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UTOPIA, Perfection or Fantasy: Partnering public-private sectors with broadband

: Image by Felipe Venâncio via Flickr

Utopia: the definition brings about visions of an “ideal place or state”, or “a system of political and social perfection.” Thus became the name chosen for a consortium of sixteen Utah cities building their own broadband infrastructure with a fiber-to-the-premise architecture, while offering residents a clear and alternative choice to incumbent operators, including Quest and Comcast. Is it perfection or fantasy?

UTOPIA, billed as providing light-speed to your door while connecting you with friends, family, entertainment, businesses, healthcare, and education, highlights itself as being part of your home, not owned by any network provider. It is unique in that UTOPIA is part of a combined network owned by connected cities, and therefore citizens of each community. It allows any network provider to use the infrastructure to offer related consumers services in an effort to create more competition within the broadband universe, and to provide rural residents state of the art fiber connections to their homes.

Overview:

Maintained by city employees, UTOPIA requires a deposit to participate just as citizens would pay for a sewer connection to their home
A monthly service fee is charged to maintain the system which includes maintenance, and billing just as with electric, water & sewer services
Open Access Network – open to various service providers which have access to the network

UTOPIA Service Providers:

Brigham.net:	Prime Time Communications	Connected Lyfe
Nuvont Communications	FIBERNET	Veracity Communications
FUZECORE	integra TELECOM	Telesphere
XMISSION	VOONAMI

Currently with eleven listed service providers using the network, UTOPIA is offering a variety of services to residents within its service area. In the past two years since hiring new management, subscriber growth has doubled from previous levels beginning from 2002. UTOPIA indicates a need to add another twenty thousand customers quickly to ensure the long-term viability of the consortiums investment.

This venture is similar to what Google has committed to accomplish with its advertised foray into the broadband infrastructure arena touting network speeds one-hundred times faster than those typically offered today. Goggle will also operate an (open access network) allowing multiple service providers to offer subscribers a wide variety of enhanced applications and services. See (Think big with a gig: Our experimental fiber network)

Divergent Industry Infrastructures

Historically, Cable operators have chosen the hybrid-fiber coax architecture to build out their networks, with Docsis 3, and GPON to gain efficiencies in bandwidth. Others like Verizon, UTOPIA, and now Google have opted to use fiber-to-the-premise, a total fiber network to connect customers to a true high-powered and hefty bandwidth architecture, which can offer deep access to both existing and future applications.

While the hybrid-fiber-coax construction is less expensive on the front end, it is not considered the long-term or end game solution. Total fiber construction is more expensive on the front end, but as costs continue to come down more service providers will opt to consider this solution.

Perfection or Fantasy

UTOPIA, Verizon, and Google’s networks will have to be proven profitable both in the short and long-term to be considered viable alternatives in private industry adoption. The heavy capital expenditures on the front end for fiber-to-the-premise construction must be coupled with robust adoption by customers to not only reach a break-even cash flow standpoint, but go on to make a reasonable profit.

This will be critical in obtaining needed capital for companies going forward, where UTOPIA is using bond issues along with pre-paid deposits and long-term subscription agreements to fund its venture. There is no doubt that fiber-to-the-premise is robust alternative from an operational standpoint with its high speeds, hefty bandwidth, and future applications potential.

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The Cable Pipeline: Top 10 Predictions for 2010

: Image via Wikipedia

What will 2010 bring for the Cable-Telecom-Wireless Industry’s? Broadband and Wireless will continue an evolution of defining the way we communicate and make decisions that affect our daily lives in significant ways. Relevant companies will struggle to deal with an ever increasing shift of consumer preferences in their business and home information, communication, and entertainment needs.

Here are my Top 10 Predictions for 2010:

The FCC will move to increase regulation of ISP’s as a way to open broadband options for both business and consumers
The Universal Service Fund will be re-directed to increase broadband access to the underserved
The FCC will gain spectrum back from the broadcasting industry to advance Wireless industry initiatives and will continue to grow exponentially in 2010
Consumers will look for economical and alternative ways to connect to the things that are important to them through a broadband global universe, including information, entertainment, education, and health
Cable TV companies will struggle with a dwindling demand for linear programming and the consumers demand for viewing content on their own terms. TV Everywhere will be a success in the short term
Cable-Telecom companies will continue to struggle with customer satisfaction issues and will begin to focus more on this issue as subscribers continue to migrate elsewhere. Companies like Cox Communications will continue to thrive due to a focus on quality engineering and customer service
Demand for access to content on an A-La-Carte basis will gain ground with Over-The –Top Access Providers making significant head-way during the year
Cable-Telecom companies with underperforming networks will be subject to buy-outs and take-over’s as the industry continues to consolidate and upgrade infrastructures
Verizon (FIOS) will continue to gain market share where rolled-out due to its advanced capabilities for consumers and businesses
The Cable-Telecoms will continue to make their bundles more competitively attractive as they compete for the one-stop-shopping experience

2010 will be all about the customer experience and a continued change in broadband dynamics. The Cable Industry will struggle with a diminishing demand for linear programming, and the success of alternative Over-The-Top models of content access.