office to ask
POSITIONING FOR LONG- expansiveness by building the Valley’s when they can move in. The property
TERM COMPETITIVENESS largest rental units. … We believe is 9 percent ahead of its rent projection
Things are percolating in the McDowell residents appreciate that apartments – which, given that Mark-Taylor prides
corridor, a formerly rundown, 8-square- don’t have to be compact just because itself on accurate projections, is “very
mile portion of southern Scottsdale, they’re in urban locations.” significant,” Carlson says.
Arizona. Ever since the mall that San Travesia (named after the The company’s next three
anchored the area closed, the city has Spanish word for “crossroads,” not for developments will all be Gigablast
promoted revitalization there; today, an actual saint) opened in January 2015, communities. “There’s no going
private capital is pouring in, and new complete with “everything a discerning backward at this point,” Carlson says.
jobs are opening up. The McDowell apartment resident expects, and more.” “The take-home is that, as you move
corridor has great potential because The property is already nearly half into the future, apartment properties
it’s close to everything – the Phoenix leased; the average resident age is 32, and might be branded or labeled in terms
beltways, the Sky Harbor Airport, the average household income is above of their internet access as much as their
Arizona State University, the quaint Old $100,000. Residents include both empty curb appeal. If owners don’t plan for
Town (Scottsdale’s downtown area) with nesters moving out of their houses and that, they’ll miss an opportunity.” v
For More Information -
Digging Deeper
I
nterested in fiber to the home? association whose mission is to networks that link national interstate
Start with a visit to www. accelerate deployment of all-fiber communications trunks with local
bbcmag.com. BroadBand access networks by demonstrating how broadband providers). It is now helping
Communities publishes a print fiber-enabled applications and solutions to coordinate multiple federal agencies
and online magazine seven times per create value for network operators and as they rewrite regulations to encourage
year, publishes breaking news online their customers, promote economic broadband network construction.
every day, and holds two conferences development and enhance quality of The Federal Communications
per year. Its mission is building a
life. It holds quarterly meetings and Commission regulates broadband
fiber-connected world. BroadBand
monthly webinars and offers other providers and oversees the Universal
Communities’ database at www.
information for fiber deployers. See Service Fund, which supports
fiberville.com shows all FTTH
deployments in the United States. especially its Community Toolkit broadband in high-cost areas. View
BroadBand Communities’ (toolkit.ftthcouncil.org) for resources proposed regulations and submit
investor feasibility models and for municipalities. The toolkit guides comments on them at www.fcc.gov.
monthly cash flow models for FTTH you through the process of getting The Agriculture Department’s
are available free at www.bbcmag. started, organizing your community, Rural Utilities Service (www.
com/FTTHAnalyzer. The models are creating a business case and building rd.usda.gov/about-rd/agencies/
designed to be adapted to your specific a network. rural-utilitiesservice) helps
situation – whether you are in an urban fund infrastructure, including
or a rural district, whether you are a LEGAL AND FEDERAL telecommunications infrastructure,
community leader, a service provider or The law firm of Baller Stokes & in rural communities and on Native
a property owner. Lide (www.baller.com) offers links to American reservations. The application
Hundreds of network providers many groups working on broadband process is now online. To apply for
use these models, but they are a special issues and to discussions of laws and Telecom Infrastructure and Telecom
boon to municipalities and small regulations covering FTTH. Its open Farm Bill grant and loan funding,
telephone, cable and electric companies resource library is at www.baller.com/ visit www.rd.usda.gov/programs-
as they start to investigate the feasibility category/community-broadband. services/rd-apply.
of fiber in their localities. With the The Commerce Department’s
models, you can do preliminary studies National Telecommunications and ORGANIZATIONS AND
for little or no cost and then decide Information Administration (NTIA, ACTIVISTS
whether to take the next step of hiring www.ntia.doc.gov/category/broadband) The National Association of
a consultant.
helped fund more than $3 billion worth Telecommunications Officers and
Most users of these models
of middle-mile fiber networks (the Advisors (NATOA, www.natoa.org)
get rough cost data from nearby
communities or companies that have
already deployed fiber. Find them on
the magazine’s fiberville.com database.
61X 64X
Planning a network in two or more
very different sections? Run the model
on separate spreadsheets for each
section’s expected costs, revenues, and Growth in global Growth of global
completion schedule. Then combine the
results on a summary sheet.
virtual reality traffic internet traffic from
The FTTH Council Americas by 2020. 2005 to 2019
(www.ftthcouncil.org) is a nonprofit
communities worldwide can do with popularly known as “Shelby” or
200+
broadband. In 2015, it expanded its SHLB (www.shlb.org), promotes
brief to help communities evaluate the broadband for anchor institutions
