[Hidden-tech] WiredWest fiberoptic broadband

Matthew S. Crocker matthew at corp.crocker.com
Sat Apr 17 19:04:11 EDT 2010



Funding the project with revenue generated from service only works if you have a majority of the town buy the service.   That works for a water system because everyone needs water and buying from the town is cheaper then drilling your own well.  Everyone does not need Internet.   Attaching the funds to property taxes works because the existence of the network on your street will increase your property values even if you don't use the service directly.   If you only get a 20% take rate on the service you won't be able to pay the debt service on the loan used to fund the project.

Towns should not expect to get the money back for the construction of a municipal fiber system.  All of the studies that have been done by the Connects & MBI show that you can afford to operate a network from the service revenues but not recover the capital expense used to build the network.   That is why MBI was created with the $40 million bond.  The state will see the revenue in other ways (increased jobs, increased production...). 

IMHO a town wide service fee (tax) would be better for revenue recovery than a service fee to 20% of the town that buy the service.  I think it is a very important distinction and thought process that the towns have to go through.  The towns (and residents of the town) need to pay for the fiber build out of their own pocket.  There may be some USDA or state grants but you could wait forever.

A system that I think would work is:

-- State builds a regional fiber network to every town (MBI is working on this)
-- Towns build a municipal fiber network to every street (town funds via bonding like building a road or bridge)
-- Home owners build fiber from their house to the street (train local electricians to do the connection)
-- Home owner pays town for access to the fiber network to get to state fiber node
-- Service provider buys service from the state to get to the state fiber node in each town
-- Service provider sells service to the home owner.  ** Home owner has a choice to buy from any service provider in the local node

As a service provider I would want access to 1 strand of fiber from each home. Picking the strands up at a centralized aggregation point (the state node).  I would deliver 3P service over the network.

My $0.02

-Matt

----- Original Message -----

> From: "Town Websites" <townwebsites at gmail.com>
> To: hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net
> Sent: Saturday, April 17, 2010 6:10:24 PM
> Subject: Re: [Hidden-tech] WiredWest fiberoptic broadband
> 
> ** Be sure to fill out the survey/skills inventory in the member's
> area.
>    ** If you did, we all thank you.
> 
> 
> I'd say, regarding funding and Prop 2.5 override, the point is it
> would be a
> debt override which would be funded out of service revenues not by
> property
> taxation.  It would be like building a water system, backed with
> bonds
> guaranteed by the towns (and often subsidized in some way by the
> state), but
> with the intention that it would be paid for out of service revenues,
> not by
> raising property taxes.  By having the towns' backing, the cost of the
> debt
> would be significantly reduced, and it would be much easier to access
> the
> capital required for the project.
>  
> Towns wouldn't get to the point of having a Prop 2.5 debt override
> vote
> until they have a solid and specific plan in front of them, and likely
> also
> a list of subscribers from the town who want the service.  The warrant
> that
> many towns are voting on this year is to set up an exploratory
> committee to
> work with other towns to see if a regional alliance can come up with a
> solid
> specific plan.
> 
> Charlie Heath
> Town Websites
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: hidden-discuss-bounces at lists.hidden-tech.net
> [mailto:hidden-discuss-bounces at lists.hidden-tech.net] On Behalf Of
> Matthew
> S. Crocker
> Sent: Saturday, April 17, 2010 12:51 PM
> To: hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net
> Subject: Re: [Hidden-tech] WiredWest fiberoptic broadband
> 
>    ** Be sure to fill out the survey/skills inventory in the member's
> area.
>    ** If you did, we all thank you.
> 
> 
> 
> Another problem with wireless is when people says 'wireless' they
> normally
> mean 'unlicensed wireless'.  Unlicensed wireless has a slew of issues
> with
> frequency competition.  Point to Multipoint unlicensed wireless also
> half
> duplex polled network.  half duplex networks get destroyed when the
> users
> start doing high packet rate full duplex applications (VoIP,
> peer2peer, VPN,
> SSH, ...).   Wireless is a good short term fill in the gap solution
> but it
> isn't  a viable long term solution and it doesn't support the future
> of the
> Internet.
> 
> Licensed point to point wireless links can be used for back haul in a
> regional backbone.
> 
> A Regional open fiber network would be a huge win for the area.  Towns
> need
> to be working on funding/prop 2.5 override to budget a last mile fiber
> build
> in the town.  Connect your town to the state middle mile project and
> everyone wins.  Towns should also not expect the fiber network to
> generate
> revenue,  If the town makes money off it then it is basically a tax
> and
> there are other ways to tax the residents that make more sense.
> 
> -Matt
> 
> -- 
> Matthew S. Crocker
> President
> Crocker Communications, Inc.
> PO BOX 710
> Greenfield, MA 01302-0710
> http://www.crocker.com
> P: 413-746-2760
> 
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-- 
Matthew S. Crocker
President
Crocker Communications, Inc.
PO BOX 710
Greenfield, MA 01302-0710
http://www.crocker.com
P: 413-746-2760



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