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Ciena
13
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26
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0 50 100 150 200 250 300
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EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Scott DeGarmo
PUBLISHER
Nancy McCain
nancym@broadbandproperties.com
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Steven S. Ross
steve@broadbandproperties.com
Deputy Editor
Masha Zager
ADVERTISING SALES
Irene G. Prescott
irene@broadbandproperties.com
DESIGN & PRODUCTION
Karry Thomas
COLUMNISTS
Joe Bousquin
Bill Burhop, IMCC
Orrin Charm, InfiniSys
Amy Cravens, Cahners In-Stat.
Larry Kessler, InteliCable
W. James MacNaughton, Esq.
Dave McClure, USIIA
Bryan Rader, MediaWorks
Jimmy Schaffler, The Carmel Group
Robert L. Vogelsang, Broadband Properties Magazine
Broadband Properties LLC
PRESIDENT & CEO
Scott DeGarmo
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Himi Kittner
VICE PRESIDENT,
BUSINESS & OPERATIONS
Nancy McCain
Audience Development/Digital Strategies
Norman E. Dolph
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
Robert L. Vogelsang
VICE CHAIRMAN
The Hon. Hilda Gay Legg
BUSINESS & EDITORIAL OFFICE
Broadband Properties LLC
1909 Avenue G
Rosenberg, Tx 77471
281.342.9655, Fax 281.342.1158
WWW.BROADBANDPROPERTIES.COM
Broadband Properties (ISSN 0745-8711) (USPS 679-
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Broadband Properties LLC. All rights reserved.
president’s letter
At a Pivotal Moment,
Digital Momentum
Stay tuned-in to BBP Online for
hot new stuff
Our Summit makes April a pivotal
month for us, so here’s a look
ahead. Our robust print product
is a statement of our commitment to
excellence. In the year to come, we will
enhance the value of our print magazine
and also expand our digital publication
and other online offerings.
We’ve built a strong base for expansion
into the digital realm. Subscriptions to
our digital issue are growing daily. Qualified
U.S. subscribers can receive for free
the print issue, the digital issue, or both.
International subscribers get the digital
issue for free. International coverage is
a key part of our franchise. That’s obviously
true in this issue, from Tasmania to
the futuristic city-state that is putting in
1 Gbps for all residences. (Puzzled? Read
the issue carefully – or, do a quick search
in our digital publication.)
This issue contains our third annual
FTTH Primer, sponsored by the FTTH
Council, and also available on our Web
site, along with a Spanish version and
an English-language European version.
Both are available by clicking the BBP
Online link on www.bbpmag.com.
On BBP Online, you’ll find each issue
of the past year in a clickable, digital
version. You can search the issues individually
or do a global search of all the
issues together. You can click on the links
throughout the editorial and advertising
pages and easily e-mail links to individual
pages or to the entire issue.
All stories in each issue are accessible
in at least three ways in addition to the
print product: They are on our home
page, where they are posted in PDF form
both as individual stories and as the complete
issue, and they are in the digital issue
on BBP Online.
Two features launched in the last year
are leading indicators of our future evolution:
the Property of the Month and the
Municipal FTTH Deployment Snapshot.
What’s different about the way they are
presented? Well, first a little background
on the features themselves. At last year’s
Summit, we saw strong interest from
those involved in municipal deployments
for anatomies of individual projects as
well as an ongoing compilation of comparable
information on different projects.
We also saw a similar need for focused
profiles of real estate deployments.
Now, what’s subtly different about
these two features is that they are also
provided in HTML format on our Web
site about the time we go to press with
the magazine, so they are not merely
magazine pieces converted to an online
format, but articles getting expressed in
both media simultaneously.
These features and others we’ll be doing
create opportunities for providing
information where both qualitative and
quantitative content can be presented in
ways that enable easy comparisons. Our
programmers and designers are working
on how best to serve up this information
so that you will be able to look over a
year’s worth of articles and quickly extract
the information you want.
Unlike traditional news stories, which
diminish in value as time goes by, this approach
will create a cumulative effect that
will provide you with more value. For the
Property and Municipal features, you’ll
be able to compare the size of teams used
in different deployments, or the miles of
fiber, or the business models and partnerships
employed – and of course, the
products and vendors chosen.
You’ll also currently find on BBP Online
our interactive database of FTTH
deployments, a feature we’ll be expanding
in the weeks ahead with charts,
graphs and tables linked to the data so
they update themselves in real time.
www.bbpmag.com
2 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | April 2009

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table of contents
DEPARTMENTS
President’s Letter. . . . . . . . 2
Editor’s Note . . . . . . . . . . 6
News & Views. . . . . . . . . 90
IN THIS ISSUE
ABOUT
THE COVER
Manhattan artist Irving Grunbaum
thinks FTTH is the Next
Big Thing – as if it isn’t already
the big thing.
Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Advertiser Index . . . . . . . 96
Provider Perspective
Another Way to Look at Facebook | 8
By Bryan J. Rader ■ Bandwidth Consulting LLC
Social networking isn’t just for 20-somethings. It’s a great way to stay
in touch with your clients – and get to know potential new clients.
Fiber Deployment Roundup
Thinking Big | 10
By Masha Zager ■ Broadband Properties
In a surprise announcement, the Australian government scrapped
its fiber-to-the-node plan for a 100 Mbps fiber-to-the-home network
that will reach nearly everyone in the country.
Why We Need More Fiber
Gaming in the Cloud, Internet TV… and More | 18
New devices and applications coming to market assume the availability
of fast, reliable broadband connections.
First Mile
Strong Growth for FTTH | 20
Worldwide sales of PON equipment are still growing briskly, and a
new study forecasts a tripling of FTTx subscribers by 2013.
Municipal FTTH Deployment Snapshot
Gainesville Regional Utilities –
Gainesville, Florida | 22
Gainesville’s municipal utility was fiber-wiring businesses before anyone
had heard of fiber to the premises. Today, the company is bringing
fiber to MDUs and new housing developments as well.
Property of the Month
Trump Plaza Jersey City | 24
By Joe Bousquin ■ Contributing Editor, Broadband Properties
Everything about the newest Trump-branded apartment building
had to be top-notch – including the bulk video and Internet services.
Find out how private cable operator BroadStar earned the Trump seal
of approval.
BUYERS GUIDE
Hot Products for 2009 | 66
A guide to the broadband products and services you’ll be seeing
this spring. Many of them are on display at the Broadband
Properties Summit.
TECHNOLOGY
COVER STORY
FIBER-TO-THE-HOME PRIMER:
Advantages of Optical Access | 33
The third annual edition of the Fiber-to-the-Home Primer, produced
in association with the Fiber-to-the-Home Council, is a
comprehensive guide to FTTH for builders, developers, municipal
officials and other nonspecialists. This edition has been
updated for 2009 to reflect the latest deployment statistics and
advances in technology.
New Applications on Display in Paris | 30
By John Schultz ■ U-reka Broadband Ventures
Network operators are working with enterprises to provide telework,
smart grid and health care applications.
Passive Optical Design for RFOG and Beyond | 78
By Mark Conner ■ Corning Cable Systems
Cable companies can save operating expenses by building FTTP networks
that use their existing equipment and back-office systems. But
they should design the networks to allow later upgrades to PON.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Broadband Fiber Networks:
The 21st-Century Crossroads | 82
By Graham Richard ■ Graham Richard Associates LLC
States that want to attract and retain businesses need to encourage
establishment of local fiber networks – and a fiber backbone to connect
them.
Planned Community,
Planned Communications Infrastructure | 85
By Stephen Mayo ■ Inteleconnect Inc.
In the new town of Anson, Indiana, multiple service providers can
deliver advanced services to residents and businesses over a common
infrastructure.
INTERNATIONAL COVERAGE
“Broadband Access is Vital for Economic Growth and
Social Coherence” | 88
A Danish government minister welcomes the 2009 FTTH Europe
Conference to Copenhagen and shares his insights about why broadband
is critical for sustainability, economic development and social
inclusiveness.
4 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | April 2009

editor’s note
Good News for Fiber
Down Under – and Here
By Steven S. Ross ■ Editor-in-Chief
As of the end of March, more than
15 million US homes had been
passed by fiber, and almost 4.5
million households had signed up. Some
of the data is in our latest FTTH Primer
in this issue. The data will be discussed
at length at our Broadband Summit
April 27-29, and the full story will be in
our May issue. But for now, consider that
while the pace of fiber installs has slowed,
the growth is still substantial – 52 percent
more customers year-over-year and
17 percent in the last six months.
The slowing comes about because
the greenfield sector has essentially disappeared,
and new entrants to the field
– mainly municipalities and small telcos
that had been planning to build or extend
fiber networks – are having trouble
raising the money to do so.
The automakers, newspaper industry,
housing and just about any other sector
we can think of outside of Hollywood
should be so lucky.
The good news is that the $7.2 billion
promised in the stimulus package
seems well on its way. So far, the process
has been a model of speed and openness.
Through a month-long mad dash of public
hearings that attracted about 1,400
questions and formal comments (see
www.ntia.doc.gov/broadbandgrants/
comments.cfm), the Commerce Department’s
National Telecommunications
and Information Administration, the
Agriculture Department’s Rural Utilities
Service, and the FCC kept their eyes
glued to the final goal – defining areas,
project types and grantees that would be
eligible for funding. It is hard to believe
that the stimulus bill passed so recently,
on February 13!
There’s more good news for FTTH
advocates: Public officials have barely
disguised their preference for fiber to
the home, and for “middle mile” projects
such as connections to the national
network that would support fiber-borne
bandwidth.
The bad news is that the proposed
rules, due in a few weeks and expected
to be in final form in June, are almost
certain to be challenged in court by
companies who believe their ox will be
gored by the competition. While we
have no doubt that some grant applications
will create unfair competition (and
thus should be rejected), we worry about
knee-jerk suits by incumbents designed
to simply delay the inevitable. There
have been many examples of such suits
in the past five years.
Although we are fans of local regulation,
we’re also nervous about the dead
hand of state governments, so often controlled
by incumbents for the exclusion
of others.
AUSTRALIA RAISES THE BAR
Think $7.2 billion is too much? How
about $31 billion? (That’s in US dollars;
it’s $43 billion Australian.) That’s what
Australia has just committed to spend
on broadband – and 90 percent of it will
be 100 Mbps FTTH. (Read about that,
and about Singapore’s commitment to
1 Gbps fiber, in this issue’s Deployment
section, starting on page 10.)
It is by far Australia’s biggest single
commitment to public infrastructure.
And it is, by far, the world’s largest
single FTTH build – even larger in cost
than Verizon’s and NTT’s. And those
two companies lead the world in private
capital expenditures.
Australia is a rural nation; on average
just 7 people per square mile. But
90 percent of the premises are in town
settings where fiber can be justified
given current economics. The rest of the
country will have to settle for 12 Mbps
point-to-point wireless. The backbone
will be disproportionately expensive,
and construction on it will begin shortly
(as early as May). Fairly detailed plans
already exist for the backbone and for
the Tasmania section’s local networks.
The economics involve a quantum
leap of faith. There will be an Australian
“National Broadband Corporation” to
build the network and run it as an openaccess
utility – just as localities build
roads. Telstra, the major incumbent that
has been investing in HFC and FTTN,
will be able to get onto the road, but so
will Optus and other competitors. This
is both good and bad for Telstra. It has
had trouble justifying the capital cost
of advanced infrastructure in this vast,
underpopulated country. But it will
now have to compete on content for the
first time.
The Australian government is justifying
the cost in part for its direct
stimulus effect and in part by the value
of telemedicine, tele-learning, a smart
electrical grid, and the opportunity to
compete more fiercely worldwide. In
fact, there’s talk in Australia that telemedicine
alone can generate a quarter of
the network’s revenues. That seems unlikely.
But there will be other revenues
to fill the void.
An existing Tasmanian State Government
broadband initiative already is
encouraging regional governments and
companies, hospitals, and educational
institutions to use the network that has
been envisioned there.
In the US, the Obama Administration
has made no secret of its view that
the $7.2 billion in the current stimulus
package is a downpayment on bigger
things to come. Maybe. But Australia
has clearly raised the bar.
Steve@broadbandproperties.com
6 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | April 2009

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provider perspective
Another Way to Look at Facebook
The Facebook social networking model is already working for many
businesses. Perhaps it can work for private cable operators as well. We can
set up our own site, or … use Facebook itself!
By Bryan Rader ■ Bandwidth Consulting LLC
I
have finally joined the Facebook craze!
Everybody you meet these days seems
to be joining Facebook, the largest
social networking site with about 200
million active users – and about a million
new ones added every day. It’s a great
way to reconnect with old friends, stay in
touch with current ones and share personal
thoughts, pictures and messages.
Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook
in 2004 while he was a student at
Harvard. He initially envisioned it to
be a social networking tool for Harvard
students, but it quickly expanded to
other East Coast colleges, then Stanford
and other schools, and was eventually
opened to anyone with an e-mail address
in 2006.
According to comScore, Facebook
had 132 million unique visitors in June
2008, surpassing MySpace significantly,
and is 7th in terms of worldwide traffic.
So, what’s the appeal?
When new users register, they can
upload pictures of themselves, including
family, friends and even pets. They
include information about the schools
they attended (high school and college),
graduation year, birthday, and relationship
status. And once you register, people
from your past and present start to find
you, sending you electronic requests to
be added as your “Friend.”
Over time, you will have a long list
of Friends, with access to all of their
photos and information on their Profile
page. You will be more connected than
ever with updates about their lives. Many
people say Facebook can be addicting,
and that you can spend a couple of hours
a night reconnecting with your friends.
PCO-Book
There is so much to like about Facebook.
I even think it could be used by private
cable operators as a great social networking
tool. Better yet, it could be a business
development tool. Each PCO could
build its own personal company profile,
complete with status updates and key
information. Many companies, even local
retailers, have been doing just that.
True, they have found that Facebook
works well for communicating with end
users. But some use it for business-tobusiness
networking as well.
Here’s how it might work:
PCOs would set up a Profile page on
PCO Facebook that includes key personal
data such as Networks (what markets
you serve), Schools (what products
you offer), and Relationship Status (what
your strategy for growth is, what markets
you are entering or exiting). Then
you would become a registered user.
Each PCO could load all sorts of
pictures on its Profile page. Rather than
funny party pics from Aunt Mary’s wedding,
PCOs would include pictures of
every property they serve across their
portfolio. Just as Facebook users scroll
through their friends’ sites to view family
photos, we would do the same to
see the types of properties each PCO
serves. (And of course, we would “tag”
each photo so we know what market the
property is in.)
Each PCO would then build a network
of Friends, just as they do on Facebook.
Except in this case, the objective
would be to reconnect with new and old
property owner clients across the country.
This way, PCOs could build their
own databases of property owners, and
periodically provide them with important
updates about their company.
Sure, one of the challenges of Facebook
is that you can see everyone else’s
Friends network. But this could only help
PCOs expand their opportunities with
prospective clients who enjoy doing business
with non-franchise cable operators.
One of the great features of Facebook
is that it sends you people that it
thinks you might know. This is based on
your school, graduation year, or place of
employment. It really helps users grow
their personal network.
And this concept would also help
PCOs grow their Friends network. It
might look for predictive features such
as markets served, products offered, or
common friends. What a great way to
get introduced to more prospective real
estate clients!
Facebook allows you to provide status
updates on your profile each day too.
PCOs could do this as well. We might
be able to send a status update to all of
our Friends (actually clients and prospects)
that “we just launched a property
with a new digital voice provider” or “we
have expanded into Texas.” This allows
everyone to be updated immediately on
what you are doing. And it’s better than
a press release!
There is also a space on every Facebook
user’s page that allows Friends to
post messages on their Wall for users to
see. I love this idea for PCOs. We can
use the Wall to receive testimonials from
our real estate clients about their experience
with our company and our service.
How exciting! BBP
About the Author
Bryan J. Rader, former CEO of Media-
Works before selling the company in 2006,
has recently founded a new firm, Bandwidth
Consulting LLC, to advise operators
and providers in the MDU market segment.
Contact Bryan at bryanjrader@
yahoo.com or at 636-536-0011. Learn
more at www.bandwidthconsultingllc.com.
8 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | April 2009

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2006 - BendBright-XS, Draka’s 2nd generation bend-insensitve fiber is
introduced with one hundred times bending performance improvement
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2008 - BendBright-XS available in all OSP and MDU cables.
Today - Draka has sold over One Billion Feet of BendBright-XS into access
projects all over the world!
Draka Communications - Americas
www.drakaamericas.com
I N N O V A T I O N

Thinking Big
Is universal fiber broadband unrealistic? Don’t tell that to the government
of Singapore, which is busy deploying it. Of course, the US is more spread
out…but not in comparison with Australia, which has decided to fiber-wire
90 percent of the country’s premises – a major part of its stimulus package.
By Masha Zager ■ Broadband Properties
The biggest news this month is that the idea of universal
fiber to the home seems to be capturing imaginations
across the globe. Andorra, which we wrote about in
February (and will feature next month), has been joined by
Singapore, whose next-generation broadband network had
suffered delays but is now back on track. In fact, now that
contracts have been awarded to a fiber deployer and an operating
company, it looks like universal fiber will be available
there early in 2013, two years ahead of schedule. That’s
1 Gbps to every premises in the country, powered by active
Ethernet and GPON, along with high-speed wireless for
public transportation and other non-premises applications.
The chair of Singapore’s Infocomm Development Authority
calls the planned network “a strategic enabler that will position
Singapore well for the future.” We agree!
Of course (we can imagine status quo apologists saying),
Singapore is a small and densely populated country, a citystate
really – nothing at all like the United States. And it’s true,
Singapore is the most densely populated country in the world,
unless you count Monaco, which is basically a small town. Deployment
is a lot easier when you have 18,000 inhabitants per
square mile.
But that excuse doesn’t hold up when we look at Australia,
which is one of the least densely populated places
on earth, with only seven inhabitants per square mile. The
Australian government issued an RFP last year for a nextgeneration
network that would deliver 12 Mbps service nationwide,
and it received five bids, two of them for regional
networks. This month the prime minister agreed with an
expert panel that concluded none of the bids “offered value
for money for Australian taxpayers.”
Stunningly, the government canceled the RFP and decided
instead to build out 100 Mbps FTTP to 90 percent of
the country’s premises – every town with over 1,000 inhabitants
– in a public/private partnership. The other 10 percent
will have to make do with 12 Mbps service over advanced
wireless networks. The government will invest money up
front, but expects to get much of it, or maybe all of it, back
when it sells its share after the network becomes operational.
Australia’s FTTP project is at once a visionary bid to create
infrastructure for the future and a massive public-works
program to help lift the country out of the recession.
Let’s hope our own policy makers are paying attention.
– MZ
INDEPENDENT
TELCOS
SureWest Launches User-Generated TV
Customers can now program their
own TV channel at SureWest
Communications, one of the
largest FTTH providers in the US.
The company announced the launch of
i2TV, an interactive video content network
created by TellyTopia.
With the TellyTopia technology anyone,
even non-SureWest customers, can
upload high-resolution video content up
to 100 MB in size through the i2TV Web
site and watch it on SureWest’s channel
702. The upload process will be familiar
to YouTube users, but the content is
viewed on a TV. Videos are available to
watch within 24 hours of uploading the
file online, and the content is also added
to SureWest’s On Demand video library.
SureWest is the first provider to launch
TellyTopia’s service, which is going live
first in Sacramento and later in the Kansas
City market.
Peter Drozdoff, SureWest’s vice
president of marketing, says, “This new
10 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | April 2009