broadband networks that make these and their communities.
U.S. localities offer services possible. The University Community
The Institute for Local Self-
FTTH to residents Reliance is a nonprofit research
Next Generation Innovation Project
(Gig.U, www.gig-u.org) is a coalition
or businesses. and educational organization that of 30-plus leading research universities
provides technical assistance and across the United States that seeks to
information on environmentally sound accelerate the deployment of ultra-high-
economic development strategies. It speed networks to universities and their
is a great source of information about surrounding communities. Its website
supports the communications interests community broadband networks, and
of local governments. It helps clarify offers many resources for aspiring
its broadband advice, blog and podcasts gigabit communities.
local, state and federal communications (www.ilsr.org/initiatives/broadband,
laws, administrative rulings, judicial KC Digital Drive (www.
www.muninetworks.org) have helped
decisions and technology issues. It kcdigitaldrive.org) is the organization
many communities.
analyzes and addresses emerging issues formed to ensure that Kansas City–area
The Coalition for Local Internet
in areas such as local government communities would take full advantage
Choice (CLIC, www.localnetchoice.
communications and internet policy; of the gigabit network deployed there
org) represents private and public
broadband planning best practices; by Google Fiber. It shares its findings
interests that support the authority
cable franchising; wireless zoning; with other communities around the
of local communities to make their
new technology initiatives and United States.
own broadband choices – including
advancements; and operation of public, NTCA – The Rural Broadband
construction of their own networks.
education and government (PEG) Association (www.ntca.org) represents
Next Century Cities (www.
access channels. small and rural telecommunications
nextcenturycities.org) had 154 member
Members include consultants carriers, of which a substantial portion
cities at the end of 2016. Its members
for and employees of state or local have deployed some fiber to the home.
are committed to helping other cities
governments and agencies. Industry It sponsors a Smart Rural Community
realize the full power of high-speed,
representatives, students, government program and a Certified Gig-Capable
or access center employees can join as affordable, accessible broadband. It
is politically neutral and does not Provider program.
nonvoting associates.
advocate exclusively for municipal-run The Multifamily Broadband
The Rural Telecommunications
Congress (www.ruraltelecon.org) networks. Member communities have Council (www.mfbroadband.org)
is a national nonprofit organization pursued a variety of paths to better advocates for independent broadband
for government, university, industry broadband, including private and operators and service providers
and private citizens committed to public-private networks. that serve multifamily housing
addressing crucial broadband issues in The Schools, Health & communities, fostering knowledge and
rural areas. Libraries Broadband Coalition, networking among its members. v
The Blandin Foundation (www.
blandinfoundation.org) aims to
help rural Minnesota communities
thrive, but its information on FTTH,
including case studies, is relevant to any
would-be deployer. The foundation has 2X 66%
partnered with nearly 70 Minnesota Growth in peak- Percent of data
communities and 110 organizations
across the state. hour internet traffic traffic worldwide
What makes a smart community?
The Intelligent Community Forum is twice as fast as from mobile and
(www.intelligentcommunity.org) growth in daylong Wi-Fi in 2020, up
has an annual “smart community”
competition and publishes numerous traffic. from 48% now.
reports and studies showing what
The FTTH Council is here to serve you.
Grow your Business
Become a Fiber Community
Know the Latest Technology
Network and Access Customers
fibernfire
Join our 300+ membership of

network operators, manufacturers,
consultants, municipalities and
others interested in promoting the
benefits of all-fiber networks.
For more information and to join, visit www.ftthcouncil.org

Fiber Broadband Your Community: What Can Do For

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Fiber Broadband Your Community: What Can Do For

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bandwidth • reliability • economic development • future-proofing

sustainability • affordability • symmetry • standards-based • security

3 WHY FIBER? 18 SMART CITIES, SMART FARMS

9 IS IT REALLY FIBER TO THE HOME? 22 COMMUNITY SUCCESS STORIES

28 FOR MORE INFORMATION:

16 VITAL FOR EDUCATION

that accepts credit and debit cards is

< 1% > 98%

35-PLUS MILES 300 FEET

Q: How long has fiber optic technology been in use?

periods of heavy use, such as when teenagers come

Q: With cable and DSL, there’s often a gap

Education is our mission at Broadband Communities, HOW IT

income is less than $20,000 in the

Questions Municipal Officials

cost will be much lower if the fiber can simply be blown

Q: Is it better for the same company to run the

Q: What can I do to make installing FTTH less

Get more information or place your

7X junction box to change from “outside” to “inside” wiring,

Join our 300+ membership of

For more information and to join, visit www.ftthcouncil.org

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