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 -------------------------------- http://twitter.com/kscotthelms --------------------------------