channel allows people to become a part of their TV by creating
their own content. The possibilities are limitless.” SureWest
will soon announce a new local sports program on i2TV – the
only program in the Sacramento region to provide highlights
of high school sports.
In a triple play for Occam Networks, Ballard Telephone,
Peoples Rural Telephone and Nex-Tech have all recently purchased
and deployed its GPON solutions.
Ballard Telephone, a Kentucky cooperative, deployed Occam’s
Broadband Loop Carrier, GPON Optical Line Terminal
and GPON Triple Play Gateway Optical Network Terminals.
Ballard is replacing existing plant with fiber, starting with its
headquarters town of LaCenter, in order to offer traditional
and entertainment services including IP video on demand.
“We contacted neighboring telcos and they were all using Occam
with great success,” says Harlan Parker, general manager
at Ballard. “The flexibility and ease of turn-up of Occam’s
products greatly facilitated our deployment.”
Peoples Rural Telephone, another Kentucky cooperative,
now offers advanced voice services, high-speed data and video
via RF overlay using Occam’s BLC, GPON OLT hardware
and ONTs. As a result of this deployment, more than 50 percent
of subscribers in Peoples’ territory are now served with
Occam equipment.
Nex-Tech, the CLEC subsidiary of Rural Telephone in Lenora,
Kansas, was an early FTTH deployer; Nex-Tech and Rural
Telephone together have invested more than $80 million in
fiber upgrades for the communities they serve. Nex-Tech had
previously deployed Occam’s Gigabit Ethernet FTTP equipment,
and it selected Occam’s GPON products based in part
on their capability for integration with the existing point-topoint
network. Nex-Tech offers high-speed data, T1, IPTV
and advanced voice services.
Enhanced Telecommunications Corporation (ETC),
an Indiana ILEC that offers triple play services over FTTH
with Internet speeds up to 40 Mbps/20 Mbps, is planning a
new FTTH project. According to local press reports, ETC will
upgrade its old plant in the town of Batesville with fiber this
spring. The company is quoted as saying that the upgrade is
needed because “the demand for bandwidth, particularly for
the Internet and high-definition television, has exhausted its
capabilities earlier than expected.”
Wiggins Telephone Association (WTA), an ILEC serving
a rural area of Colorado, has begun replacing its 30-yearold
copper network, using GPON equipment from Calix to
deliver data over fiber to the home and wireless 802.11n routers
from D-Link to distribute signals within the home. WTA’s
fiber project is a response to a demand for broadband services
that was overburdening the existing network. Many customers
were still using dial-up connections, and the company was
unable to deploy DSL everywhere (its service territory covers
2,000 square miles, with only 1,600 phone lines – less than
one customer per square mile). “Fiber to the home was the only
logical choice,” says Casey Quint, WTA plant supervisor.
Terry Hendrickson, CEO and general manager of WTA,
says, “It’s a rural area, but we need high-speed Internet services
just like people do in the cities. Perhaps more so. We can’t just
go around the corner to a coffee shop and get WiFi. People
in the city take that for granted.” Hendrickson is hoping the
project will serve as a stimulus to the local economy. “Internet
connectivity is essential these days,” he says. “We have a lot of
work-from-home moms and home businesses in the area, and
they need the bandwidth.” The project began in the original
Wiggins exchange; the next phase will be in nearby Hoyt.
Broadweave Networks, the Utah-based CLEC that bought
the municipal fiber-to-the-home network in Provo in 2008, announced
that it had reached agreement to acquire the Provo
customer base of Nuvont Communications, one of the providers
offering services on the (formerly) open-access network. The
acquisition will give Nuvont customers a single network provider
for all services and enhance their video and data options.
The acquisition also increases the Broadweave customer base
by more than 10 percent and completes the integration of all
wholesale and retail services for residential customers in Provo.
When Broadweave acquired iProvo, it said it intended to
take over both network operation and service delivery in order
to provide better, more consistent customer service. However,
negotiations with the retail providers proved to be complex,
and it has taken nearly a year to complete the acquisition of all
the providers’ customers.
Nuvont customers will be able to retain their existing phone
numbers, e-mail addresses and other identifications. Broadweave
says the only immediate change will be the company
name on the monthly bill – and access to more TV channels
and Internet speeds. BBP
April 2009 | www.broadbandproperties.com | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | 11

Municipalities
Cities Planning FTTH Networks
Several cities are developing or reviewing
plans for making fiberbased
broadband available to
homes and businesses. The city of Richland,
Washington, is one of them. Inspired
in part by the pending prepackaged
bankruptcy of its cable franchisee,
Charter Communications (which also
provides the city’s institutional network),
the city hired Columbia Telecommunications
Corporation (CTC) to
perform a needs assessment. CTC recommended
that the city build its own
institutional fiber network to serve city
offices, schools and the municipal electric
utility, and then expand it in four
phases. The first expansion phase would
bring fiber to large businesses and other
major electric utility customers; the
second phase would create wireless hot
spots in parts of the city underserved
by broadband; the third phase would
address availability gaps in office complexes
and MDUs; and the fourth and
final expansion phase would make fiber
connectivity available to all homes
and businesses, at a cost of between $30
million and $40 million. The report
discusses several business models and financing
options for FTTP but does not
recommend any in particular.
CTC notes, “A fiber-to-the-premises
(FTTP) design has the greatest financial
risk, but also offers the largest potential
benefits. Demand for data will continue
to increase. Data pipes to homes and
businesses will become as important to
Richland’s economic and cultural development
as the streets that facilitate commerce
and quality of life today.”
CTC also recently performed a feasibility
study for the city of Seattle, in
which it identified five options for making
fiber more available to city residents
and businesses. Seattle has tentatively
put on hold the idea of building fiber
all the way out to homes and businesses,
saying the plan is not economically feasible
at present. The option being most
“An FTTP design has the greatest financial risk,
but also offers the largest potential benefits.”
seriously explored is for the city to build
fiber out to neighborhood nodes. Private
companies would then be able to build
out the last mile (using any technology)
and deliver service to customers.
Residents and businesses could also purchase
their own connections from their
properties to city fiber.
The city of Northfield, Minnesota,
hired CCG Consulting to study options
for providing municipal fiber broadband
services. In a survey of city residents,
CCG found that even though 75 percent
of residents already had a broadband
connection, 81 percent supported
the idea of the city entering the communications
business and 78 percent would
buy services from a city network. “These
are among the highest percentages we
have ever seen in this sort of survey,”
CCG commented.
The report identified several financially
viable opportunities: the city
could build the network and provide retail
services itself; it could build the network
and contract with a commercial
partner to operate it; or it could encourage
one of several private-sector entities
to deploy fiber. (Another possibility is to
partner with a private-sector entity and
jointly apply for stimulus-package funding.)
The one strategy that CCG did not
consider financially viable was operating
an open-access network.
The city of Windom, Minnesota,
which already operates a municipal
FTTH network, has been in discussions
with some nearby cities about extending
its network to their residents and businesses.
One of them, Lakefield, which
operates a municipal cable TV system,
was awarded a grant last year by the
Blandin Foundation to perform a fiber
feasibility study; according to local press
reports, Lakefield’s FTTH project is
now on hold (like many other potential
network builds) while the city waits to
find out whether it will be eligible for
stimulus-package funding. The city of
Jackson, which is also a municipal cable
operator, has decided against a fiber
upgrade for the time being because it is
reluctant to raise rates for subscribers.
Jackson is across a river from Windom
and a fiber optic line from Windom
would have to be dug under the river, a
potentially expensive proposition.
In Palo Alto, California, we reported
last month that the city’s longawaited
FTTH plan was coming unstuck;
since that time, Axia NetMedia,
the financing partner in the consortium
with which the city was negotiating, has
withdrawn from the project. In a letter
to city officials, Axia NetMedia says, “At
this point no solution appears possible
within the constraints of the City of Palo
Alto’s financial condition, bylaws and
process.” A memo from the city manager
to the city council (not yet acted on by
the city council at press time) says Axia’s
withdrawal was precipitated by the economic
downturn, the city’s reluctance
to increase its planned investment in
the project, and the pending rollout of
Comcast’s 50 Mbps/10 Mbps service. In
addition, 180 Connect, the construction
partner in the consortium, is no longer
actively involved in the project, having
been acquired by DIRECTV.
The city manager recommends terminating
the RFP process that led to
negotiations with the consortium and
instead developing a plan for phased
build-out from the existing fiber backbone,
using the city’s own funds and
whatever federal funding it can obtain.
The first phase would expand the backbone
to businesses, educational institutions
and health and human services
agencies, and revenues from this phase
would be applied to further build-outs
in later years. BBP
12 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | April 2009

RBOC
UPDATE
New Washington Apartment Buildings
Offer FiOS
Resurgence and revitalization have
come to Washington, DC – to
the Capitol Riverfront area, once
home to vacant lots and auto repair
shops and now a booming neighborhood
full of new apartment buildings, offices,
stores and restaurants. And where there
is growth and revitalization, there’s
bound to be fiber to the home. Residents
at two new apartment buildings in Capitol
Riverfront now have access to Verizon’s
FiOS Internet, and a third building
currently under construction will
have FiOS service later this spring. The
three buildings, owned by multifamily
real estate investment company JPI,
contain a total of 931 apartments.
The two JPI buildings that now
have access to FiOS Internet are the Jefferson
at Capitol Yards and the Axiom
at Capitol Yards. Verizon is currently
installing fiber-optic cable in the third
building, 909 Capitol Yards. Michael
Stevens, executive director of the Capitol
Riverfront Business Improvement
District, says, “JPI’s partnership with
Verizon illustrates the visionary ideals of
the neighborhood that make it such an
excellent location for living, business activities,
recreation and entertainment.”
In addition, Verizon is deploying
FiOS services in JPI’s new and existing
developments in Maryland, Virginia,
Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Texas and
California. JPI’s buildings in Washington
– as well other residences throughout the
District – will also ultimately have access
to FiOS TV as the company rolls out the
service over the next few years under a
recently approved franchise agreement.
In another recent announcement,
Verizon said recently that FiOS TV for
Business is now available for as little
as $12.99 per month, with a one-year
agreement. In an effort to provide greater
value for small-business customers on
a budget, Verizon offers a TV package
that includes local network affiliate
broadcasters, PBS, and public education
and government (PEG) programming.
Both local affiliate and PBS stations are
broadcast in standard and high definition.
The new package is available in the
14 states where FiOS TV for Business
is currently offered, and is being used
in waiting rooms, bars, restaurants and
similar venues. BBP
Fiber optic
amentity providers
Two New Projects for Connexion in Alabama
Wyndham and Wyndham Gates
communities in Opelika, Alabama,
will soon bring their
residents advanced entertainment and
communications services over a fiberto-the-home
network built by Connexion
Technologies, a fiber optic amenity
company. “We’re thrilled with the Connexion
Technologies partnership,” says
Lee Danielly of Knight Development,
owner of both properties. “Many of our
residents are first-time homebuyers, and
we’re proud to offer them homes with
this advanced network. It enables us
to bring truly cutting-edge technology
to affordable homes.” These properties’
networks will support an array of affordable
services including ultra-high-speed
Internet connections, more than 200
digital channels of entertainment and
multifunction telephone service. BBP
INTERNATIONAL
DEPLOYMENTS
Manchester Launches “Digital City” Initiative
Manchester, known as “England’s
second city,” has embarked
on a pilot FTTP project
less than a year after completing a
feasibility study and setting a goal of
reinventing itself as a “digital city.” The
city’s overall digital strategy calls for creating
a municipal open access network
that includes both fiber to the premises,
advanced wireless services and a new
Internet hub exchange. According to a
city planning document, “By creating
this next-generation connectivity, we
aim to link key employment sites across
the Manchester city region to accelerate
job growth, enhance the digital skill
base and provide new opportunities for
home access, flexible working and telecare
services.” The pilot project involves
connecting up 50 premises with fiber
this year, 150 next year and 400 in 2011,
April 2009 | www.broadbandproperties.com | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | 13

Vendor Spotlight
Calix....................................www.calix.com
CCG Consulting.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.c-c-g.com
Columbia Telecommunications
Corporation.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.ctcnet.us
D-Link................................. www.dlink.com
Huawei Technologies .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.huawei.com
Occam Networks .. . . . . . . . . . www.occamnetworks.com
Optronics Technologies.............. www.optronics.gr
NEC Australia.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.nec.com.au
PacketFront. ....................www.packetfront.com
Saga. .................................... www.saga.rs
StarHub .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.starhub.com
TellyTopia .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.tellytopia.com
Tilgin.................................. www.tilgin.com
at a cost of about $700,000; it will serve both homes and businesses,
but it is focused on reaching businesses in the digital
media industry.
Iliad, the parent company of French telecom provider Free,
says it will continue to roll out Free’s FTTH network. It expects
to pass 70 percent of Paris by the second half of this year
and a total of 4 million households by year-end 2012.
Dutch broadband company Reggefiber is extending its
FTTH network to the cities of Veldhoven and Laarbeek, using
equipment from PacketFront. A total of 14,000 ports will be
added to the company’s original agreement with PacketFront –
9,500 in Veldhoven and 4,500 in Laarbeek. The network will
be rolled out and activated during the first half of 2009. The
PacketFront equipment to be used includes ASR5000 series
routers, DRG integrated gateways, and the control and provisioning
system BECS, which allows end users to provision
their own services.
A joint venture between NetCologne, which operates an
FTTH network in the German city of Cologne, and Accom, a
municipal broadband utility in the city of Aachen, has launched
NetAachen, which will provide triple play services over fiber to
the building in Aachen. NetAachen will deliver Internet access
at speeds up to 100 Mbps.
In another German city, Hanau, Vodafone subsidiary Arcor
has started a fiber pilot project in Coloneo, a large apartment
complex. In some of the buildings fiber will be terminated
in the basement and signals distributed via Ethernet to
each unit; other buildings will have fiber to the unit. In both
cases, residents will receive voice services and Internet access at
speeds up to 100 Mbps. Equipment is from Chinese manufacturer
Huawei.
Public-Private Partnerships in Switzerland
In an unusual collaboration between a telecom provider, an
energy provider and a local government, Swiss incumbent
Swisscom is working with electric utility Groupe E and the
canton of Fribourg to deploy an open access FTTH network
in Fribourg. Two pilot projects will be implemented later this
year and eventually Groupe E’s whole Fribourg territory will
be equipped with a fiber optic network. The project may be
extended later to parts of other cantons.
Groupe E and its energy provider partners will use the
infrastructure to launch innovative solutions for energy efficiency.
The canton government is supporting the project as
part of its “High Tech in the Green” strategy to attract businesses
while preserving the environment and ensuring equal
service provision between urban and rural areas. The canton
will also connect municipalities, schools and government services
throughout the area. Consumers will have the benefit of
high-speed Internet access and innovative new services.
Elsewhere in Switzerland, citizens of the medieval city of
St. Gallen voted overwhelmingly for the construction of a municipal
open access fiber network. The city began negotiations
with Swisscom, which was designated as the construction partner,
but the negotiations have been put on hold until the end
of April. In the meantime, a local ISP, mhs@internet, has announced
that it is ready to deliver services over the network.
In Basel, municipal energy utility IWB is also negotiating
with Swisscom to build and operate a fiber optic network.
Construction is scheduled to start this year, and the network
is slated to reach 80 percent of Basel within 10 years, with “no
cherry picking of enterprise customers and large properties,” according
to David Thiel, CEO of IWB. All service providers will
be guaranteed non-discriminatory and equal access to the network.
Network services are expected to include not only triple
play residential services but Web-enabled business applications.
14 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | April 2009

Deployer Spotlight
International
deployment activity.
United
Kingdom Netherlands
Germany
Switzerland
Slovakia
Slovenia
France Serbia
Greece
United Arab
Emirates
Singapore
Indonesia
Australia
City of Richland, WA .. . . . . . . . www.ci.richland.wa.us
City of Seattle, WA.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.seattle.gov
City of Windom, MN.......... www.windom-mn.com
Connexion
Technologies.......... www.connexiontechnologies.net
States with fresh
deployment activity.
North American Telcos
Ballard Telephone .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.brtc.net
Broadweave Networks................. www.broadweave.com
Enhanced Telecommunications Corporation.www.etczone.com
Nex-Tech (Rural Telephone).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.nex-tech.com
Peoples Rural Telephone..................... www.prtcnet.org
SureWest Communications................ www.surewest.com
Verizon Communications .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.verizon.com
Wiggins Telephone Association.. . . . . . . . . . www.wigginstel.com
Other North American Deployers
City of Northfield, MN. ............... www.ci.northfield.mn.us
City of Palo Alto, CA............................. www.pafd.org
International Deployers
Arcor. .......................................www.arcor.de
Biznet.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.biznetnetworks.com
City of Manchester, UK.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.manchester.gov.uk
City of St. Gallen, Switzerland .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.stadt.sg.ch
City of Karditsa, Greece........................................
Etisalat .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.etisalat.ae
Ewz. ............................................ www.ewz.ch
Government of Australia. ............... www.australia.gov.au
Iliad .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . http://iliad.fr/en
Infocomm Development
Authority of Singapore . ...................www.ida.gov.sg
IWB. ............................................. www.iwb.ch
NetAachen.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.netaachen.de
OptiComm .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.opticomm.com
Reggefiber .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.reggefiber.nl
Slovak Telekom.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.slovaktelekom.sk/En
Swisscom...................................... en.swisscom.ch
Telekom Slovenia.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.telekom.si/en
Telstra.....................................www.telstra.com.au
And in Zurich, where municipal utility ewz deployed an open
access FTTH network in 2008, Swisscom and alternative provider
Sunrise have both launched triple-play services over the
network. Both companies say these are trial offerings and they
have yet to determine the terms of commercial offerings.
Slovenia Now an FTTH Leader
In its 2008 annual report, Telekom Slovenia says that as of
year-end 2008 there were about 45,000 FTTH subscribers in
the country, 15,000 of whom were Telekom Slovenia customers.
Despite the service being new, FTTH already accounts for more
than 10 percent of broadband connections in Slovenia and FTTH
connections are “rising sharply.” As a percentage of households,
FTTH penetration in Slovenia is the third highest in Europe and
about double that of the United States. Telekom Slovenia plans to
continue building out its FTTH network in 2009.
In the Greek city of Karditsa, a pilot FTTH project in
the central city is delivering Internet connectivity at speeds of
1 Gbps to users’ homes. The network was constructed by the
Greek telecom equipment supplier Optronics Technologies.
Because this was the first FTTH project in Greece and the
company wanted to gain experience implementing a variety of
April 2009 | www.broadbandproperties.com | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | 15

technologies, they tried and compared a number of solutions
including point-to-point, direct cable access, multiducts and
bend-limiting fibers.
An unidentified Serbian operator is fiber-wiring the “sports
village” for the Universiade 2009 sports and cultural festival,
which is being held in Belgrade this summer. This is the first
FTTB/FTTH deployment in Serbia, and it will be used to deliver
triple play services. The deployment will be managed by
system integrator Saga and will use home gateways and software
from Tilgin.
Slovak Telekom, a Slovakian subsidiary of Deutsche
Telekom, completed the first phase of its fiber-to-the-business
network deployment project with the assistance of Huawei
Technologies. With 34 sites and 90,000 subscriber lines, the
first phase of the nationwide commercial project was completed
in just five months and is one of the largest GPON deployments
in Eastern Europe. A Slovak Telekom official notes, “The deployment
enables us to reduce network costs and simplify network
structure, greatly enhancing the subscriber experience.”
Universal FTTP Service in Singapore
The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore took
another big step toward its national broadband network with
the award of a contract to StarHub, until now a cable and
wireless provider. Last year Singapore awarded a contract to
a consortium known as Opennet to build out fiber to every
premises in the country, supplemented by wireless service to
“non building address points” like buses and streetlights. Now
StarHub, with the help of a $165 million (US) subsidy from
the Singapore government, will install the FTTH electronics
(a mixture of active Ethernet and GPON), operate the network
and contract with third-party retail service providers. Residential
broadband will be available at speeds up to 1 Gbps/500
Mbps, and business broadband will be available at speeds up
to 1 Gbps symmetrical. Flexible wholesale service offerings by
StarHub will allow retail service providers to meet demands
for different classes of service, ranging from best-effort to highavailability.
The rollout should be 60 percent complete in 2010
and 100 percent complete by January 1, 2013.
Middle Eastern telecom provider Etisalat announced the
availability of fixed-line broadband services of 8 Mbps and 16
Mbps for customers connected to its next-generation FTTH
network. Etisalat aims to connect the entire city of Abu Dhabi
to fiber by mid-2009, making it one of the first cities in the
world to be fully connected by FTTH and the first city and
capital in the Middle East to have full FTTH connectivity.
“To succeed in broadband in the future, a company must be
service and application driven and not just capacity driven,” says
Nasser bin Obood, Etisalat’s chief corporate affairs officer. “We
have now crossed the 500,000 broadband subscribers mark in
the UAE, which brings Internet penetration to around 60 percent.
This is above many international benchmarks and means
that to grow penetration even further, we need to take a different
16 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | April 2009

