Re: muni L1 example (WAS: Re: Muni fiber: L1 or L2?)

[Scott Helms <khelms () zcorum com>]

On Sun, Feb 3, 2013 at 4:38 PM, John Osmon <josmon () rigozsaurus com> wrote:

> Scott -- you've brought up *great* info for this thread.  We all know
> that city/county/state/federal governments sometimes throw money away on
> boondoggles (as fiber could become).  You've been able to pull from your
> direct experience to show how this is true.
>
>
> I threw in Idaho Falls because I'm betting it will help someone doing
> research in the future.  Can you throw out some of the positive
> examples you've run across?
Jason, the best cases I've seen were all those scenarios where if the muni
didn't build the access it simply wouldn't happen.  I've seen lots of
different kinds of technologies used ranging from wireless (not 802.11), to
DOCSIS cable (this is actually the most common in the US), and fiber.  I
can't share my customer's names unfortunately, but the successful ones all
shared several things in common:

1)  They had specific goals and built the network to reach those goals.  In
all the "good" situations the networks at least pay for themselves and in
some places make a small profit.

2)  They have personnel dedicated to their broadband offering that are
motivated to make it succeed and the city listens to the technical and
operational recommendations of that staff.

3)  They focus on a relatively small number of products, generally either
just L3 services or L3 services and broadcast video (especially for DOCSIS
systems).

4)  They get their pricing "right".  This last point is perhaps the most
important but hardest to do well.


-- 
Scott Helms
Vice President of Technology
ZCorum
(678) 507-5000
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http://twitter.com/kscotthelms
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