| |
Community Broadband Networking
CTC is a national communications consulting firm that specializes in public broadband initiatives—our expertise ranges from feasibility analysis to business plan development to network design to network deployment to RFP development and negotiations with private sector providers.
Technical Models: CTC has provided consulting services on both fiber and wireless public broadband projects to communities throughout the United States, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Tucson, and the State of Michigan, as well as numerous smaller communities. CTC recommends evaluation of a full range of technologies to meet public needs—including fiber, WiFi, WiMax, microwave, and other technologies.
Business Models: CTC has extensive experience with a wide range of US public broadband business models—ranging from public facilitation of private investment to government ownership to hybrid models (partial government ownership). CTC maintains close contacts with local and regional governments in Europe and is deeply familiar with emerging broadband business models in Europe, where municipal fiber deployment leads the US.
Community Broadband Drivers: CTC has experience evaluating and modeling a wide range of benefits from community broadband initiatives, ranging from economic development to digital inclusion to education to environmental protection. We have analyzed these factors with respect to both US and European community broadband networks.
CTC is independent of communications carriers and equipment manufacturers—it is thus able to give unbiased, community-focused advice and recommendations.
The following is a small sampling of representative projects. Further information is available upon request.
San Francisco , CA
CTC conducting a financial and technical feasibility study of the potential to build and operate a communications system to deliver services to all homes and businesses in the City and County of San Francisco . This study will include the analysis of using one or more of a variety of fiber-optics-based technologies including Fiber to the Premises (FTTP).
A San Francisco fiber network has the potential to be cutting-edge in every way with respect to technology, application, business plan, and deployment strategy. This project has the potential to provide state-of-the-art telecommunications services to citizens and simultaneously enhance the status of San Francisco as a business and thought-leader for the world.
Warren County, PA
Warren County has selected CTC to develop an infrastructure blueprint and strategy with the objective of encouraging the expansion and enhancement of cellular telephone and broadband connectivity services in the County.
The purpose of the strategy to be developed is not for Warren County or another public entity to become a retail communications service provider rather, the purpose is for the County and its partners to facilitate a reduction or removal of barriers to market entry for new and enhanced connectivity services.
North Suburban Communications Commission (NSCC), MN
CTC has been selected by this 10 city intergovernmental agency to perform a comprehensive review and develop a long-term strategic plan both wireline and wireless -- for the Commission's Institutional Networks (I-Nets). CTC will also develop a wireless strategy for NSCC.
CTC will work with NSCC to develop a strategic plan for regional networking among the members of the Commission. The NSCC operates a mixture of I-Net fiber and coaxial cable, as well as some leased circuits. The purpose of the strategic plan will be to plan and design a network to meet the existing and emerging technical requirements of the NSCC members and their agencies and departments, and to provide a blueprint for future network development and construction.
Rockville, MD
CTC assisted the City of Rockville to develop an infrastructure plan to support implementation of WiFi services throughout a downtown area targeted for economic development. Our plan focused on deploying a flexible architecture of physical support infrastructure, including conduit, equipment enclosures, antenna mounting facilities, and electrical power, to enable a wide range of wireless connectivity options for visitors, residents, and business tenants while maintaining the aesthetics of the development.
Dubuque, IA
In 2005, CTC evaluated the current state of service offerings in the City of Dubuque and the potential market for new services. Our financial analysis team reviewed and evaluated 'Opportunity Iowa', and whether or not it makes sense for the City of Dubuque to participate. CTC's engineering team designed both a fiber to the premises network (FTTP) and a wireless network as part of a feasibility study for a City-owned triple play network. The network is being designed to provide voice, video, and data services to all residential and commercial subscribers within the City.
Dover, DE
In 2005, CTC assisted the city with connectivity planning. Dover's electric department installed 30 miles of fiber optic facilities since the mid 1990's. This fiber is underused. We investigated the possibility of leveraging and maximizing the use of the fiber in the community. We developed a plan to reach out to key community stakeholders to determine if they might take advantage of the fiber optics.
St. Louis Park, MN
CTC and its partners performed a wireless Internet service
feasibility study. Our team-members assessed the feasibility
of the deployment of a citywide WiFi network. This task
involved conducting market research, performing an assessment
of the competitive environment, creating a conceptual
network design and costing review, reviewing operational
issues, developing a range of potential business models,
and completing a detailed business plan for the most
appropriate City involvement, including a thorough financial
analysis.
Pulaski, TN
CTC staff assisted the Pulaski Electric System to develop a fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) business plan, including business models, cost analysis, and probabilistic outcome analysis. In an earlier project, CTC staff conducted residential market research to assess the interest in Internet, cable TV, and telephone services in Pulaski.
St. Anthony Village, MN
CTC is assisting St. Anthony Village to evaluate installation of a city-wide WiFi network. The study includes a review of business model options and potential partnerships for a low-cost, high-speed Internet services.
Holyoke, MA
Holyoke Gas & Electric provides dial-up Internet services to residences and fiber access to selected businesses. CTC is assisting the utility to evaluate the business and financial implications of expanding its existing services to include broadband Internet and cable television.
Breese, IL
CTC designed a fiber optic network to support communications between local government agencies and City owned utilities. CTC also prepared hardware and construction recommendations for the Public Works Department to construct its own fiber optic network.