approach – we need to be service driven.”
Bin Obood identifies four areas of potential
growth in services: digital home
technologies, smart home technologies,
IPTV and technical support.
Indonesian provider Biznet has expanded
its FTTH services to the island
of Bali. It launched services in January in
a region at the southern end of the island
that is popular with tourists – including
business travelers, who need reliable Internet
services. Both business and residential
services are provided.
Ninety Percent of Australia
Will Be Fiber-Wired
In a surprise move, the government of
Australia canceled the RFP for a national
broadband network – and announced
that it would build and operate
an open access network itself, in partnership
with the private sector. The government
announced the establishment
of a company to build and operate the
network, which it calls “the single largest
nation building infrastructure project
in Australian history.”
Under the plan, every house, school
and business in Australia will get access
to affordable fast broadband. A FTTP
network will deliver broadband services
with speeds up to 100 Mbps to 90 percent
of all Australian homes, schools
and workplaces – virtually everyone in
a town with a population of 1,000 or
more. All other premises will be connected
with next-generation wireless
and satellite technologies at broadband
speeds of 12 Mbps.
The government will be the majority
shareholder of the new company,
but significant private investment is expected.
The total investment – government
and private – will amount to $30
billion (US) over an eight-year period.
Within five years after the network is
built out and operational, the Government
plans to sell down its interest in
the company.
Next steps are to begin an implementation
plan for the full-scale project,
beef up the nation’s fiber backbone, and
at the same time start rolling out FTTP
and next-generation wireless in Tasmania
(the island of Tasmania is a state in
Australia, and the state government had
bid on the RFP as a regional network
builder) as early as July of this year. Nationwide,
all greenfield developments
will be required to use FTTP technology
after July 2010.
This last requirement shouldn’t be difficult
to achieve, given that many greenfield
housing developments in Australia
are already being fiber-wired by a variety
of telecom providers. Incumbent provider
Telstra has about 3,100 homes in greenfield
developments on its FTTH Velocity
network, and it recently announced
plans to upgrade Velocity to peak speeds
of 100 Mbps – five times the current
peak speed – by the end of the year. According
to Group Managing Director
Holly Kramer, “This upgrade will ensure
residents can continue to access the communication
and entertainment facilities
they need now and into the future. Over
time the focus of the 100 Mbps upgrade
will shift from multiple users within the
household enjoying simultaneous access
to existing products to new, high-speed
services as they emerge.”
Another Australian provider, Opticomm,
is also building and operating
FTTH networks in greenfield developments,
serving both residential and
business customers. Opticomm is also
planning to provide access at speeds up
to 100 Mbps to residential customers,
using technology supplied by NEC Australia.
For business users, OptiComm
will use NEC’s FTTH optical terminal
equipment with 1 Gbps ports, which
supplies both Internet access and virtual
LAN service.
OptiComm has entered into agreements
with several ISPs, and is finalizing
agreements with several others, to
deliver retail high-speed broadband and
telephone services over its wholesale access
FTTH networks. Several free and
subscription video services are also available
on the networks. “FTTH is no longer
a nice-to-have, but a must for new
residential and mixed-use developments.
Indeed, we’re seeing it being mandated
by many of the large developers who
have identified it as a disadvantage not to
have high-speed broadband connectivity
in new homes,” says Phil Smith, General
Manager, OptiComm. BBP
About the Author
You can reach Masha at masha@broad
bandproperties.com.
April 2009 | www.broadbandproperties.com | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | 17

Gaming in the Cloud,
Internet TV… and More
The number of broadband households is reaching the critical mass needed
to spur the development of new devices and applications – and that, in turn,
will create even more demand for more and better broadband connections.
New consumer applications for
ultra-broadband – the kind of
high-bandwidth, super-reliable,
low-latency, no-monthly-cap broadband
that only fiber to the home can deliver –
are arriving at an accelerated rate. Here
are some of this month’s sightings:
• OnLive’s new gaming service threatens
to make gaming hardware go the
way of the dinosaur. The company
came out of stealth mode to announce
an online platform, seven
years in development, on which
hard-core gamers can play solo or
multiplayer games using either a TV
(with a tiny, inexpensive “MicroConsole”)
or almost any PC or Mac. “No
high-end hardware, no upgrades,
no endless downloads, no discs, no
recalls, no obsolescence,” says Steve
Perlman, the company’s founder and
CEO. Gamers can watch live games
in action, join in at any point, and
network with friends. The platform
should appeal to publishers and developers because it reduces
development costs while expanding the potential
market size – and, in fact, most of the major publishers have
already signed on (or invested in the company). Because the
games run “in the cloud” and not on the user’s computer
or console, there’s only one thing required to use OnLive:
seriously good broadband.
• Apple just began selling and renting high-definition movies
for download through its iTunes store. (Some television
episodes were already available in HD.) Where Apple goes,
its competitors aren’t far behind. Amazon is rumored to be
testing a high-definition progressive download service for
movies and TV with some TiVo users. And new technology
like Akamai AdaptiveEdge Streaming for Microsoft Silverlight
lets content providers offer broadband video that
automatically adapts to the user’s bandwidth – the higher
the bandwidth, the higher the resolution.
OnLive’s approach to gaming hardware is low-cost and minimalist because the
game engine is online.
• Research firm Parks Associates reports that about 2.5 million
broadband households in the US and Canada would
be willing to purchase an Internet-connected TV (like the
11 new Wooo models just introduced by Hitachi) at a price
premium of $100 over regular TVs. The top application
that consumers want through a connected TV is access to
video-on-demand content from the Internet (other possible
applications are on-screen widgets and playback of content
stored on home computers). “Access to additional content
is the key demand driver,” notes John Barrett, director of
research at Parks Associates. “Most people can get popular
video titles through their pay-TV providers, but if they
want to watch niche or personal content on their TV, they
have to burn or buy DVDs. With a connected TV, they
suddenly have lots more options.” Parks Associates’ finding
calls into question the walled-garden approach that is
being used by several TV manufacturers, which essentially
attempts to recreate the cable VoD offering. BBP
18 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | April 2009

Strong Growth for FTTH
Worldwide sales of PON equipment are still growing briskly, and a new
study forecasts a tripling of FTTx subscribers by 2013.
Forecast: 145 Million FTTx Subscriptions
by 2013
The number of global FTTx subscriptions
will almost triple between
now and the end of 2013,
according to research firm Informa Telecoms
& Media (www.informatm.com),
but operators face some key challenges.
According to Informa Telecoms &
Media’s “FTTx: A Global Analysis,”
there were 49 million fiber-to-the-home,
fiber-to-the-building and VDSL subscriptions
in 2008. However, subscriptions
are clustered in only a few countries
and fiber is still not a reality for
consumers in most countries.
The majority of FTTx subscriptions
are in Asia, where pioneering fiber nations
Japan and Korea have 13.4 million
and 7.0 million FTTx subscriptions respectively.
Chinese operators have been
aggressively upgrading their legacy networks
to fiber, and there are now 16.6
million FTTx subscriptions in that
country.
By 2013, Informa predicts there will
be 145 million subscriptions – just under
one in five of all global broadband subscriptions.
Much of this growth will be
fueled by Europe and North America.
Except for a few alternative operators,
FTTx growth in Western Europe has
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20 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | April 2009

een sluggish to date. But greater regulatory
certainty and wider acceptance of
the benefits of fiber will generate 21.6
million FTTx subscriptions by 2013,
or total household penetration of 10.5
percent. While the global financial crisis
will cause some operators to slow spending
down in the short term, Informa
does not expect this to significantly alter
uptake through to 2013.
Central and Eastern Europe, not
currently thought of as an advanced
broadband region, will have an FTTx
penetration rate comparable to Western
Europe by 2013, with 10.6 million
subscriptions. Operators in Central and
Eastern Europe are taking advantage of a
high proportion of multi-dwelling units
(MDUs) and a lax regulatory regime to
quickly roll out FTTB in the region.
North America, too, will see significant
growth. As a result of aggressive
rollouts from both AT&T and Verizon,
there will be 24 million FTTx subscriptions
in North America in 2013, making
up 22 percent of the total market.
On the other hand, some of today’s lead
“A whole host of new services were developed
once broadband became more prevalent, and the
same thing will happen with FTTx.”
fiber markets will see some slowdown
in growth as they approach saturation.
FTTH and FTTB in Japan, for example,
will have a compound annual
growth rate of only 7.9 percent.
With a few exceptions, most operators
with advanced FTTx rollout plans
have not made money from their new
networks. Some will try and charge
more for FTTx but others, including
alternative operators Fastweb of Italy,
France’s Free and Sweden’s Bredbandsbolaget
are charging the same or even
less for their premium services as their
legacy services.
There are also few value-added services
or applications that rely on the extra
bandwidth of FTTx. But this should
not stop operators from rolling out. “Ultimately,
the revenue will come,” says
Cottle. “The only service that truly took
advantage of the extra bandwidth that
DSL provided over dial-up was peer-topeer
downloading. A whole host of new
services were developed once broadband
became more prevalent, and the same
thing will happen with FTTx.”
The challenge for operators, Informa
says, is to avoid the mistake they made
with the first generation of broadband
by letting others develop services while
they provided only connectivity. They
must play to their strengths as operators
to make sure that, where they are in
the position to do so, they are the ones
providing services for their subscribers.
They should also look to take advantage
of some FTTx’s other benefits, such as
the potential to increase their wholesale
shares and the associated revenue benefits
this will bring. BBP
4Q08 PON Revenue Up 38% Year Over Year
Quarterly manufacturer revenue
for passive optical network
equipment (BPON, EPON,
GPON, and WDM-PON) was $564
million in 4Q08, up 38 percent from
4Q07 but about equal to 3Q08, according
to market research firm Infonetics
(www.infonetics.com).
Flat spending in the fourth quarter
reflects a slight pause in GPON network
buildouts outside the US but continued
growth of EPON-based FTTH and
FTTB deployments in Japan, South
Korea, and China.
PON manufacturer revenue is forecast
to grow at a rapid compound annual
growth rate of 23 percent between 2008
and 2013, as the shift from copper- to fiber-based
broadband access drives growth
in this market around the world. The
PON and Ethernet FTTH equipment
market continues to be one of the most
dynamic in the world, with operators
around the globe prioritizing deep fiber
deployments to stem the loss of copperbased
access lines, reduce opex, and increase
revenue via premium broadband,
IPTV, online gaming, and femtocells.
Infonetics expects the current economic
climate to have a minimal impact
on FTTH equipment spending because
it remains a top strategic priority for
those operators that have committed
to it. BBP
April 2009 | www.broadbandproperties.com | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | 21

Municipal FTTH Deployment Snapshot
Gainesville Regional Utilities
– Gainesville, Florida
This month’s featured municipal FTTH deployer is Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRUCom), the fiber-to-the-home provider
for the city of Gainesville, Florida, and surrounding areas. GRU began by providing network connectivity to city government
and schools – which it still does – and expanded its mission to deliver Ethernet-based services to businesses in the 1990s,
well before fiber-to-the-premises technology had even come of age. Later it added connections to MDUs, predominantly for
student housing (GRU’s residential service is called Gator.net, after the University of Florida’s athletic teams), and in 2007
it began serving fiber to homes in greenfield housing developments. Our thanks to Frank Latini, Technical Services Manager,
and Tammy Snyder, Network Operations Center Supervisor, for gathering the information for this snapshot. Find out more at
www.gru.com.
– BBP Editors
Background
Provider name: Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRUCom)
Public entity owning the provider:
City of Gainesville, Florida
FTTH/FTTB service area: Gainesville Regional Utilities service
area, which includes Gainesville and the surrounding
unincorporated areas
Number of FTTH/FTTB subscribers: 4,800
Competitive landscape: AT&T offers DSL and telephone;
Cox Communications offers triple-play services
Network Profile
Miles of fiber backbone: 300 cable miles
Network architecture: Active Ethernet – FTTB for businesses
and multiple dwelling units, FTTH for greenfield
housing developments
Business model: Both wholesale (bulk services through
MDU owners) and retail
Services offered: GRUCom provides both Metro Ethernet
and SONET-based services including high-speed Internet
access (bulk and retail), data transport, data center
co-location, public safety data and radio communications,
and carrier-class, point-to-point data circuits. Accelerated
dial-up Internet access is also offered.
Highest tier Internet access speeds:
100 Mbps symmetrical
Year deployment started: GRUCom began offering commercial
services in 1996, then added high-speed Internet
access in 2000.
Years to complete buildout: Buildout is continuing;
the FTTH project begun in 2007 will take 10 years
to complete
Economic Development Impact
Our network has attracted businesses to the area and allowed
them to expand. The Progress Corporate Park,
located outside Alachua, Florida, is one example. The research
park is home to many businesses, including the
University of Florida’s Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator.
Since we began offering services to businesses in the park
in 1998 there has been growth in the biotech sector and
new buildings continue to spring up in the park.
GRUCom is also scheduled to provide fiber services to
Santa Fe College’s new Alachua Corporate Training Center,
which will be located next to Progress Corporate Park. The
center will provide workforce training for the biotech industry.
The City of Gainesville also partnered with the Council
on Economic Development to provide high-speed connectivity
to the Gainesville Technology Enterprise Center, which
fosters early-stage technology start-up companies. Several
businesses that received connectivity at the enterprise center
have matured and moved to locations where GRUCom’s
services are available and continue to use them today. The
22 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | April 2009

Municipal FTTH Deployment Snapshot
fiber network has also allowed several existing companies to
receive superior service at much lower prices.
FTTH Deployment Team
Design, construction, installation, and integration are all
handled in-house by GRUCom staff
Deployment Details
Aerial, underground, or both? Both
Method for underground installation: Directional boring;
all underground fiber is in conduit
Method for connecting fiber: Field splicing
Operating Equipment
Central office electronics: Nortel and Cisco routers and
switches
Fiber cables: Corning
Customer premises equipment: ReadyLinks Rhino Optical
Services Gateway (OSG and OSG-H), Transition Networks
media converters
Key Software
B/OSS: SAP
Geographic Information System: ESRI
Network management system: OSP Insight
Network Operation
Number of central office personnel: 6
Number of OSP personnel: 6
Number of CSRs: 9
Biggest Challenge
Our biggest challenge has been explaining to our customers,
in terms that are meaningful to them, why FTTH is so
much better than copper. Recently during a conversion
from Long-Reach Ethernet [a protocol that delivers highspeed
data over copper wires] to FTTH many customers
questioned why we were making the switch. Because the
technology is new to this area, many did not know the benefits
of fiber, why they should want a fiber connection and
how it will pave the way for the next wave of technology.
Sometimes in our excitement to provide customers with
better services, we forget the importance of educating
them so they see the value in what we are doing.
Biggest Success
Our biggest success was bringing FTTH to our community.
By operating an active Ethernet network, we have ensured
that our users do not experience bottlenecks during peakusage
times. Because we are in an academic community,
we pride ourselves on managing our network so it is consistently
reliable and consistently fast – the key word being
“consistent.”
As a municipal utility, we are very community-focused,
and part of that community is the large student population
that we serve. Gainesville is unusual in that we have
the University of Florida, Santa Fe College, Shands at UF
Teaching Hospital and a large Veteran’s hospital, as well as
a growing biotech industry. We are continuing to grow our
FTTB service because there is such a demand from property
owners whose residents need high-speed Internet service.
As a local provider, we are aware of the nuances in our community
and tailor our services to meet those needs.
We watch the academic calendar and plan our maintenance
around it, and we staff so that we are prepared for
issues. Reliability is so important to us that in 2004 we dispatched
staff to fix a network issue in the midst of making
hurricane preparations for a storm that was approaching
our area and expected to make landfall the next day. BBP
Contact Masha Zager at masha@broadbandproperties.
com if you would like your municipal fiber deployment
to be featured in Broadband Properties.
April 2009 | www.broadbandproperties.com | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | 23

Artist Rendering
Trump Plaza Jersey City
By Joe Bousquin ■ Contributing Editor, Broadband Properties
This month’s showcased property is Trump Plaza Jersey City, a luxury tower developed by Metro Homes in partnership
with the Trump Organization. The developer worked with private cable operator BroadStar Communications to
deploy fiber to the unit, and leveraged Dish Network’s QAM solution to provide bulk video and Internet services to
residents, as well as telephony. Our thanks to Metro Homes founder Dean Geibel, as well as BroadStar’s Tyler and Russell
Bell, for their assistance in preparing this feature.
Basic Property Information
When Dean Geibel, founder of Hoboken, New Jerseybased
developer Metro Homes, set out to build the
tallest residential building in New Jersey on the
Hudson River’s Gold Coast, he knew he couldn’t skimp on the
details. Not only did he want to command prices significantly
higher than the going market rate in up-and-coming Jersey
City; he also had a partner whose name, which was franchised
to the building, would undoubtedly raise buyers’ expectations:
Donald Trump.
Every aspect of Trump Plaza Jersey City, which Geibel built
and which the Trump Organization now manages, had to be
top-notch, from the 24/7 concierge service and valet parking,
to the rooftop resort and spa, 26-foot demilune heated thermal
bath, Brown Labrador polished granite counters and cherry
ginger cabinets. Even the views, which include the Manhattan
skyline, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, are world-class.
“The Trump name is considered the gold standard in luxury
housing,” says Geibel. “When you buy from Trump, you
expect everything, and we really wanted to put anything and
everything we possibly could into this building. It’s very much
like living in a luxury hotel.”
So when it came to choosing the technology package for
the building, Geibel couldn’t afford to go halfway. Through
a partnership with private cable operator BroadStar Communications,
based in Williamstown, New Jersey, all 444 homes
in the 55-story tower now enjoy fiber-to-the-unit connectivity.
Multiple three-port Ethernet jacks provide plug-and-play
Internet, TV and phone connectivity, and residents can enjoy
Internet speeds up to 18 Mbps. In-unit networking allows
computers, printers and other peripherals to connect to one
another automatically.
Artist Rendering
24 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | April 2009

Above: Fiber terminations at headend. The distribution trunk cables are
spliced onto the back side, and the front side connections you see feed
them with signal. Each yellow fiber on the leftmost of the three racks feeds
a unit. There is a spare fiber run below each connection you see.
BroadStar deployed Dish Network’s Quadrature Amplitude
Modulation (QAM) system, which feeds programming
to multiple units from a single dish and supports dual analog
and digital signals. The set-up provides must-take bulk television
services to residents, who pay for the base package through
their condominium association fees and can select upgraded
programming for additional fees paid to BroadStar. Packages
include Korean and other international programming options
to serve the area’s Asian communities.
While plans to complete a second tower at the project have
been put on hold due to the current economic climate, Geibel
says having the technology amenity has helped his sales velocity
and pricing, and 82 percent of the first tower has been sold.
“This is one more amenity that’s helping us close deals,”
Geibel says. “In this market, we’re throwing everything at
them, including the kitchen sink, and this system is certainly
something we can hang our hat on.” Prices start in the high
$300,000s for a studio, and range into the millions; one of the
building’s “grand” penthouses recently sold for $2.4 million.
The building also represented a coup for BroadStar, which
collects an average of $147 per unit for its services each month.
While many other Trump-branded properties have deployed
Verizon’s FiOS services, Geibel says BroadStar stood out in the
bidding process for the job, both in terms of price and technological
capabilities.
“Money is always a big consideration, and BroadStar gave
us significantly lower rates than the incumbent providers,”
Geibel says. “But beyond that, we have a 100-percent fiber distribution
system that’s one of the most advanced in the entire
state. It’s been performing well, and is extremely stable. We felt
the price was right, and that what was offered was better than
what we saw from other providers.”
Tyler Bell, CEO of the private cable operator, says part of
the firm’s winning equation was its service commitment. “If
Above: Ports on right are CWDM combiners. Each fiber there carries all
three services to each of the 1x32 splitters. Inputs behind each green
output are for video and for data (phone, Internet). Calix equipment feeds
the data side. Video-only outputs from optical three-way splitters are
at left.
we get a call on noon at Friday, we’ll be out there Friday afternoon,”
Bell says. “A lot of developers in that situation would
just choose the incumbent, with the thinking that it’s the safe
choice. I was impressed by Metro’s willingness to choose a
PCO, and taking a position that we could provide faster Internet
and more services.”
Vital Stats
Located at Washington and Bay Streets in Jersey City, Trump
Plaza I is the first of two planned towers hailed as the tallest
residential buildings in New Jersey. At 532 feet, Trump Plaza I
tops out at 55 stories housing 444 condo units. Luxurious interiors
are complemented by an onsite resort and spa, 24-hour
concierge service and breathtaking views of Manhattan, Ellis
Island and the Statue of Liberty.
Greenfield or retrofit? Greenfield
Number of residential units completed: 444
High-rise/mid-rise/garden style? High-rise
Date services started being delivered: June 2008
Technology
How is fiber distributed inside the building?
Russell Bell, Vice President of Field Operations, BroadStar: We
deployed 14 144-count, single-mode Superior Essex fiber
trunks to the 14 intermediate distribution frames (IDFs).
From these locations, we deployed 4-count, single-mode
“home run” cables to the structured wiring box (SWB) located
inside each unit. All trunks were terminated inside
our headend onto Standard Connector/Angled Physical
Contact (SC/APC) panels. Two fibers were spliced all the
way through to each unit, with one primary and one spare,
which leaves the potential for two additional lines to be
spliced through to each unit if ever needed.
April 2009 | www.broadbandproperties.com | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | 25

Above: This is a fiber splicing junction in an IDF, where a fiber trunk is
spliced to the home-run drop fibers going to the units.
Above: A chassis of 1x32-way optical splitters (that is, with one line in and
32 out). Each output fiber carries phone, cable, and Internet, and eventually
feeds an ONT in each living unit.
From the SWB in the unit, we
have home-run wires to each wall
plate using one coax, one Ethernet
and one phone cable. There are
as many as eight wall plates within
a unit.
Why did you choose this distribution architecture?
Stability, flexibility, future
proofing and redundancy.
What is the FTTH technology and who’s
the electronics vendor? This is a fiberto-the-unit
framework, deployed
over PON equipment from Calix.
Are you using MDU or SFU ONTs? We
deployed the Calix 720G ONT,
which is a single-family unit. Each
home has its own ONT with one
Ethernet port, two phone ports and
one cable port. The cable port feeds
an 8-way splitter, and each phone
port feeds all drops within the unit.
The Ethernet port is preconnected to
the kitchen jack.
How was the technology installed to reduce
cost and protect the aesthetic? All cabling
is within riser closets, hallway
drop ceilings, and free wired in the
walls to the structured wiring box
during preconstruction.
Have you provided wireless signals within
units, or are residents free to set up
their own wireless access points? Broad-
Star wireless service is offered in the
common areas, and owners have the
The structured wiring box located in each unit
contains the ONT, battery backup, fiber tray, coax
splitter, phone punch-down board and blue Cat
5 Ethernet cable running to the wallplates.
option of adding their own wireless
router within their units. When
that’s the case, we try to educate the
customer on password-protecting
their connection.
How much square footage did you have
to dedicate to the network inside the
building? Could closets be shared with
other utilities, or did you need to create
a dedicated maintenance space? Our
headend space is a dedicated room
that’s about 10’x 15.’ Our IDF space
is shared and only takes 3’ x 3’ of
wall space.
If your property has multiple buildings, is
the network distributed between them
via aerial or underground means, or
both? Two 4-inch underground conduits
have been laid to connect the
two towers when complete.
Services
Does the building have triple play services?
Yes.
Can residents subscribe to IPTV?
Russell Bell: No, but the distribution is
capable of offering it. We have chosen
to provide a digital QAM service
offered through Dish Network. We
went in this direction because they
offer a larger selection of ethnic programming,
and because the technology
can be serviced by a traditional
cable technician who doesn’t have to
be trained in IP networking – which
translates into lower overall service
costs to BroadStar for the network
as a whole.
The upgrade option supports
standard and hi-def receivers, as well
as standard and hi-def DVR/receivers.
The equipment cost and time to
26 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | April 2009

install is significantly less than the IP
method, and it can be deployed over
traditional cable TV coax plants, as
well as fiber.
Tyler Bell: We are actually strong believers
in offering an analog tier as well
as digital services. I know there’s
this big buzz that everybody is only
interested in digital TV, but we are
challenging that a little bit. There is
definitely a demand for digital television,
but when you have three to
five bedrooms and you have kids,
you don’t necessarily want five or
six set-top boxes just so the kids can
watch the Cartoon Network on the
television in the kitchen or their bedrooms.
Many customers would rather
have an analog signal for those sets,
and plug them straight into the back
of their TVs. So having a combination
of analog and digital, I think
for a long time is still going to be the
best solution. There is a push to alldigital,
which, by the way, is much
cheaper. It’s easier to do all-digital or
all-IP. But we think that the investment
into analog is valuable.
Do residents have a choice of service providers?
How many service providers
can they choose from?
Russell Bell: Currently, since New Jersey
is a mandatory-access state,
they have the choice of BroadStar
or Comcast. However, we have an
agreement to provide bulk cable (25
channels) and bulk Internet (up to
386 Kbps) to each unit. The fee for
this base package, which amounts
to approximately $45 per month, is
built into the homeowners association
dues. Residents can subscribe to
upgraded services and speeds for an
additional charge.
How did the owner set up the dual choice
capabilities, from a wiring and business
standpoint?
Russell Bell: Although Comcast has cabled
the building, because we laid
fiber all the way into the SWB inside
the units, they have not resolved
their challenge of getting cable from
the hallway into the units themselves.
In a mandatory-access state,
outside providers have the right to
access established lines at 10 inches
outside the unit. But because we ran
fiber and not coax, they have no serviceable
wire to intercept outside the
unit at that distance.
The irony is that some companies
want to play it safe by running a coax
cable, running a fiber line, and running
a phone line so they can have redundancy,
because who knows what
might come down the road. But if we
had run a coax cable, our competitors
would have the right to use it.
Tyler Bell: That’s another really nice advantage
of running fiber to the unit.
There’s a little bit of protection in it
for us.
If residents have an issue or technical challenge,
whom do they call? BroadStar.
Business
Who owns the network? BroadStar.
Was there a door fee? If so, what was it?
BroadStar paid the developer $150
per door, which was significantly less
than what other providers were offering
at the time (up to $700). The
developer paid for all labor to run the
lines within the building, and within
each unit. Metro Homes also paid for
the wall plates within the unit.
Are services automatically included in the
rent or condo fees? If not, what was the
initial take rate? Basic cable and Internet
is included in the condominium
fees. Internet upgrades to 18 Mbps
service are running at about 40 percent,
with digital television upgrades
running at about 70 percent. Phone
upgrades are at 25 percent.
Who handles billing and collection?
BroadStar bills residents directly for
any upgraded services. The Trump
Organization collects the condominium
fees.
How are the services marketed, and by
whom? Residents receive welcome
packages explaining BroadStar’s services
when they move in.
What has the return been on this implementation,
in dollars or otherwise?
Dean Geibel: This is one more way to
differentiate ourselves from the
competition, one more thing for us
to brag about. When someone asks,
“Do you have the bandwidth?” we
can honestly say yes. And not only
that, but we can say that this is one
of the most advanced systems available
anywhere right now. And it’s
not just smoke and mirrors. You can
point to these things. They’re real.
Why did the property owner decide to
structure the deployment in this way,
from a business perspective?
Russell Bell: Metro Homes was initially
April 2009 | www.broadbandproperties.com | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | 27

unaware of our method of fiber deployment.
The benefit was that they negotiated a great
bulk rate, with a reputable company with 25
years in the business.
Onsite Experience/Lessons Learned
What was the biggest challenge?
Russell Bell: Working with the unions. Since we
didn’t have the option to pull our own cable,
many of the drops were pulled in an incorrect
manner, causing many of the drops to fail
their light testing. The fix was to replace and
resplice these faulty drops.
What was the biggest success?
Russell Bell: Calix has been an outstanding
product. It offers the ability to remote activate/deactivate
any service and adjust bandwidth
usage for any customer. These ONTs
will also alert us of power failures, battery
backup failures and signal issues. It’s a very
stable system with great customer support.
Dean Geibel: I think it’s the fact that it provides one-stop shopping
for our residents. If there is a problem, it’s one phone
call. There’s no finger-pointing between different people.
BroadStar provides everything, and their service is excellent.
It’s nice that they take care of the whole ball of wax.
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How has the network affected life at the community? How has it
helped reposition the community?
Russell Bell: Because we chose Dish Network’s QAM solution
for the cable TV upgrade, residents have the option to
choose a wide variety of ethnic programming not offered by
other providers. Since this property has a very high Korean
population, these kinds of custom programming packages
have been well received. We also offer a South Asian package,
Japanese, Spanish and others.
I would also note that for Internet, we offer more bandwidth
than the incumbent, as well as unlimited, full-featured
phone service, for less cost.
What would you say to owners who want to deploy a similar network?
What issues should they consider before they get started?
Russell Bell: Try to avoid unions. For BroadStar, unions add
about 75 percent to the cost of any job, even when we pay
our in-house people prevailing wages. Developers should
negotiate, up front, their ability to outsource certain parts
of their construction, or at least the communications portion,
to union-approved subcontractors, so that you’re not
beholden solely to the union alone.
Dean Geibel: As in any business decision, you’re looking at value
– what does it cost to provide these services, versus what it
would cost if you went to a competitor, or if you broke it
up into different systems. You need to consider what another
provider might offer, and whether you would get the
same types of services, as well as whether all these services
are necessary.
In a building like Trump Plaza, it is an absolute necessity.
In a smaller or less prestigious building, you might be
able to get away with not providing the best of everything,
but I think doing so is money well spent, because people
are more and more savvy about their technology choices
these days. BBP
BOUND EDGE
28 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | April 2009

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international
New Applications on
Display in Paris
Our roving reporter has seen the future, and it works….or, rather, teleworks.
Smart grid and health care applications are gaining traction, too.
By John Schultz ■ U-reka Broadband Ventures
The 2009 Alcatel-Lucent
Enterprise Forum held in
Paris in March provided
glimpses of some interesting
applications to fill
the broadband pipe enabled by fiber to
the premises. It also offered an opportunity
to catch up on the development of
FTTP networks in both Europe and the
United States.
Telework in the Arctic
The Forum provided many ideas for service
providers looking to layer additional
applications across their networks. One of
these was telework – specifically the ability
for enterprises to make their corporate
systems available in a secure environment
to their home-based employees.
The municipality of Arvidsjaur in
sparsely populated northern Sweden,
close to the Arctic Circle, is trying to lure
residents from elsewhere in Europe. In
case the stunning scenery and Northern
Lights aren’t enough to draw crowds, the
city has built an open access fiber network
(using GPON equipment and more than
600 km of fiber) that allows access to the
telecommunications services required for
telework applications. According to Glen
Ericsson, a representative of the network
operator CityNet, the incumbent telco,
Telia, does not ride over the municipal
network – but, interestingly, Verizon uses
the network to provide a high-capacity
circuit to an automobile testing facility
in the area.
FTTP and the Smart Grid
Dr. Mike Browder, CEO of Bristol Tennessee
Essential Services, provided an
We do not have to wait for electric utilities
to deploy their own networks in order to
deliver smart grid applications. Instead, the
utilities can deliver these applications through
partnerships with incumbent or competitive
telecommunications providers.
update on BTES’ fiber-to-the-premises
deployment and the synergies between
the energy and telecommunications
sides of the business. Dr. Browder said
that while the network was originally
built to facilitate economic development
(as he put it, “FTTP to every home
means each home is a potential business
incubator”), the capabilities of the network
had also improved the reliability
and the use of the electric grid.
One of the electric grid applications
includes the use of Carina Technology’s
home gateway to assist customers in
managing their hot water heaters, and
potentially to allow them to manage
other home appliances in the future. Dr.
Browder said that since deployment of
the fiber-to-the-premises system in Bristol,
electric outage times had fallen by
25 percent. Because the GPON system
does not rely on commercial power to
continue working (there are batteries in
the home and generators in the central
office), it can be used to pinpoint exactly
where an electrical outage was initiated.
Christian Muller-Elschner of T-Systems
(a division of Deutsche Telecom)
spoke about his company’s smart metering
pilot program in Friedrichshafen,
Germany. Under an arrangement with
electrical service providers, T-Systems
installs a smart meter and a gateway in
each home to gather, store and distribute
information about electrical usage in the
home. This system uses DSL and GRPS
(cellular) backhaul to bring the information
back to the T-System servers, where
both the utility and the end user can access
and use the information.
Currently the home gateway can
store up to three months of data, but
with a fiber-to-the-premises network this
information could be shared instantly
with the network servers to allow endusers
to make real-time decisions about
their electrical usage. The T-Systems
application can also gather information
about natural gas usage. In the future,
T-Systems envisions “micro-reading” all
appliances within the home to give residents
even more detailed information
about their utility usage.
The fact that it is the telecommunications
provider, not the electric utility,
delivering the service implies that we do
not have to wait for electric utilities to
deploy their own networks in order to
deliver smart grid applications. Instead,
they can deliver them through partner-
30 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | April 2009

international
ships with competitive and incumbent
service providers.
On the show floor I was able to see
the demo of the Alcatel Lucent Smart
Metering application, which both allows
the residential customer to see real-time
consumption patterns in the home and
also allows the electric utility to see the
consumption patterns of the entire electrical
network so it can perform tasks
such as load balancing.
Health Care Applications
Dr. Bill Fera from the University of
Pittsburgh Medical Center presented
his organization’s vision for using IT
in the health care system. The medical
center’s outpatient program, called
Roam Care, addresses three population
segments by keeping healthy people
healthy, reducing the chance of recurrences,
and managing active diseases.
The goal is to continually move patients
toward a healthier lifestyle, no matter
which of these groups they might be in.
Through broadband connections to the
Service providers should look toward the
enterprise market to find new features
and applications. By creating partnerships
to enable enterprises to reach out to the
residential market, they can find ways to
bring additional revenue to the bottom line.
analysis applications servers at the medical
centers, the sensors, medical devices
and controls within the home can communicate
the patient’s status back to the
medical center and manage the patient’s
health care requirements with fewer patient
visits.
Conclusion
As service providers continue to look for
applications to fill their broadband pipes,
it is important for us to look toward the
enterprise market to find new, innovative
features and applications. It is also
important for us as service providers to
find ways to bring additional revenue to
the bottom line by creating partnerships
to enable enterprises to reach out to the
residential market.
About the Author
John Schultz is President of U-reka Broadband
Ventures. U-reka Broadband works
with service providers, private business and
local units of government to develop business,
network and implementation plans
to build and use fiber optic networks. John
can be reached at jschultz@u-rekabroadband.com
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April 2009 | www.broadbandproperties.com | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | 31

Fiber
Here
to the
Single Family | Multiple Dwelling Units | Business
You are here. So is ADC.
No matter if you are an RLEC, ILEC, Municipality, Utility, Developer, MSO…
No matter what customer segments you serve…
No matter where you are with your deployment strategy…
ADC can make your FTTP plan a reality.
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FTTH Council | The Advantages of Fiber | 1

North American Deployments
As the number of
Fiber-to-the-Home
communities and real
estate developments
passed the 2,000 mark in
spring 2008, every region
in the country stood to
share in the bandwidth
capacity, reliability and
economic benefits of this
future-proof technology.
Almost One-Quarter of All US Households
Will be Passed by Fiber by 2011
30,000,000
25,000,000
25,000,000
20,000,000
20,000,000
15,000,000
15,500,000
10,000,000
11,000,000
6,099,000 7,000,000
5,000,000
3,625,000
1,619,500
-
Dec-00 Dec-01 Dec-02 Dec-03 Dec-04 Dec-05 Dec-06 Dec-07 Dec-08 Dec-09 Dec-10 Dec-11
Source: BBP LLC
2 | The Advantages of Fiber | FTTH Council

Contents
Reliability... Bandwidth... Affordability... Future-Proofing...
Standards... Security... Economic Development... Sustainability...
New Broadband Content and Services ... Higher Revenue...
Why FTTH, Why Now?......................................................................................................... 4
Fiber and Bandwidth............................................................................................................ 6
FTTH Users’ Stories.............................................................................................................. 8
The Inevitability of Bandwidth Growth................................................................................ 10
Applications for FTTH Providers: Beyond the Triple Play....................................................... 12
FTTH and Sustainability: The Environmental Choice............................................................ 15
Wanted: A Bigger Pipe....................................................................................................... 15
The Light Fantastic: Three Reasons Why............................................................................ 16
Builders, Real Estate Developers and FTTH......................................................................... 18
Focus on Municipal Priorities.............................................................................................. 22
Understanding the Technology in Greater Detail................................................................. 24
Zeros and Ones – The Looming Bandwidth Need............................................................... 26
FTTH in Comparison with Other Technologies..................................................................... 28
FTTH and Economic Development...................................................................................... 31
FTTH Council Certification Program.................................................................................... 32
This primer was originally written by Steven S. Ross and updated by him and by Masha Zager, both of the Broadband Properties staff. It summarizes
research commissioned by the FTTH Council as well as independent reporting by the authors.
FTTH Council | The Advantages of Fiber | 3