Victorville , CA
CTC provided the city with a fiber optic network master plan and detailed construction recommendations and specifications.
Prince William County, VA
CTC researched current and future wireless technologies and evaluated the feasibility of implementing a secure public safety wireless network. CTC also designed and implemented a pilot project to test the feasibility of a public safety network.
Alexandria, VA
CTC provided an assessment of existing and projected wireless broadband needs and technologies in the City of Alexandria, VA. CTC also recommended potential strategies for utilizing these technologies and services to enhance and improve City operations and services in the future.
Carroll County, MD
CTC performed a high-level feasibility analysis for constructing a countywide fiber optic network to support institutional communications need of the County, public schools, libraries, and community college, in addition to support of economic development initiatives. From this analysis, CTC developed a recommended design and strategy for implementation of the network, including construction methodology, hardware specifications, and governance structure. Currently, CTC is developing the implementation plan and design for a pilot project to demonstrate the benefit of a fiber network by meeting a specific communications while enhancing services and reducing cost.
Mesa, AZ
CTC assisted the City to evaluate potential expansion of the City's fiber optic and conduit infrastructure via point-to-point, 'hotspot' or mesh wireless communications, potentially for intelligent transportation system applications such as cameras, and for public area free Internet access for citizens.
Over a number of years, CTC has also provided extensive assistance for the City and its electric utility in physical plant and networking. Projects included determination of the City's voice, data, and video requirements for government needs, design of a fiber optic ring to serve the City power utility working with the City, systematically inventorying all areas of planned water, sewer, or road construction in the City, and developing a Citywide infrastructure plan for constructing communications conduit coordinated with the utility work.
For the fiber optic ring CTC designed physical routing for fiber optic cable on City power utility poles, designed entry and exit into the power substations,determined power utility needs, recommended a fiber optic count, and developed a technology concept that enabled the City to provide communications for its internal purposes, sell or lease bandwidth in City fiber, sell or lease fiber optic capacity on the ring, co-locate equipment from other networks and providers in hub buildings near substation facilities, and provide interconnection with other networks and carriers.
As part of the E-Streets initiative, CTC designed with City staff a network of over 30 miles, maximizing the use of fiber negotiated from communications providers in the right of way and the use of roadways and canal ways where utility and road construction were expected in the near future. Relative to a network that was not coordinated with construction, the design is expected to save the City millions of dollars.
CTC designed a standardized conduit standard usage scheme that provides four conduit for the City and up to eight conduit for commercial or other future use. The City has been able to collect revenue to offset construction cost by selling conduit in key corridors. CTC also worked with the City to design a system of vaults and manholes that enables the non-City users to separately connect with their conduit without need to interact with the City conduit or the conduit of other carriers using the conduit bank.
CTC worked with the City and vendors to ensure that fiber could be 'blown' or otherwise placed in sensitive areas where vaults and manholes could not be placed at close intervals developed with the City's civil engineers the detailed conduit manhole and vault design.
Morganton, NC
CTC worked for the City of Morganton to provide a system level design for an 80-channel municipal cable system, using fiber optic technology for the system backbone. CTC developed the specifications for the system construction, and assisted the City in issuing a Request for Proposals for system implementation and operation. CTC also conducted acceptance tests for verification of performance and design standards once the system was constructed.
Northbrook, IL
CTC provided planning, cost estimation, strand mapping, and aerial and underground construction specifications for fiber-optic network in the Village of Northbrook, Illinois.
Network Neutrality/Open Access
CTC has incomparable experience with engineering issues regarding broadband availability, network neutrality, and open access broadband systems to serve the
public interest. Since the open access issue first came to the fore in the 1990s, CTC has served as the premiere engineering firm advising the public interest community and local governments regarding the engineering issues of broadband open access and the ways in which closed systems can be used by industry to manipulate and monitor user transmissions. In recent years, CTC has advised the communities of Los Angeles , Montgomery County , MD , and Arlington County , VA regarding engineering means by which open access/network neutrality can be achieved over broadband cable. We advised the City of Philadelphia regarding the technical capability of other technologies to compete with cable broadband.
Our engineers conceived, negotiated, and designed a 'separate channels' open access solution for Arlington County 's Institutional Network, a truly open access environment in which the cable company cannot manipulate or monitor. We then oversaw implementation of that network, which is currently used to address digital divide issues by granting access to County school students whose eligibility is determined by school-lunch program participation.
In addition, CTC has for a number of years advised a range of public interest groups regarding the engineering issues inherent in open access implementation, including, most recently, by writing a report for the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School and the ACLU that served as the technical basis for those parties' amicus brief to the US Supreme Court in the Brand X broadband case. In addition, that report addressed the means by which telecom/cable industry use of proprietary (rather than standards-based) technologies reduce technical competition by preventing competing manufacturers and service providers from interoperating with broadband networks.
In previous years, CTC produced extensive reports on technical issues underlying the open access and broadband access debates for such clients as the William Penn Foundation, the ACLU, the Center for Digital Democracy, and the City of Philadelphia . CTC's Director of Engineering, Dr. Andrew Afflerbach, has discussed these issues with commissioners and staff of the FCC.
|