Why FTTH, Why Now?
Fiber to the home (FTTH) has become
a reality. More than 6 million consumers
now use direct fiber optic connections
to the home or building in the United
States, more than 13 million in Japan, and
about 32 million worldwide.
FTTH is widely recognized as the optimal
solution for providing broadband to new
and existing communities alike. In fact, several
thousand FTTH communities are flourishing
here. Why? FTTH offers more bandwidth
and more flexibility than alternatives,
at a similar price. It cost $84 billion for the
cable companies to pass about 100 million
households a decade ago, or $850 a household
($1,500 in today’s dollars), with a technology
that offers far less than FTTH in every
respect – lower reliability, lower bandwidth,
fewer connections inside the home. For less
money the phone companies, public utilities
and even some cable companies have been
installing future-proof fiber.
The basic technological and economic
challenges of FTTH have been resolved.
Based on the immense capacity of fiber – already
the foundation of the world’s telecommunications
system – FTTH is now being deployed
around the country and around the
world. Almost all large developers are putting
4 | The Advantages of Fiber | FTTH Council

fiber in their new developments. Larger
telcos are deploying it in the cities
and suburbs, and smaller telcos in the
rural areas. Municipalities in the U.S.
and elsewhere are finding FTTH can
be a feasible solution today that positions
their communities for tomorrow’s
jobs and economic growth.
Even today, FTTH subscribers
spend 20 to 30 percent more per
month than DSL subscribers – not
because basic services are more expensive
(they aren’t), but because
more and better premium services
are available.
For example, multiple simultaneous
HD channels are difficult to implement
over any medium but fiber;
3DTV and high-definition video communications,
which are coming up
soon, will be even more of a struggle.
But optical fiber can handle any
bandwidth demand with ease. In fact,
one bundle of fiber cable not much
thicker than a pencil can carry ALL
of the world’s current communications
traffic.
One bundle of
fiber cable not much
thicker than a pencil
can carry ALL of
the world’s current
communications traffic.
So why should there be any confusion
about what FTTH offers? Different
types of people have different
things in mind when they talk about
FTTH.
• Consumers think about the products
and services they can get today.
They can’t demand services they
don’t know about, or that have not
been invented.
• Engineers talk about the potential
bandwidth of fiber, which is virtually
unlimited.
• Political leaders, corporate economists
and academics think of fiber
as a utility that will enable people to
develop new products or start new
kinds of businesses.
Public infrastructure makes private
property more valuable. A house, for
instance, is generally worth much
more if it has access to a public street,
water, and sewer services, public
schools and other “utilities” than if it
does not. In Sweden, homes with fiber
connections sell at a 5 to 10 percent
premium. As a result, residents there
and elsewhere in Europe actually are
willing to pay some of the capital costs
of getting connected.
Real estate ads in Korea carry from one to four
stars to describe the bandwidth available. A
four-star rating generally requires fiber.
Just as people argue about “how
good is good” when it comes to roads
and schools, we argue about “how
much bandwidth is enough,” in what
form the bandwidth should be provided
and who might pay for it. Should it
look like a “telephone” system, which
historically uses a network technology
that differs from, say, an Ethernet
home or office network? Or perhaps
it should look like the networks cable
companies have developed for delivering
TV channels and other video.
But if you are working in property
development, building residential or
business structures, why would you
equip your building with 120-year-old
copper technology that is already obsolescent,
costs as much as (or more
than) fiber, and will be totally obsolete
in just a few years?
If you help run a telecom or cable
TV company, why would you cede
your competitive advantage to builders
of fiber networks – networks that
are cheap to run, reliable, and can
deliver premium services you can’t?
If you are a municipal official, can
you explain to voters and local businesses
that your community will be
bypassed by the successor to the Interstate
Highway System, the Information
Highway?
And if you are a consumer, can you
afford to buy a home that will have
to be modified in a few years to accommodate
that fancy new TV or the
phone system your job demands?
In this primer, we explain the technology
in a way you, the nonspecialist,
can understand.
We want to communicate... The advantages
of Fiber to the Home.
The Advantages
of Fiber
This primer covers the key economic
and technical issues surrounding
fiber to the home. When you’ve read
it, we believe you will agree that:
• FTTH – that is, fiber to the home
– is the only technology that will
deliver enough bandwidth, reliably
and at a low enough cost, to meet
the consumer demands of the
next decade.
• FTTH is affordable today, which
is why hundreds of companies
using hundreds of different business
cases worldwide are racing to
install it in thousands of locations.
• FTTH is the only technology that
will meet the needs of the foreseeable
future, when 3D, “holographic”
high-definition television and
games (products already in use
in industry, and on the drawing
boards at big consumer electronics
firms) will be in everyday use.
Think 20 to 30 gigabits per second
to each home in a decade. Copper
can’t do even 1/1000 th of that
bandwidth, and then not for more
than a few hundred yards.
• FTTH is already delivering highmargin
services that consumers
are willing to pay far more for than
traditional “cable TV.”
FTTH Council | The Advantages of Fiber | 5

Fiber and Bandwidth
Q: What is bandwidth?
A: In a network, bandwidth (what engineers
call bit rate) is the ability to carry information.
The more bandwidth you have, the
more information can be carried in a given
amount of time.
Q: How much bandwidth – or information
– do we need?
A: A standard-definition television signal requires
a bandwidth of about 2 Mbps – two
million bits (zeros and ones) per second.
HDTV requires as little as 4 Mbps if the image
is rather static – a person being interviewed,
for instance. But fast action, such as some
sporting events, requires more – as much as
8 Mbps, even with new compression technology
such as MPEG4. 3D immersive HDTV – a
technology already being used in some academic
and industrial settings – will require
100 to 300 Mbps when it is widely sold to individual
consumers, a few years from now.
Q: What about data?
A: Bandwidth requirements are exploding for
many kinds of data. Some new digital cameras
create images up to 40 megabytes before
compression. At the speeds generally available
to people using a cable modem or DSL,
even a picture compressed to 10 megabytes
takes well over a minute to e-mail or upload
New digital cameras create
images up to 40 megabytes.
Even a compressed image can
take more than a minute to
upload at the speeds generally
available to people using a
cable modem or DSL.
Equipping an existing
fiber network with newer
electronics and with lasers
that pulse light faster, or lasers
using different wavelengths of
light, can vastly increase the
available bandwidth without
changing the fiber itself.
That’s why fiber networks are
said to be “future proof.”
to a photo-sharing site. It normally takes even
longer because the network sends extra bits
to help route the network traffic and to provide
security. At dialup speeds, it would take
at least 20 minutes to send one large image.
Q: Can’t copper carry high bandwidths, too?
A: Yes, copper can support high bandwidth,
but only for a few hundred yards. The longer
the distance the signal travels on copper, the
lower the bandwidth. Optical fiber is unique
in that it can carry a high-bandwidth signal
over enormous distances.
Fiber uses laser light to carry the signal.
Under most circumstances, the signal can
travel at least 20 miles (33 kilometers) without
degrading enough to keep it from being
received.
What’s more, the equipment necessary to
send the light signals keeps getting better.
So equipping an existing fiber network with
newer electronics and with lasers that pulse
light faster, or lasers using different wavelengths
of light, can vastly increase the available
bandwidth without changing the fiber
itself. That’s why fiber networks are said to
be “future proof.”
6 | The Advantages of Fiber | FTTH Council

Q: That sounds like magic. But isn’t
fiber too new to trust?
A: Fiber has actually been used in
communications networks for more
than 30 years. But until 2002, it was
rarely used to deliver a signal directly
to a home. Instead, it was – and still
is – relied upon to carry communications
traffic from city to city or country
to country. Almost every country
on earth has some fiber, delivering
services reliably and inexpensively.
In fact, if you have a cable modem,
with broadband supplied by your
cable operator, or if you have DSL,
which converts your phone line into
a data pipeline, you are already using
fiber. The fiber carries the signal
close enough to your home so that
copper can carry it the rest of the way.
But this approach requires expensive,
hard-to-maintain electronics where
the fiber meets the copper. The available
bandwidth is far less than an
all-fiber network. And these halfway
approaches do not allow symmetrical
bandwidth – existing cable and DSL
systems can download much faster
than they can upload information.
Q: Isn’t that good enough?
A: That depends on what you want to
use your bandwidth for. If all you want
is to send emails, download songs or
share family photos, the bandwidth
provided by today’s cable modems and
DSL lines may be good enough. If you
want to log on to the corporate LAN
from home and work effectively, you’ll
need more. And what about uploading
a high-def video of the school play,
or sitting down to dinner with family
members a thousand miles away?
Q: How close to the home does fiber
come in DSL and cable systems, and
why does that matter?
A: There is a marked relationship
between distance and available bandwidth
when you are using copper.
The latest version of DSL is called
VDSL2. It can carry a signal of more
than 200 Mbps, but only for about
750 feet. At a distance of 1,500 feet,
it can carry a signal of only 100 Mbps.
Over a distance of a mile, it can deliver
only about 30 Mbps. And that’s
the theoretical limit. In practice the
real bandwidth is less.
Q: Some telephone companies have
been promising fiber to the home
for a decade or more. But until
recently there hasn’t been any. Isn’t
that because the technology is difficult
to master?
A: No, but until recently
it was more expensive
than other solutions
that offer
far less bandwidth,
such
as cable TV’s
DOCSIS and the
phone companies’ own
DSL. Those older technologies
were “good enough” until a few years
If you have a cable
modem, with broadband
supplied by your cable
operator, or if you have
DSL, which converts
your phone line into a
data pipeline, you are
already using fiber, but
not all the way to your
home or business.
ago. But in the past few years, content
that was expected, such as HDTV, and
content that was not predicted, such
as peer-to-peer video (such as You-
Tube), have simply outrun the ability
of these older technologies to handle
the bandwidth needed.
Big cable companies are now beginning
to shut off or slow down service,
or to impose prohibitive fees, when a
customer exceeds a monthly “bandwidth
cap” of anywhere from
40 to 250 gigabytes.
While these
caps affect a
small number
of customers
today,
they limit consumers’
use of
new services like
movie downloads –
which means that they limit the cable
companies’ potential revenues from
these new services.
Without FTTH, the cable companies
simply can’t deliver enough bandwidth
to allow everyone who wants them to
take advantage of premium services.
Source: BBP LLC
FTTH Council | The Advantages of Fiber | 7

FTTH Users’ Stories
The Power Behind the Power Gamer
On any other Internet service, Sean Kim
might be considered a “bandwidth hog.”
This Texan has been an early adopter of
every high-bandwidth application – music
downloads, online gaming, sharing digital
photos and videos, and helping his wife set
up teleconferencing to keep up with friends
halfway around the world.
Video gaming revenue
rivals Hollywood’s box
office revenue – and
online gamers like Sean
Kim are ratcheting it higher,
with the help of FTTH.
Not surprisingly,
Kim was the first
in his neighborhood
to sign up
for Verizon’s FiOS
fiber-to-the home
service. “What’s
cooler than fiber
optics to your
house?” he asks.
Kim is thrilled that
he can use Internet
applications at peak performance – especially
his favorite multiplayer game, World of
Warcraft. He explains, “Whenever you install
a new game, it makes you download all the
patches that have accumulated since the CD
was burned, and that’s like 450 megabytes.
Other players have to wait an hour for a download
to complete. I install the new game right
now, patch it quick and kick it off.”
The most important advantage is that Kim’s
video gaming no longer includes the dreaded
“red bar” at the bottom of the screen –
an indicator that his Internet connection is
not keeping him up to speed with his online
opponents. Fiber’s blazing speed assures a
rapid ride to the online game site. He says,
“With fiber, it’s always green so people want
to play with me more. And if I join a game
and someone lags, I can say ‘Hey, it’s not
me, I’m on fiber so there’s no way I can lag.’”
And 3D games are already hereas well.
Bringing the Virtual Office Home
More than 13 percent of
FTTH subscribers say
they are able to work
from home more often –
a monthly average of 7.3
more workdays at home.
The luxury of working from home is no longer
a pipe dream now that the “big pipe” is
arriving at households across America. A survey
commissioned by the Fiber-to-the-Home
Council found that more than 13 percent of
FTTH subscribers say they were able to work
from home more often – a monthly average
of 7.3 more workdays at home. Some 59 percent
of these telecommuters said their employers
were more favorable about telecommuting
with an FTTH connection than with
other broadband solutions. And in a rough
economy, many are starting their own businesses
from home. Fiber helps enable it.
Polo Morales works at a technical services
company in the Virginia suburbs of Washington,
DC. Having worked previously for
a small company that built fiber optic networks,
he understood the benefits of running
fiber to the home. So when Verizon’s
FiOS service became available in his neighborhood,
he jumped at the chance.
“It’s as fast as being actually in the building
at work,” says Morales, who says that his
fiber-to-the-home connection has enlarged
his opportunities to work from home. When
Morales had tried working at home via cable
modem, service was not always reliable. His
wife Diann notes that, with several computer
users in the family, “there would be a delay or
8 | The Advantages of Fiber | FTTH Council

a lag if everybody was trying to get on
the Internet. We don’t have that now.”
Morales likes the flexibility fiber-tothe-home
gives him in balancing his
work and family responsibilities. “In
the event that the kids get sick in the
wintertime, it’s not a problem for me
to stay home and work from home,”
says Morales. “I’m still able to do all
the things like keep my calendar. I can
set up conference calls and still have
multiple folks participate in the conference
calls so it’s not an issue. That
allows me to stay home, take care of
the kids and still actually go to work.”
Brian Metelski has become as productive
from his home office in the
Dallas-Fort Worth area as he would
be at his employer’s premises. It’s all
about the bandwidth, Metelski says:
“Our FiOS service enables us to work
from home virtually with our PCs and
our VoIP phone and any other applications
we want running along with
TV and along with everything else.”
His employer provides Metelski with a
virtual private network tunnel inside
a VoIP telephone connection, which
registers to a secure gateway back at
the office building.
As much as he loves the new arrangement,
Metelski says his employer
seems to love it more. “Because they
know that when we’re working from
home, we can have our office phone
here. We can have our office applications
here. It’s like I’m sitting in an office.
The only times you can tell I’m at
home is when you hear my daughter
or my son in the background saying,
‘Daddy, can you change the channel
on the TV?’”
“We’ve gotten to a
point now where
Internet service is like
your water or your
sewer service or even
your electricity. People
are building their lives
and their livelihoods
around it and they
expect it to work and
work easily.”
For Americans who operate homebased
businesses, the quality, speed
and reliability of Internet service
can be the key to business success.
A survey commissioned by the Fiberto-the-Home
Council found 10 percent
of FTTH subscribers using their
high-speed connections to run homebased
businesses, with 90 percent of
these calling the high-bandwidth fiber
optic connection either “very important”
or “somewhat important” to
their business activities.
Ralph Randell, a telecommunications
engineer in Coppell, Texas, says
his FiOS fiber-to-the-home service
makes a big difference to his homebased
business. Randell regularly
downloads large RFP files that were
problematic to download via DSL.
He also uses videoconferencing with
colleagues and potential customers.
“That’s very important, that we have a
high-quality connection for videoconferencing
over the Internet,” he says.
Randell’s three teenagers all like to
access online video, music and games
– usually at the same time. With his
FTTH service, it no longer matters
how many of his kids and their
friends are using their laptops in his
home – the response from the Web
is instantaneous and he can continue
his work undisturbed.
And there’s a family dividend. He
now spends less time in the morning
downloading files to prepare for
morning meetings, and that enables
him to have breakfast with his kids.
Fifteen-year-old Katie says, “He’s a lot
happier and a lot more chipper in the
morning now.”
Andrew and Charity Heaton live with
their four children outside Leesburg,
Virginia. Andrew, a lawyer, works one
day a week from home, while Charity
has several home-based businesses,
including a bed-and-breakfast, a retail
store, and an eBay store.
The Heatons’ fiber-to-the-home Internet
connection gives Andrew the
ability to telecommute and is the
backbone of their businesses. They
use it to manage reservations and
process payments for the bed-andbreakfast,
and Charity’s retail store
sells some of its products through a
Web site. Her eBay business is entirely
Web-based.
“The Internet is critical to our businesses,”
says Andrew. “Charity is not
really interested in the details of technology.
Having an Internet service
that works and is reliable is important
to her. [Before getting FTTH] I
would get calls when I was out of town
saying, ‘The Internet service went
out, what do I do?’ And I’d have to
try to walk her through how to do the
connections when I wasn’t even there.
And that is a very difficult thing to
do.” Andrew says they have not had
to perform one of their “Internet fire
drills” even once in the year since they
switched over to fiber.
He adds, “We’ve gotten to a point now
where Internet service is like your water
or your sewer service or even your
electricity. People are building their
lives and their livelihoods around
it and they expect it to work and
work easily.”
Back in Northern Virginia, scene of
some of worst rush-hour commutes
in the country, Polo Morales reflects
on the larger implications of telecommuting:
“If you consider that the bandwidth
and the connectivity provides you
with the ability to work from home, to
do telecommuting, that facilitates less
traffic, less driving on the roads, right?
And if for whatever reason you can’t
go work, you can potentially still get
your work done. So it’s an enabler.”
FTTH Council | The Advantages of Fiber | 9

The Inevitability of Bandwidth Growth
All too often, we think of increased
bandwidth as a matter of speed. It lets
us do things faster. Send an e-mail
message. View a Web site. But the real value
of bandwidth is that it lets us do entirely new
things with our computers, cameras, televisions
– with our network.
Entirely new and unforeseen product successes
have dazzled, bemused and annoyed
us. YouTube appeared in February 2005 – and
quickly became one of the five largest users
of bandwidth on earth, and the largest single
user of Internet bandwidth. Now it is starting
to distribute HDTV-quality video.
What are these new things? We have the beginnings
of glimpses of many of them. In the
past few years, we have seen such new products
and services as:
• Voice over Internet Protocol telephones.
They’re not only cheaper for the consumer,
they are better. Many VoIP providers
allow incoming callers to find the line you
are on, and easily leave messages – text
and video as well as voice – where you can
easily pick them up.
• Video on the Web, and on mobile devices.
• Internet-enabled cameras that upload photos
and videos to Web sites with built-in
Web browsers.
• User-created video so grandparents can see
the children, or so a budding comedian or
musician can develop an audience.
• Internet-enabled picture frames that automatically
display photos sent via e-mail.
Although Edison would later invent
hundreds of products that use electricity,
he was not thinking about air conditioning
for private homes when he built the first
electricity distribution network. Nor
was he thinking about dishwashers,
refrigerators, computers or those
rechargeable batteries for your iPod,
mobile phones and cameras.
We have every reason to think the innovation
will continue and that our need for ever
more bandwidth will grow. Only fiber to the
home will be able to deliver it. In fact, only
fiber can reliably deliver that bandwidth now,
to meet current needs.
We have absolutely no reason to think innovation
will stop. When Thomas Edison built
the world’s first central-station electrical generating
plants, electric lighting was the “killer
app.” Although Edison would
later invent hundreds of products
that use electricity, he was
not thinking about air conditioning
for private homes when
he built the first electricity distribution
network. Nor was he
thinking about dishwashers,
refrigerators, computers or
those rechargeable batteries
for your iPod, mobile phones
and cameras.
The least expensive desktops
today come with 160 GB hard
10 | The Advantages of Fiber | FTTH Council

Wall of LCD screens at University of California at San
Diego allows worldwide “telepresence.”
drives, because everyday users need
the file space. And if they need the
file space, they also need to send files
of comparable size.
And what about digital images? Users
get annoyed when network speeds lag
behind local connection speeds. Using
your computer’s USB port, it takes
about half a minute to move a 2 GB
memory card’s worth of digital pictures
(or an hour of TV-quality video)
to your hard drive. At common DSL
and cable-modem upload speeds,
it would still take 5 to 10 hours. At
the dialup speeds still used
by one of every ten American
households in 2008, it would
take more than 90 hours to
move those images to a remote
location.
Think about the speeds fiber
to the home (FTTH) makes
possible. TV manufacturers
have. New sets coming onto
the market starting in early
2007 display wide-screen highdefinition
video from the local cable
or phone company – and also from
the Internet. And users don’t have to
“think Internet” to get the TV show
they want. They just check out what’s
available using their TV remote. 3Dcapable
sets appeared in 2009.
Think hundreds of thousands – even
millions – of fiber-enabled TV “channels”
from all over the world. Many
vendors already have, and are offering
add-on services or appliances to
sort them out for watching on consumers’
TVs.
Think hundreds of
thousands – even
millions – of TV
“channels” from all
over the world.
Source: BBP LLC
The least expensive desktops today come with 100
GB hard drives, because everyday users need the
file space. And if they need the file space, they also
need to send files of comparable size.
FTTH Council | The Advantages of Fiber | 11

Applications for FTTH Providers:
Beyond the Triple Play
Network builders are not investing in
fiber to the home only so they can prepare
for future bandwidth needs and appeal to
“early adopters” who want to live the connected
lifestyle. Fiber offers other advantages
in the here and now: New broadband
applications are coming onto the market
every day, and many of them present opportunities
for use or resale by fiber providers.
Most of these applications can operate on
lower-bandwidth networks, but not with the
same degree of performance, security and
reliability as they do on fiber.
These new applications fall into several
categories. Some help differentiate fiberto-the-home
communities; some generate
additional revenue streams for providers or
help retain customers; still others can be
used by providers or property developers to
manage their assets more efficiently. (Some
of the applications can be classified in more
than one group, of course.)
Following are some examples.
Differentiating Your Community
Only a few years ago, fiber-connected developments
were so rare that fiber to the home
was a unique selling
point for developers.
Today, fiber has
become the norm
in new developments,
especially in
new master-planned
communities, according
to market
researcher Mike
Render. In order to
further differentiate
their communities,
developers are now
seeking applications
to leverage their fiber
infrastructure.
Telehealth gives residents in stant access
to medical specialists via videoconferencing
from the home, the fitness center or the
community room. The videoconferencing
may be integrated with Internet-enabled
diagnostic devices (blood pressure cuffs,
respiration measurement, etc.), electronic
medical records systems, online prescription
services, and online appointment
scheduling. Telehealth helps keep older
Telehealth helps
keep older adults living
independently – a boon
for those who care for
both their children and
their elders while
working full time.
adults living independently for longer, and
it is a boon for the “sandwich generation”
that is responsible for caring for both their
children and their elders while holding
down full-time jobs.
Community-based security systems
consist of linked IP videocameras and sensors
stationed on light poles and buildings
around a neighborhood. These systems
identify and track intruders, and can automatically
notify owners, security companies,
and sometimes police. Community-based
systems may be more effective than individual
home security systems because they trigger
alarms even before a home intrusion occurs,
and they are less invasive of residents’
privacy. Fiber networks support the broadcast
and recording of very-high-resolution
photos that are more useful for deterring
and apprehending intruders.
Social applications use the fiber infrastructure
to build a sense of community – an
important function in a new development.
They can range from social networking sites
focused on the community to intranet sites
featuring local news and events, to Webbased
or IPTV video channels broadcasting
local athletic contests, artistic productions
and political discussions. Because they can
be interactive, they easily trump conventional
“public access” stations on cable.
Arts and educational applications use
high-end videoconferencing in community
centers, outdoor arenas or children’s play
centers to bring live performances, virtual
museum tours, music lessons, book readings
and other interactive events into the community.
Residents can experience the benefits
of big-city life without its drawbacks.
Concierge and home-automation services
take advantage of the local fiber network
to make residents’ lives more comfortable
and convenient. Cameras that recognize
residents’ cars entering the community can
alert parking attendants and security personnel,
and then turn on lights and heating
or air-conditioning at home. Residents can
connect with a single click to community
services and preferred providers, calling to
schedule a dry-cleaning pickup, pizza delivery
or home repair.
Mobility is easier to accommodate with
a robust fiber-to-the-home network. Using
the backhaul afforded by FTTH, providers
12 | The Advantages of Fiber | FTTH Council

Camera used for community
security application.
can offer WiFi connections to residents
in indoor and outdoor public
spaces throughout the community.
Residents can bring their laptops to
the pool, check e-mail from the laundry
room, or listen to their Internet
radio in the gym.
Generating New
Revenue Streams
Customers have become used to
purchasing “over-the-top” Internet
services like Skype or iTunes, but often
they’re happier to deal directly
with network providers whom they
know and trust. Broadband providers
of all kinds have begun offering
a variety of applications to their customers
through Web portals, often
at lower prices than the customers
could obtain by purchasing these services
directly.
These applications serve several
purposes: They reduce customer
churn; they lower expenses by keeping
more traffic in-network; and they
create new revenue streams. Fiberto-the-home
providers, which don’t
have to aim for the lowest common
denominator because their systems
have virtually unlimited capacity,
have a far wider choice of applications
for resale.
New fiber-enabled
broadband applications
reduce customer churn,
lower expenses by
keeping more traffic
in-network, and create
new revenue streams.
Convergence applications
that send Caller ID or text messages
to the television or the
PC, or even allow users to initiate
calls via the TV remote in
response to a TV ad, make the
triple play or quad play more
compelling. Today’s consumers
want to be connected all of
the time and want to be able
to use any device for any purpose.
Convergence is the next
phase of the mobile, alwayson
lifestyle.
Online storage allows
customers to store their data
files on the Internet, access
them from anywhere and
share them with others. When users
had only word-processing documents
to worry about, storage was less of a
concern. Now that physical media are
disappearing and many users have
large collections of music, photographs,
and video in digital formats,
secure storage, easy access and controlled
sharing have become much
more important.
Home security, like many other
technologies, is migrating from analog
to digital form. Digitally-based
home security allows residents to
control settings, receive alerts and
view their homes via the Internet or
cell phone. It also supports a far wider
range of sensors – not only traditional
motion detectors but cameras,
water detectors, smoke detectors and
many others. Because digital security
uses wiring that is already installed
for broadband, it is inexpensive to
install and makes economic sense for
renters as well as homeowners.
Video on Demand is sometimes
offered as part of the same video service
that providers use to deliver linear
channels, or it may be provided
as a separate service for customers
who don’t want linear TV channels.
Stand-alone VoD generally includes
an Internet-connected set-top box
that can download and store the movies
and TV shows selected by the customer,
as well as software for choosing
and ordering the shows and, of
course, agreements with content providers
to make the shows available.
Videoconferencing is almost
universally available today through a
variety of free or low-cost Web-based
services, but it is still not widely used
because it is cumbersome and the
quality is often poor. Fiber to the
home, because of its high upstream
bandwidth, presents several opportunities
for providers to make higherquality
videoconferencing available
to customers. Providers can offer
specialized videophones, with a videophone
subscription service, for
consumers who prefer stand-alone devices.
They can offer PC- or TV-based
videoconferencing with more features
Home security devices.
FTTH Council | The Advantages of Fiber | 13

than the free services
provide. Or, if
they have installed
high-end videoconferencing
equipment
in public areas (see
“Differentiating Your
Community”) they
can sell time – and
guaranteed quality
of service – on those
systems to individual
customers. Unlike
desktop video, highend
videoconferencing
and telepresence
are becoming acceptable
alternatives to
business travel even for important meetings.
Targeted advertising, although it is sold
to advertisers rather than subscribers, still
represents an important revenue stream for
FTTH providers. One mechanism is through
IPTV, which lets providers insert ads based
on nearly any criteria. While cable TV ads
are usually differentiated by zip code, IPTV
ads can be sent to households with certain
demographic criteria, or to households (or
even individual TV sets) with certain viewing
patterns. Another potential source of advertising
dollars is t-commerce, where television
viewers can click the remote on an ad – or
even a product placement in a television show
– and either see more information about the
product or actually order the product.
Property Management
Broadband is enabling owners to control
their properties and assets more efficiently
than ever before. The addition of broadband
– especially the
high-capacity, highreliability
broadband
that fiber enables –
turns “smart” buildings
into “genius”
buildings, according
to one industry
expert. Internet-enabled
sensors and applications
automate
work that was once
done by maintenance
crews – and do it
more quickly and accurately.
Broadband
Fiber-enabled,
high-capacity, highreliability
broadband turns
“smart” buildings into
“genius” buildings, saving
on energy, maintenance
and security.
Remote music lessons.
applications also help owners communicate
with tenants and employees.
Guarding the construction site can be
managed through IP-based video surveillance.
Asset tagging helps prevent theft or
misplacement of equipment, and tags worn
by employees help make sure people are
where they’re authorized to be. Videoconferencing
allows construction managers to
make virtual site inspections more frequently
than they could make physical inspections.
Energy management can also be broadband-enabled.
Motion sensors, intelligent
thermostats and automated ventilation
equipment can keep public spaces and unoccupied
units at appropriate temperatures;
applications that monitor and analyze energy
usage help owners find opportunities
to shift loads to nonpeak times and reduce
overall energy usage. Broadband-enabled
applications also help reduce water usage.
Utility applications like automated meter
reading, SCADA and outage investigation
greatly reduce the costs of operating
electric utilities. These “Smart Grid” applications
are a major reason that electric
utilities across the country are now building
fiber infrastructures.
Online work order scheduling helps
property managers be more responsive to
their tenants, while reducing operating expenses.
Tenants can request repairs at any
time – not just when the office is open or
they can find the super – and management
personnel can deal with problems that require
personal attention, rather than routine
requests. Tenants can be automatically
notified when work is completed.
14 | The Advantages of Fiber | FTTH Council

FTTH and Sustainability:
The Environmental Choice
Fiber’s impact on the environment
is certainly positive, according to a
PricewaterhouseCoopers study commissioned
by the FTTH Council and
released in October 2008. Even with
low assumptions about take rates, the
greenhouse gases that are produced
in constructing equipment and deploying
the network are balanced by
the savings from increased telecommuting
in about five years.
That’s an annual carbon-reduction
dividend of close to 20 percent.
Other environmental impacts are
recouped in time periods ranging
from one to six years, according to
the report.
The report examined an “average”
American FTTH deployment.
The impact of any actual network
would be slightly different from the
typical case that was studied.
Earlier studies have shown smaller
annual savings, but almost all studies
show a positive impact. Savings on
gasoline (both for the avoided commute
and for those who would enjoy
less congestion on the highways) are
partially offset by extra electricity use
at home, and by the power used to
run the network.
Savings are likely to increase in
the future as the uses of broadband
networks expand. For example, PricewaterhouseCoopers
did not consider
other energy-saving applications
such as:
• Telepresence, which is beginning
to replace a significant amount of
business travel;
• Cloud computing, which enables
data centers to be located near
sources of alternative energy;
• Smart Grid applications, which
make electricity generation and
distribution far more efficient; or
• Distance learning, which reduces
travel for educational purposes.
About three-quarters of the
greenhouse gas emissions come from
the manufacture of active network
equipment, Pricewaterhouse Coopers
found.
After the network is constructed,
telecommuting saves more than triple
the amount of greenhouse gases
released by powering the network.
PricewaterhouseCoopers also examined
how FTTH deployment affected
resource depletion, air acidification,
algae growth in the oceans, and
the release of toxins into the environment.
By every measure, FTTH had a
beneficial environmental impact.
A more complete presentation
of the report’s results can be found
at www.ftthcouncil.org/UserFiles/
File/PWC_FTTH_Sustainability%20Report%20FINAL.pdf
(2009)
1+ Gbps Fiber per
User, and Growing
Today, fiber’s
bandwidth is orders
of magnitude
bigger than other
technologies. In the
next few years, as
10 Gbps equipment
becomes available,
the fiber circle will
be off the page.
Bandwidth
Comparisons
64 Kbps: Phone Line
128 Kbps: ISDN
1.5 Mbps for a T1 Line
50 Mbps: DSL maximum per user with
latest technology
5 Mbps: Wireless maximum per user
with latest technology
160 Mbps: Cable maximum per user
with latest technology
1+ Gbps Fiber per
User, and Growing
(2009)
Only the
Beginning
A decade from now, even
100 Mbps or 1 Gbps will
look small. By then, you’ll
be seeing 3D television
on the market. It could
require 2.5 Gbps or more.
User, and Growing
1+ Gbps Fiber per
(2009)
User, and Growing
1+ Gbps Fiber per
(2009)
FTTH Council | The Advantages of Fiber | 15

The Light Fantastic: Three Reasons
Fiber optic cable carries information by carrying
pulses of light. The pulses are turned on
and off very, very fast. Multiple streams of information
can be carried on the same fiber at
the same time by using multiple wavelengths
– colors – of light.
The pulses of light are usually created by
lasers (some short-range fiber systems use
LEDs). The equipment to do that keeps getting
faster, so the same old fiber can be used
to carry ever more information. New equipment
is just slipped in.
The ability to carry information is called bandwidth.
Lots of bandwidth allows lots of information
to be carried. Fiber has a lot of advantages
over copper wire or coaxial cable, as it is
easier to maintain and delivers far more bandwidth.
Three of the biggest advantages are:
1Signals travel a long distance inside
fiber cable without degradation – 20
miles or more under some circumstances.
By contrast, as the distance traveled by a
signal in copper wire or coax increases, the
bandwidth decreases. Short lengths of coax,
for instance – the lengths typically found in a
small building – can carry 1 Gbps if the coax
network is well designed.
That’s a thousand times more bandwidth
than typical broadband service using DSL
over copper wire, and 200 times more than
typical broadband over cable TV coax. But
those speeds are impossible over longer distances.
The closer fiber gets to a building,
the faster the service that is available to the
building’s residents and businesses. Service
providers have been bringing fiber closer
and closer for years, and now they are bringing
it inside end-users’ buildings. For cable
companies, a technology called RFOG brings
fiber all the way to the premises as well.
2
Fiber cable is thin. It can, in fact, be
made thinner than a human hair. It can
be carried on a thin ribbon, or inside a
“microduct” of hollow plastic only an eighth
of an inch wide. One typical fiber cable con-
16 | The Advantages of Fiber | FTTH Council

figuration with about 200 super-thin
strands is about the thickness of a
standard coax cable. That fiber cable
could theoretically carry enough
bandwidth to handle all the information
being sent on Earth at any one
time today. The bottom line: Fiber
can be “hidden” easily on the surfaces
of walls in old construction.
It is also flexible and rugged. In 2007,
many vendors introduced fiber that is
tough enough to be stapled to walls
by installers, and flexible enough to
be bent around sharp corners. Such
fiber has been available for years, but
had been difficult and expensive to
manufacture. Optical fibers made of
polymers – plastics – are now starting
to be deployed for indoor networks.
3
Once installed, fiber is upgraded
by changing the electronics
that creates the light pulses, and
not by replacing the cable itself. The
fiber is amazingly reliable. Nothing
hurts it except a physical cut, or the
destruction of the building it is in.
Passive optical networks, or PONs, are
the most common type of network.
They use a minimum of electronics.
In fact, there are no electronics
at all between the provider’s central
office and users. This improves network
reliability and cuts deployment
costs. But optical networks that do
require electronics in the field have
some advantages as well, especially
when a network is built to carry content
from multiple providers on the
same fiber. Either way, the amount of
power needed to run a fiber network
is far less than that needed to run a
coax or other copper network. This
aids reliability and contributes to sustainability
as well.
As we noted, bandwidth providers are
increasingly bringing fiber optics all
the way to customer premises. That
technology, FTTH or fiber to the
home (also called FTTP, for fiber to
the premises) is the “gold standard.”
Almost as good – at least for the
short term – is bringing fiber to the
basement of a building (FTTB) and
distributing it over copper wires to
the apartments or business premises
within the building.
Where the population density is low,
or where high-quality coaxial cable or
copper networks exist, it may make
sense under some circumstances to
bring fiber only partway to the customer.
The fiber is then connected to
the existing copper for the last jump
to users’ premises.
As time goes on, fiber is moved closer
and closer to the customers, to provide
more bandwidth. That approach
is called FTTN for fiber to the “neighborhood”
or “node” or (for greater
bandwidth) fiber to the curb (FTTC).
Today, the looming bandwidth needs
are so large, and FTTH construction
prices so reasonable, that going
straight to FTTH makes more
economic sense in
most situations.
Even in rural
areas, hundreds
of network
builds
have chosen
FTTH over
FTTN and
copper. In
rural settings,
FTTH
usually costs
more to build,
but the builders
can expect much
higher revenue
from customers.
In the US until recently, single-family
homes have been the easiest to equip
with FTTH. Apartment buildings and
other multiple-dwelling-unit (MDU)
structures in the US started to be
served with FTTH in really large numbers
only in 2006.
MDU fiber service is already common
in Europe and Asia, however. Thus,
there is no “technology risk” in specifying
FTTH now, in any circumstance.
FTTH Council | The Advantages of Fiber | 17

Builders, Real Estate Developers and FTTH
Virtually every large developer of
single-family homes, condominiums
and rental properties has an active
program to add FTTH to new properties.
Most are working on retrofitting
older properties as well. That
work has expanded as new home
sales have fallen.
What do the major players know that
not all smaller developers realize?
Before the boom ended, Michael
Render of RVA LLC estimated, on
the basis of surveying home buyers
and developers, that FTTH adds
about $5,000 to the price of a home
(see chart). The size of the increase
is less certain now, but it is clear that
FTTH homes sell faster.
16,000,000
14,000,000
12,000,000
10,000,000
8,000,000
6,000,000
4,000,000
FTTH Homes Passed, March 2009
(Cumulative, North America)
6,099,000
8,003,000
3,625,000 4,089,000
9,552,300
11,763,000
13,825,000
15,170,900
2,000,000
19,400 35,700 72,100 110,000 180,300 189,000 2,696,846
970,000 1,619,500
0
Sep-01 Mar-02 Sep-02 Mar-03 Sep-03 Mar-04 Sep-04 Mar-05 Sep-05 Mar-06 Sep-06 Mar-07 Sep-07 Mar-08 Sep-08 Mar-09
Source: RVA LLC
Nevertheless, some smaller developers
were on the sidelines until recently.
That’s now changing. By mid-2006
it was clear that FTTH was economically
viable in new developments with
as few as 80 MDU living units or 100
single-family homes. That number
has continued to fall due to improvements
in deployment technology.
As fiber and fiber deployment costs
have continued to come down and
copper costs have increased, fiber
has achieved cost parity with copper
in nearly all new construction – even
without taking the added home value
into account.
FTTH Homes Marketed, March 2009
(Cumulative, North America)
14,000,000
13,000,000
12,000,000
11,000,000
10,000,000
9,000,000
8,000,000
7,000,000
6,000,000
5,000,000
4,000,000
3,000,000
2,000,000
1,000,000
0
19,400
35,700
72,100
110,000
180,300
189,000
413,221
3,218,600
5,079,999
6,643,000
1,754,300
829,700
7,996,400
10,082,065
12,369,000
13,875,600
Sep-01 Mar-02 Sep-02 Mar-03 Sep-03 Mar-04 Sep-04 Mar-05 Sep-05 Mar-06 Sep-06 Mar-07 Sep-07 Mar-08 Sep-08 Mar-09
Source: RVA LLC
18 | The Advantages of Fiber | FTTH Council

FTTH Homes Connected, March 2009
(Cumulative, North America)
5,000,000
4,500,000
4,000,000
3,500,000
3,000,000
2,500,000
2,000,000
1,500,000
1,000,000
500,000
-
5,500
10,350
22,500
38,000
64,700
78,000
146,500
213,000
312,700
1,478,597
548,000
2,142,000
2,912,500
1,011,000
671,000
3,760,000
4,422,000
Sep-01 Mar-02 Sep-02 Mar-03 Sep-03 Mar-04 Sep-04 Mar-05 Sep-05 Mar-06 Sep-06 Mar-07 Sep-07 Mar-08 Sep-08 Mar-09
Source: RVA LLC
250%
Approximate Annual Growth in FTTH Subscribers
200%
213%
2006
2007
150%
112%
100%
82%
50%
55%
20%
35%
0%
USA Japan Europe
Source: RVA Market Research
Source: RVA Market Research
FTTH Council | The Advantages of Fiber | 19

Questions Real Estate
Developers Ask About FTTH
Q: Can’t this wait a few years? The real estate industry is going through tough times, and I
certainly do not want to add to the price of a home in a weak market.
A: The data are clear: Building homes that are wired for high bandwidth, and providing
access to FTTH, has allowed homes to be sold for more money. What’s more, FTTH homes
sell faster than non-FTTH homes in the same market. In good times this may translate into
a greater profit, but it’s even more important in bad times. If few homes are being sold, you
can bet that homes with high-bandwidth amenities will sell faster. Others may not sell at all.
Q: My architects, contractors, technicians and building managers are all used to coax.
At the point in construction that the coax should be installed, I call the guys up and they
come and lay wiring. FTTH is new to them. Do I need to hire an engineering firm to design
the installation?
A: Until recently, most FTTH systems were engineer-designed. But in the last few years the
balance has tipped toward less formal design regimes, thanks to increasing standardization,
the growth of distributor-supplied design help and an expanding corps of qualified technicians.
There were almost 250 American colleges with courses for fiber technicians by the end
of 2007, almost double the number of the year before. By the end of 2008, the number had
grown to more than 350. Overall, the various FTTH technologies differ only in detail, with
one or another offering advantages in specific situations.
Fiber does need to be “engineered” in very large apartment complexes – that’s true for
coax, too. But smaller installations, as with smaller corporate LANs, will not need that kind
of sophistication to work well.
Q: What about other labor on my construction site? I hear that fiber is rather fragile and
can be damaged before walls and trenches are closed.
A: The fiber itself is very, very thin – thinner than a human hair. But fiber vendors have
evolved many ways to protect the fibers from harm. Cable can be armored to ward off cuts.
Contractors can route inexpensive “microduct” – hollow plastic tubes as little as three-eighths
of an inch in diameter – through walls before the walls are closed in with drywall or other
materials. The microducts are easily repairable. After everything else is done, thin fiber can
be “blown” through the microduct for hundreds of feet.
Q: Do any building codes pertain to fiber? The stuff seems inert.
Typical fiber distribution
cabinet or “hub.” It
can be placed anywhere
outside, because it needs
no electric power.
A: Yes, all the regular fire and life
safety issues apply. For instance,
just as copper with PVC installation
would be considered a life-safety
hazard because of the combustion
products produced when it burns,
so would various plastics used in fiber
that is meant for outside installation.
Indoors, look for LSZH cables
(it stands for Low Smoke Zero
Halogen). If you are using thin
plastic “microduct” that fiber can
later be blown through, it should
be labeled Halogen-Free Flame
Retardant. You use a simple junction box to change
20 | The Advantages of Fiber | FTTH Council

50%
40%
Percent of Homes Passed with FTTH in
First-Year Master Planned Communities
45%
30%
20%
23%
10%
0%
11%
7%
8%
2%
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Network connections built into the wall.
This one is next to a kitchen counter in
Loma Linda, California.
from “outside” to “inside” wiring, just
as you might with electrical cables.
And of course, check with your local
building code inspector. Aside from
fire issues, codes may govern where
fiber ONTs (the boxes that convert
pulses of light from the fiber into electrical
signals for your computer or TV)
are placed on the outside walls or in
common areas. A few municipalities
specify where in the home the network
connections should be placed.
Q: I’m building new single-family
and residential MDU structures,
and we’ve made the decision to add
FTTH. Where should we put the users’
network connections, assuming
there is no specific building code or
“guidance” document covering that?
A: You should expect users to desire
broadband connections in virtually
any room in the house – bedrooms,
office-dens, the kitchen. That’s because
Internet connections these
days accommodate telephones, televisions,
set-top boxes, digital picture
frames, and of course computers. You
should also think about home security,
monitors for fire, smoke, and your
other household utilities. And, down
the road, what about that telemedicine
connection to your refrigerator
or the alarm in your bathroom?
You should expect users to desire
broadband connections in virtually any room
in the house – bedrooms, office-dens,
the kitchen. That’s because Internet connections
these days accommodate telephones,
televisions, electronic picture frames
connected to your home computer, and of
course the computer itself.
Q: In a single-family home, I often
see the ONT box hung onto the outside
wall. Is that the only way?
A: No. In harsh climates, for instance
– where heat or heavy snow could
affect the outside installation - you
will probably want to put the ONT
indoors. You can now buy ONTs that
are small, portable units, more like
cable or DSL modems, and connect
them to the network with tough, flexible
fiber that can be laid anywhere.
Q: I hear that ONTs require a backup
battery. Why is that? When the
power goes out, after all, the phone
usually keeps working.
A: Optical fiber cannot conduct electricity.
Thus, to keep the network connection
running at times electricity
has been cut, you need a battery at
the user premises. This may change
as cellular phones replace landlines.
This has already happened in most
of Europe, so backup batteries are
unheard-of there. But here, we have
many standard designs for in-wall,
between-stud boxes that hold the battery,
ONT, and fiber connections.
Q: Is lightning a problem with fiber?
A: No. In fact, because fiber does not
conduct electricity, lightning strikes
do not affect fiber at all.
FTTH Council | The Advantages of Fiber | 21

Focus on Municipal Priorities
Municipal officials face many issues with FTTH. Should they build their own network, or
invite corporate providers in? Should they go for FTTH, or settle for something less? And
what about wireless? Should they just ignore the whole issue and hope it will go away?
Key Questions Municipal Officials Ask
Q: Nearby towns and new housing
developments are beginning to install
FTTH, and local real estate agents say that
property values in my town suffer because
homes and businesses do not have access
to FTTH. But the franchise cable operator
offers 8 Mbps and says 50 Mbps or more is
becoming available in some locations using
DOCSIS 3.0. And the local phone company
says it will be bringing in FTTN with VDSL.
Isn’t that good enough?
A: It may be good enough for the next few
years, but it sounds like it will be installed
just as broadband needs will increase beyond
what DOCSIS and FTTN can deliver.
Q: But they tell me both use fiber.
Is that true?
A: It is true, but not fiber all the way to the
home. The last 1,000 to 5,000 feet from the
fiber’s endpoint to the home is copper –
coaxial cable in the case of DOCSIS, plain
copper wire for VDSL. That limits bandwidth,
reliability and versatility. There is a
new FTTH transitional technology for cable
companies called RFOG (for Radio Frequency,
or RF, over Glass.” It is more compatible
with existing cable networks than is
“conventional” FTTH. RFOG networks can
eventually be converted to conventional
FTTH at low cost, too.
Q: My town’s residents are just like others
in the region, and maybe have even slightly
higher incomes. Why don’t the phone and
cable companies consider them attractive
customers for FTTH?
A: A few cable companies are installing
FTTH. Many telephone companies and
independent broadband providers are doing
the same. But the companies operating
in your town may be following an overall
policy they think will work for them.
Q: The telephone company that operates
here is installing FTTH in the new
development just 10 miles up the road.
Why not here?
22 | The Advantages of Fiber | FTTH Council

The telephone
company that operates
here is installing FTTH
in the new development
just 10 miles up the
road. Why not here?
A: It is usually easier to install fiber in
new developments than in existing
ones. The fiber goes into the same
trenches that have to be dug anyway
for water, electricity and sewer service.
In fact, copper wiring usually
can’t be run that way, so fiber is usually
cheaper. Also, the new residents are
not already tied to a cable or phone
provider, so whoever installs a FTTH
network in a new community has an
easier road to signing up customers.
That’s why most new, large housing
developments are being equipped
with fiber.
Q: Would installing fiber require that
my streets be dug up?
A: It depends. Many network builders
in North America use “aerial” fiber,
installed on poles along with existing
telephone, electric, and cable wiring.
In areas where trenching is impractical,
contractors can often use horizontal
drilling, or pull fiber through
existing ducts, water pipes, sewers
and gas lines rather than digging up
Distribution box for fiber lashed to
existing aerial cable; this method is
quick and inexpensive.
streets and sidewalks. In addition,
many cities already have usable fiber
under their streets, fiber that is not
being used to its limit.
Q: What might I do to get fiber to
my residents, without building my
own network? We might qualify for
federal stimulus funds. But my town
has too much debt now to borrow
more, and we have no experience
operating a municipal utility.
A: You might try lobbying the incumbents
– the cable and telephone companies
serving your town now. You could
offer such incentives as a reduced franchise
fee, access to public property, or
an accelerated permitting process. You
might also invite outside companies to
consider bringing FTTH to your residents.
In Europe, public-private partnerships
are common, and are the
norm for the biggest projects such as
those bringing fiber to all homes in
Amsterdam and Vienna. In such partnerships,
the municipality and private
enterprises own the new fiber network
together. There’s no reason it can’t be
done in North America, but it rarely
is. Many states already subsidize broadband
to libraries, schools and colleges;
these existing broadband networks
can be starting points for adding fiber
to the home.
Q: Are we giving something up by
allowing one utility to run a network
and provide content at the same time?
What about open-access networks?
A: There is no clear answer. Openaccess
networks, where the network
builder (either a municipal or a private
entity) “rents” bandwidth to
a potentially unlimited number
of content providers, have worked
in many locations. They are more
common in Europe and Asia than
in the United States. But they have
worked here as well. At present
here, they tend to be municipal
networks, or networks built by companies
that specialize in bringing
fiber to new buildings and subdivisions.
When the same organization
provides con tent and maintains
the network – as is more typical in
the US – the network tends to be
more reliable and the interfaces for
choosing programs more consistent
and easier to follow. But there may be
less content and services variety.
Q: What about WiFi or WiMAX?
Some companies will even come in
and provide basic wireless service
free to residents. Isn’t that a good
substitute for fiber?
A: WiFi and WiMAX are important
public amenities. But they are not
substitutes for FTTH. They complement
and extend a fixed fiber network.
They can’t replace it, however.
No new businesses or other economic
activities are generated by wireless,
and wireless networks covering wide
areas are not reliable enough to deliver
video and other broadband services
that are emerging – although
serving individual homes in rural
areas with point-to-point wireless,
where running fiber might still be too
expensive, can work well. Also, virtually
all the companies that promised
to build “free” municipality-wide WiFi
networks have reneged. The business
model simply did not work for entire
cities and towns. It may, however,
work in targeted areas such as commercial
shopping streets.
Q: Where could I go to find out
more? I can’t tell my voters the
advantages of fiber, except to
support higher property values,
unless I have examples.
A: There are several conferences and
academic organizations you could try.
The FTTH Council, www.ftthcouncil.
org, has an annual meeting and
monthly webinars.
WiFi and WiMAX
are important public
amenities. But they are not
substitutes for FTTH. They
complement and extend a
fixed fiber network. They
can’t replace it, however.
FTTH Council | The Advantages of Fiber | 23

Understanding the
Technology in Greater Detail
In FTTH, much of the alphabet soup of acronyms
has to do with devices that convert
electrical signals that travel in wires, to pulses
of light for the fiber and back again. Here’s
what you might want to know so you can understand
the technical jargon. Let’s start at
the beginning of a fiber network.
OLT stands for Optical Line Terminal.
OLTs put the pulses on the fiber in the first
place. Because they are located in telephone
exchanges and other network “central offices,”
residents and property owners rarely
see them.
ONTs are Optical Network Terminals. They
are also sometimes called ONUs, for Optical
Network Units. In networks just beginning to
be built by cable companies they are called
RFOG micro-nodes. They are the devices at
the consumer end that turn the light pulses
back into electrical signals. Usually, customers
will have equipment such as computers
that expect an Ethernet connection. This
is a standard way of networking that’s used
around the world. Your computers, and usually
your home wireless system, use Ethernet.
Ethernet connectors are built into virtually
all computers that have been sold in this decade.
So a typical ONT turns the light pulses
into Ethernet signals.
fairly close to the building, or even into the
basement or a central area on your property.
A DOCSIS node, fed by fiber, then distributes
the signal to individual households over
coax. One node typically feeds 100 to 500
homes. But an RFOG micro-node may serve
only one.
In the United States the ONTs are typically inside
cigar-box sized enclosures on the outside
walls of houses or apartments. But they can be
made smaller than a deck of cards, and can
be used inside customer premises as well.
You’ll also hear about the point of presence,
or POP. That’s the point at which the signal
from multiple customers joins the rest of the
extended network.
Hybrid fiber coax, or HFC, is the cable company’s
coax, with fiber bringing the signal
Pedestals and larger fiber distribution hubs
are enclosures close to the user premises.
They can hold the beam splitters that take
the signal from one fiber that extends back
to the central office, and divides it (typically
8:1 up to 32:1 but as much as 64:1) among
fibers that go to individual dwelling units.
Pedestals and hubs can be below ground,
above ground (they often look like short
posts or squat air-conditioner-size boxes), or
attached to buildings. Connections and splits
can also be made in boxes hung under roof
eaves, in attics or basements, on telephone
poles, or on what look like power lines or
phone lines. For best reliability, many contractors
bring two fibers into each dwelling
unit from the pedestal, rather than one. The
fibers leading from the hub or pedestal to
the user premises is called the drop cable.
24 | The Advantages of Fiber | FTTH Council

Network Standards
There are many standards-setting bodies that serve the networking industry.
Foremost among them is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers, or IEEE. This group, international in reach but Americanbased,
is concerned with how signals are sent, managed, interpreted and
kept secure.
The common WiFi standards (802.11b or 802.11g, for example) are from
IEEE. So are most of the standards for Ethernet. The standards do not
cover everything. So many vendors have to add their own “extensions” to
make everything work smoothly. That’s a necessary evil. But avoid vendors
who ignore the standards entirely, and use their own proprietary methods
and software in place of IEEE standards.
Physical standards – the ones that ensure that plugs will mate property –
are mainly the realm of the TIA, which stands for the Telecommunications
Industry Association. This is a trade association.
But what about durability, or ability to withstand high temperatures or
moisture? The technology has been moving so fast that standards-setting
bodies can’t entirely keep up. Many independent groups, such as Telcordia
(a private company) have developed their own testing standards to
assure reliability. You will see them show up as references in contracts.
There’s nothing entirely unusual about any of this. Property is subject to
standards from the National Electrical Code, building and fire codes, Underwriters
Laboratories, and so forth. But the organizations that are responsible
for fiber may be strange to you. Get acquainted with them on
their Web sites.
Some fiber optic network vendors offer “end-to-end” technology. That is,
they guarantee that everything will work together, reducing risk. The need
for “end-to-end” technology has diminished in recent years due to standardization
of the components. But there are often some advantages in
terms of project management. The key point to keep in mind is that the
technology risk is low. More important is the business sense and commitment
to service of the people with whom you will be dealing.
Delivering
Services to
End users
All pulses of light look the same to
fiber, and to consumers’ equipment.
At the user premises, the pulses get
converted to Ethernet signals that
move over copper Ethernet wiring
(typically Category 5 or Category 6
wiring, Cat 5 or Cat 6 for short).
Many companies make special equipment
that converts the cable company’s
coax, or your building’s electrical
wiring, so that it can carry an Ethernet
signal. The standard for carrying Ethernet
over coax is called MoCA (for
Multimedia over Coax Alliance; see
www.mocalliance.org). The standard
for using electrical wiring is called
HomePlug, and generically BPL (for
Broadband over Power Line).
Aerial distrbution housing.
Such setups may require that the
same company’s equipment be used
at both ends of the wire – that is, one
“box” turns the signal into “Ethernet”
over coax and the other turns the signal
back to something customers’ TV
sets understand. These devices tend
to offer an interim solution, but some
companies’ technology is so robust
that it can be depended upon for
many years.
Microducts into which fiber can be blown.
FTTH Council | The Advantages of Fiber | 25

Zeros and Ones
If all pulses look the same, what’s the difference
between video, voice, and data? Theoretically,
there is no difference. But each requires
special skills on the part of providers.
Voice, for instance, does not require much
bandwidth; 100 Kbps per second will carry
a high-quality phone conversation over Ethernet.
A regular “analog” phone line uses
as little as 8 Kbps. But the voice signal must
be very clean, with no noticeable delay and
no static. That’s difficult to do on a network
such as the Internet, which is used for many
purposes at the same time.
But the video world is changing. Part of that
change is already obvious: Cable and telephone
companies are offering video on demand,
or VoD. To deliver, they have to send
extra signals down the coax, to individual
customers. This increases the need for highquality
service.
Today, almost all of those signals arrive as
RF (radio frequency, which can be analog or
digital) signals. Even when the signals move
over fiber, they are often treated as if they
are RF.
Projected download
bandwidth needed by
typical home in 2010,
2020, and 2030,
assuming three video
and voice streams, one
gaming stream and
one data/e-mail stream
per home, simultaneously.
The highest
estimates for 2030
are close to 30 Gbps
because of 3D HDTV.
2030
2020
2010
Technical people thus describe voice as requiring
a high QoS (quality of service) and
low bandwidth. Telephone service over digital
data networks is called VoIP for Voice
over Internet Protocol. Cable companies
have been offering both VoIP and switched
telephone services (similar technically to
regular telephone company services). But
they are now transitioning quickly to VoIP.
Video also requires good QoS, but not always
as good as voice. Small delays and a bit
of static will often go unnoticed by viewers.
But video requires a lot of bandwidth – 2
Mbps for standard-definition TV, and 4 to 8
Mbps (and as much as 20 Mbps) for highdefinition
TV, or HDTV. The higher the
bandwidth requirements, the worse a small
glitch in the transmission will seem. Modern
HDTV is so crystal-clear that users are
annoyed by things that would be missed on
old-style sets.
Projected Download Bandwidth
Needed by Typical Home
23
53
113
558
1,398
2,227
3,118
8,892
28,799
1 10 100 1,000 10,000 100,000
Bandwidth, Mbps
This is changing. The new technology is
IPTV. In IPTV, the video moves as data, using
the same Internet Protocol (hence IP)
as any other data. As IPTV develops, expect
thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of
channels, mainly sending video on demand
to consumers who will be able to view the video
on computers or portable devices (think
iPODs) as well as on conventional TV sets.
The video service for Verizon’s FiOS is mainly
RF (for the time being), with IPTV for
program guides, VoD, and soon some niche
channels.
Satellite TV vendors, who now count almost
a fourth of American households as subscribers,
cannot directly compete with VoD,
because they can only send signals one way
– from satellite down to subscribers. But
some video providers are supplementing the
satellite feed with VoD through a terrestrial
network, fiber or coax or
both. They can also package
personal video recorders
(think TiVo) with
their services.
High
Medium
Low
Data is requiring more
and more bandwidth to
meet consumer needs,
although 1 to 5 Mbps is
typical. QoS needs are
not as great as for voice or
video, because the Internet
Protocol automatically
splits up data streams into
“packets” each containing
many thousands of zeros
and ones, and reassembles
them when they arrive at
their destination. They do
26 | The Advantages of Fiber | FTTH Council

3D Ultra
Bandwidth Needed to Receive
One TV Channel Over the Next 25 Years
2,571
Standards for 3D video are
already being formulated.
The technology already exists
and is used in industrial settings.
3D Super
796
3D HDTV
2D Ultra (ITU J.601)
3D Standard-definition
TV
126
200
280
2D Super (ITU J.601)
50
2D HDTV
10
2D Standard-definition
TV
2
1 10 100 1,000 10,000
Bandwidth, Mbps
not have to arrive at the same time,
as long as they arrive within a short
period – typically a few fractions of
seconds but sometimes much more.
Providers of all of these services have
been used to thinking about consumers’
bandwidth needs as asymmetrical.
That is, the bandwidth has
to be higher in one direction (the inbound
direction to consumers) than
the other. Few consumers create video
now, for instance, but almost all
view it from elsewhere.
Likewise, most users download more
data than they upload. But those patterns
have been changing. In much
of Europe, where providers have offered
symmetrical bandwidth, users
have tended to upload more data,
and even to create their own video.
In the US, service providers have
started to talk about being allowed
to charge different users of the network
different fees, depending on
QoS as well as on bandwidth.
It is unclear how American policymakers
will handle this issue,
which has come to be called “net
neutrality,” while being fair to all
sides and while maximizing economic
potential. But so far, the
issue, despite the publicity it has
received, has not proven to be an
obstacle to building new, faster
fiber-based networks.
The issue is complex, and cannot
be solved if people resort to slogans
without understanding the underlying
issues. Phone and cable companies,
for instance, are upset that
third-party VoIP companies “ride
free” over their networks, as long as
end users pay for the bandwidth in
the first place. Phone and cable companies
are also worried that IP video
will reduce the need for conventional
cable services.
But if regulators were to allow them
to block such services, or charge too
high a price, innovation would be
squelched and the rest of the world
could harbor most of the innovation
happening on the Internet.
A “quality-priority” based pricing
scheme would differ from the usual
approach elsewhere in the world,
where most governments are simply
pushing for universally high bandwidth
and QoS. But overseas, direct
and indirect government subsidies
to network builders tend to be
higher. In Asia, governments have
developed national policies to push
for bandwidth to all residents and
businesses, with the ultimate goal of
using FTTH to deliver it.
All light pulses –
whether voice, video,
or data – look alike,
and travel over a single
glass fiber.
But providers need
special skills for each.
FTTH Council | The Advantages of Fiber | 27

FTTH Versus Other
Types of Fiber Networks
In September 2006, the FTTH Councils for Europe, Asia and North America standardized
the definitions for Fiber-to-the-Home and Fiber-to-the-Building (also called Fiber to the
Basement). They are:
Fiber to the Home (FTTH)
A fiber optic communications path that extends from the operator’s switching equipment
to at least the boundary of the home living space or business office space. The definition
excludes those architectures where the optical fiber terminates before reaching either the
home living space or business office space and where the access path continues over a physical
medium other than optical fiber.
(RFOG node can be located at premises)
, RFOG
, RFOG
28 | The Advantages of Fiber | FTTH Council

Fiber to the Building
(FTTB)
A fiber-optic communications path that
extends from the operator’s switching
equipment to at least the boundary
of the private property enclosing the
home(s) or business(es). In this architecture,
the optical fiber will terminate
before reaching the home living space
or business office space. The access
path will then continue over another
access medium – such as copper or
wireless – to the subscriber.
There are also other definitions commonly
used by people in the industry:
Fiber to the Node
or Fiber to the
Neighborhood (FTTN)
FTTN is not defined by the FTTH
Councils. But in general it refers to
a system where fiber is extended to
a point – typically a street-side or onpole
cabinet – to within 1,000 to 5,000
feet of the average user. From there,
copper or wireless serves the user. Typically,
the service is through a variant
of DSL (Digital Subscriber Line).
FTTN should not be confused with
Hybrid Fiber Coax (HFC), used mainly
by cable companies to implement
DOCSIS, the standard that allows
data to be transmitted over cable TV
systems. Each DOCSIS node, typically
served by fiber, with coax extending
to users, passes 100 to 500 homes. Nor
should it be confused with RFOG,
which is an FTTH technology.
Fiber to the Curb (FTTC)
Like FTTN, except that the fiber is
brought much closer to a user premises
– typically closer than 1,000 feet
and often closer than 300 feet. In addition
to DSL, FTTC installations may
use Ethernet (over copper cable or
wireless) to bring the signal from the
fiber termination point to the user.
Point-to-point wirelesss is sometimes
used in rural areas simply to bring a
signal from the roadway to a home
that could be a mile or more away.
GPON OLT.
Simple cassette holds fiber.
FTTH Council | The Advantages of Fiber | 29

FTTH and FTTB Network Architectures
– A Little History
The “family” of optical networks has two major
branches – PON and AON – and many technical
variants within those branches.
PON stands for “passive optical network.” It
refers to the fact that there are no active electrical
devices between the central office and the
end user. All the handling of the light beams that
carry the signal is done with mirrors, prisms and
fiber. There are no electrical devices needed.
AON stands for “active optical network.” As
the name implies, there are electrical devices
between the user and the central office. These
devices are routers and switches, almost always
using the Ethernet standard. But these days, the
“active electronics” are not in a remote cabinet
or local “point of presence.” They are often in
the central office itself. Thus, the industry has
begun to call active networks “point-to-point” or
P2P networks. This refers to the fact that each
end user gets a dedicated fiber (or several dedicated
fibers) extending from the central office.
Because each fiber requires its own laser, P2P
networks require more power and space within
the central office. But because they do not require
fiber distribution hubs (containing optical
splitters) in the field, they tend to be simpler
to operate.
Standard Name Year Finalized
BPON ITU G.983 2001
GPON ITU G.984 2004
10GPON/NG-PON ITU G.984 Evolves constantly
EPON IEEE 802.3 2004
GePON IEEE 802.3 2005
10G-EPON IEEE 802.3av 2009 (expected)
RFOG SCTE IPS910 2009 (expected)
Evolution of PON Standards
Within the general category of passive optical
networks, there are two branches. One is based
on Ethernet, the same standard that is used in
home and corporate local-area networks. The
Ethernet branch has been standardized by IEEE
– the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
The other is based on “carrier” standards,
from the ITU – International Telecommunications
Union – and are more “telephone-like.”
The ITU Family
BPON (for “Broadband PON”) was the first
PON standard widely used in North America.
It is based on the ATM protocol, and has a top
speed to users of 622 Mbps and upstream speed
of 155 Mbps. But it allows the use of a separate
wavelength of light to support video services.
BPON is being replaced by GPON, which allows
2.48 Gbps downstream to the user and 1.24
Gbps upstream. GPON supports ATM, Ethernet,
and TDM (the protocol phone companies use
for ordinary telephone service) by “wrapping”
or “encapsulating” the data packets with some
extra bits. This is called GEM, which stands for
“GPON Encapsulated Mode.”
The GPON standard was finalized early in
2004, but it was not until early 2006 that inexpensive
electronic chips to implement it became
widely available in volume. A new upgrade,
10GPON, is already being tested. As the name
implies, downstream bandwidth is about 10 Gbps
-- four times the current standard. Upstream
bandwidth has also been increased fourfold.
The Ethernet Family
The second branch of the family tree is the Ethernet
branch. Ethernet is also used for “active”
networks.
The first Ethernet PON (EPON) standard
was released by the IEEE a few months after
the GPON standard in 2004. The standard was
quickly upgraded to 1.25 Gbps, twice the original
bandwidth, as new electronic parts became available.
Networks using that speed are sometimes
called EPON and sometimes called
GePON (for Gigabit Ethernet PON).
2.5 GigE equipment started to be deployed
this year, and equipment using
10 GigE is currently being tested.
A point of confusion: Although P2P
networks are called “active,” the typical
Ethernet P2P has no active electronics
between the end user and the central
office, just as in PON. The difference
is that in a P2P network, each customer
is served by at least one dedicated
fiber. Each fiber (and thus each customer) has
its own laser to generate the pulses of light. In a
“passive” optical network, one central-office laser
might serve anywhere up to 64 customers.
New Types of FTTH Networks
New fiber optic technologies are being developed
to meet new needs. The RFOG (Radio Frequency
Over Glass) standard, still under development,
allows cable providers to use their existing
DOCSIS protocols and electronics with all-fiber
networks. And WDM-PON adapts wavelengthdivision-multiplexing
electronic equipment developed
for the transport portion of the network
for use in the access network. WDM-PON can
provide the kinds of speeds seen in intercity networks
(currently up to 100 Gbps) and will probably
be used first for businesses and MDUs.
30 | The Advantages of Fiber | FTTH Council

FTTH and Economic Development
Common sense suggests that communities
with plentiful, reliable bandwidth
available will do better than
those without. FTTH-powered bandwidth
is essential for:
• Hometown businesses competing
in a global economy.
• Professionals and others who work at
home.
• Quality of life provided by online
entertainment, education, culture
and e-commerce.
• Special services for the elderly and for
shut-ins.
FTTH thus helps define successful communities
just as good water, power, climate
and transportation have defined
them for millennia.
That’s obviously so for greenfield
developments – the data, in previous
sections of this report, show that
fiber-equipped homes and offices
sell faster, and command a price premium
over real estate developments
without fiber.
But what about existing communities?
Direct comparisons are admittedly
difficult because FTTH has not been
widely available until recently, but virtually
all of the real-world economic
studies have borne out the predictions;
none has suggested otherwise.
By far the most comprehensive look
at broadband’s impact is a 2005 study
by William H. Lehr, Carlos A. Osorio,
and Sharon E. Gillett at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, and
Marvin A. Sirbu, from Carnegie Mellon
University. It was funded by the
Economic Development Administration
of the U.S. Department of Commerce
and by the MIT Program on
Internet & Telecoms Convergence
(http://itc.mit.edu).
The study found that broadband enhances
economic activity, helping to
promote job creation both in terms
of the total number of jobs and the
number of establishments. Broadband
is associated with growth in
rents, total employment, number of
business establishments, and share of
establishments in IT-intensive sectors.
There are also numerous case studies,
comparing specific communities
before and after public investment
in broadband.
A few examples:
• One early study, of a municipal fiber
network built in 2001 in South
Dundas, Ontario, showed substantial
benefits. It was prepared for the UK’s
Department of Trade and Industry.
• A 2003 study by D. J. Kelley comparing
Cedar Falls, Iowa, which
launched a municipal broadband
network in 1997, against its otherwise
similar neighboring community
of Waterloo. Cedar Falls bounded
ahead of its neighbor.
• More recently, Ford and Koutsky
compared per capita retail sales
growth in Lake County, Florida,
which invested in a municipal broadband
network that became operational
in 2001, against ten Florida
counties selected as controls based
on their similar retail sales levels
prior to Lake County’s broadband
investment. They found that sales
per capita grew almost twice as fast
in Lake County compared to the
control group.
Similar patterns have emerged for
communities using FTTH provided
by private enterprise. Fort Wayne, Indiana,
has taken good advantage of
a Verizon FiOS investment there, for
instance. And in February 2007, two
big studies of housing sales in Massachusetts
– where FiOS was coming
on line in numerous communities
– showed a startling recovery. Sales
were up, and prices were down only
slightly (after a decade-long rise that
makes housing there among the most
expensive in the United States). It is
too early to tell how positive the effect
of FTTH is on home sales in the current
downturn, but initial, somewhat
anecdotal evidence is positive.
The data are clear and consistent:
FTTH, whether provided by private
or municipal organizations, is an economic
plus for all communities, and
an outright boon for many.
FTTH helps
define successful
communities just
as good water,
power, climate and
transportation
have defined them
for millennia.
FTTH Council | The Advantages of Fiber | 31

The FTTH Council will certify any home installation
that meets its standard – fiber optic cable that extends
all the way to the boundary of the home premises.
Certified projects may display the program’s badge in
its advertising.
Certification is important because companies like to
claim they have fiber networks, even when the fiber
does not go all the way to the home. This can lead to
consumer confusion. Consumers sometimes think they
are getting the full benefit of 100 percent fiber broadband,
when in fact they are not. Once constituents understand
the benefits of fiber, they will embrace it:
• Consumers will understand the difference between
FTTH and other “fiber networks” that aren’t as good,
and will embrace the superior experience of FTTH.
• Communities will understand the benefits that
broadband brings in terms of jobs, wages, and direct
benefits such as medical and education services
– especially when delivered in the best possible
form – FTTH.
• Investors will understand the benefits to companies
that make the effort to build fiber to the home
networks – in terms of increased customer loyalty,
competitive advantage, return on invested capital,
and revenue.
Details and an application form can be found on the
web at www.FTTHCouncil.org.
1. FTTH or fiber-to-the-home identifies a telecommunications
architecture in which a communications
path is provided over optical fiber cables extending
from the telecommunications operator’s switching
equipment to (at least) the boundary of the home
living space or business office space (the side of the
building or unit). This communications path is provided
for the purpose of carrying telecommunications
traffic to one or more subscribers and for delivering
one or more services (for example Internet
access, telephony and/or video-television).
2. For the FTTH Council to certify any service provider’s
network as operating over fiber-to-the-home
access; and to grant that service provider use of the
Fiber-Connected Home badge, that service provider[,
and their network,] must identify the location,
size, and equipment being used in sufficient detail
for the Council to effectively certify those deployments.
The service provider must also confirm that
commercial services are currently being delivered to
revenue-paying subscribers.
3. The service provider must exhibit a high level of
commitment to network-wide FTTH deployment as
indicated by its “Strategic Commitment” to FTTH in
its network. “Strategic Commitment” is defined as
the ratio of:
Total number of residential households in service provider’s
serving areas to which services can be marketed over
an FTTH access network (homes passed), divided by total
residential households subscribed to voice, data or video
services, served by service provider’s entire wireline network
(total residential communication subscribers).
This ratio must be 10 percent or higher.
To learn more about fiber to the home:
FTTH Council
www.FTTHCouncil.org
1-866-320-6444
info@ftthcouncil.org

HOT PRODUCTS
Broadband Properties
8th Annual List of
Leading Broadband
Technologies and Services
The latest from top distributors, manufacturers, software vendors,
content providers and system builders. Bad economic times are not deterring
these vendors from introducing new broadband technologies.
Industry Segments
Areas Covered
Company
PCO/MDU
FTTx
Wireless
Telcos
Cable TV
Hospitality
Municipality
ADC 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Advanced
Media Technologies 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
AFL Telecommunications 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Allied Telesis, Inc. 3 3 3 3 3 3
AT&T Connected
Communities 3 3 3 3
Broadband Integration
Group 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
CableNow Corporation 3 3 3 3
Calix 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Charles Industries, Ltd. 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Connexion Technologies 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Corning Cable Systems 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Display Systems
International 3 3 3 3 3 3
Draka Communications 3 3 3 3 3 3
Enablence 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Great Lakes
Data Systems, Inc. 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Hitachi Communication
Technologies
America, Inc. 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Outside Plant
Inside Plant
Wireless
Structured Wiring
Test Equipment
End-User Applications
In-Home Networking
Network Service/
Programming
Software
Design/Construction
Headend & Related
Equipment
Opto-Electronics
66 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | April 2009

HOT PRODUCTS
Industry Segments
Areas Covered
Company
PCO/MDU
FTTx
Wireless
Telcos
Cable TV
Hospitality
Municipality
Outside Plant
Inside Plant
Wireless
Structured Wiring
Test Equipment
End-User Applications
In-Home Networking
Network Service/
Programming
Software
Design/Construction
Headend & Related
Equipment
Opto-Electronics
Multicom - Mconnect 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
OFS 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Pace International 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Preformed Line Products 3 3 3 3 3 3
Satellite Management
Services, Inc. (SMS) 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Speed Wire, Inc. 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Spot On Networks 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Sumitomo Electric
Lightwave 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Suttle 3 3 3 3 3 3
Telco Systems 3 3 3 3 3 3
Verizon Enhanced
Communities 3 3 3
ADC
13625 Technology Drive
Eden Prairie, MN 55344-2252
P: 952-938-8080
F: 952-917-1717
Contact: Diane O’Keefe, FTTx Marketing Manager
E: diane.okeefe@adc.com
www.adc.com/fttx
Segments of industry served: PCO/MDU, Fiber-to-the-
Home, Wireless, Telcos, Cable TV, Hospitality, Municipalities,
Enterprise, Broadcast, Developers
Products: Outside Plant, Inside Plant, Wireless, Structured
Wiring, End-User Applications, Design/Construction,
Headend and Related Equipment
ADC’s OmniReach Hub in a
Pedestal is the ideal solution for
deploying fiber to small or rural
communities of 12 to 96 homes.
Enclosed in a pedestal, this fieldfriendly
unit can accommodate a
variety of installation locations and
needs. Unlike a metal cabinet, it
can be placed in the ground without
installing a handhole or pouring
a concrete pad. This expedites
the deployment of fiber to the home
and reduces overall project costs.
The Hub in Pedestal incorporates many of the same patented
design features as ADC’s industry-leading FDH 3000
cabinet, including plug-and-play splitter modules, parking lot
storage and a swing frame. Installers have the option of adding
hardened drop connections directly to the pedestal to accommodate
low-cost business models.
Engineered for efficient cable routing and management, the
Hub in Pedestal will meet the challenges of any rural fiber deployment
in the outside plant network.
Visit us at the Broadband Properties Summit, Booth # 604.
Advanced Media Technologies Inc.
720 S. Powerline Road, Suite G
Deefield Beach, FL 33442
P: 954-427-5711
F: 954-427-9688
Contact: Rob Narzisi
E: rnarzisi@amt.com
www.amt.com
Segments of industry served: PCO/MDU, Fiber-to-the-
Home, Telcos, Cable TV, Hospitality, Municipalities
Products: Outside Plant, Test Equipment, Opto-Electronics
Advanced Media Technologies is the performance leader
among CATV and high-end broadband electronic equipment
providers. As a value-added reseller of high-performance prod-
April 2009 | www.broadbandproperties.com | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | 67

HOT PRODUCTS
ucts from the world’s most recognized manufacturers, AMT
targets emerging technology applications in broadband with a
complete line of RF and fiber distributions, video, data, IP and
HDTV products. AMT offers a complete line of broadband
products from the world’s most recognized manufacturers, including
Motorola, Harris/Videotek, DX Antenna, EGT, RGB,
K-Tech and Blonder-Tongue. It provides expert in-house technical
support for RF and IP video distribution systems to cable
TV companies nationwide. Visit us at the Broadband Properties
Summit, Booth # 616.
AFL Telecommunications
P.O. Box 3127
Spartanburg, SC 29304
P: 864-433-5388
F: 864-433-5560
Contact: Mark Boxer,
Business Development Manager
E: mark.boxer@afltele.com
www.afltele.com
Segments of industry served: PCO/MDU, Fiber-to-the-
Home, Telcos, Cable TV, Hospitality, Municipalities
Products: Outside Plant, Inside Plant, Wireless, Structured
Wiring, Test Equipment, Network Services/Programming,
Design/Construction, Headend and Related Equipment,
Opto-Electronics
DIRECTV MFH3 IP-Based
Headend: In partnership with
DIRECTV, AFL Telecommunications
provides a revolutionary
IP-based platform
capable of delivering 100 percent
of DIRECTV services,
including HD, video-ondemand,
and DVR services.
Compact and cost-effective,
MFH3 is a new distribution
technology for DIRECTV
content in the MDU and commercial marketplace.
Features include an “out-of-the-box” platform that supports
up to 500 receivers, with additional licenses available for purchase
to support up to 1,024 receivers. MFH3 easily integrates
with high-speed data services, allowing operators to sell double
and triple play services. Upgrades occur via software download
over the WAN for both the gateway and receivers. Remotely
manageable, MFH3 is ideally suited for networks delivering a
bundled suite of IP-based services.
As a master system operator for DIRECTV, AFL can integrate
a complete package of products for your network deployment,
including passive fiber optic equipment, electronics,
programming and network integration to pull it all together.
Visit us at the Broadband Properties Summit, Booth # 114.
Allied Telesis
3200 N. First Street
San Jose, CA 95134
P: 408-519-8700
F: 408-519-8701
Contact: Steve Klein, Director Marketing &
Business Development
E: steve_klein@alliedtelesis.com
www.alliedtelesis.com
Segments of industry served: Fiber-to-the-Home, Telcos
Products: Opto-Electronics
AT-iMG726 MOD: The modular design of the iMG726
MOD brings a new level of price performance to an intelligent
FTTP ONT, allowing a ‘pay-as-you-grow’ approach to service
provisioning. It is available with optional 1 GE, 100 Mbps active
Ethernet or GEPON interfaces, and plug-in HPNAv3 over
coax for residential triple play or T1/E1 networking interfaces.
HPNA delivers 120 Mbps Ethernet over coax and extends
management all the
way to the appliance.
The MOD has 2 FXS
voice ports and 6 RJ-45
data ports standard, and
features a separate fiber
and electronics tray
in its modular design.
Power and optional
battery backup are also
available. Visit us at the
Broadband Properties
Summit, Booth # 512.
AT&T Connected Communities
2180 Lake Blvd., 11A37
Atlanta, GA 30319
P: 404-829-8750
F: 404-829-8818
Contact: Lin Atkinson, General Manager,
National Accounts
E: lin.atkinson@att.com
www.att.com/communities.com
Segments of industry served: PCO/MDU
Products: Wireless, End-User Applications, In-Home Networking
AT&T Connected Communities delivers innovative communication
and entertainment solutions and provides a source of
ancillary income to the multifamily housing industry. AT&T,
through its dedicated AT&T Connected Communities organization,
works closely with apartment management and ownership
groups to provide customers in our 22-state service area
with the latest services and technology available.
Visit us at the Broadband Properties Summit, Booth # 400.
68 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | April 2009

HOT PRODUCTS
Broadband Integration Group
3300 Battleground Avenue, Suite 100
Greensboro, NC 27410
P: 336-288-9464
F: 336-288-0272
Contact: Ed Heuck, Director of New Business
E: info@graycliffent.com
www.broadbandintegrationgroup.com
Segments of industry served: PCO/MDU, Fiber-to-the-
Home, Wireless, Telcos, Cable TV, Hospitality, Installation,
Construction, Engineering
Products: Structured Wiring, Design/Construction
Since its inception, BIG has developed broadband system architectures
and performed broadband system construction for
more than 25,000 residential units. From hard-line coaxial
distribution networks to hybrid fiber/coax and pure fiber optic
distribution networks, we have constructed and deployed the
full range of broadband distribution systems, including the following
specialized services:
• FTTH system construction
• Hybrid fiber/coax system construction
• Fiber optic distribution
• Network construction
• Underground utilities construction
• Splicing and system activation
• Forward and return path balancing
• System sweep and certification
• MFH1 DIRECTV system construction
• MFH2 DIRECTV system construction
• MFH3 DIRECTV system construction
• 2GHz L-Band system construction
• Conventional “unstacked” L-Band system construction
• Ethernet system construction and termination
CableNow Corporation
815 E. Tallmadge Avenue, Suite B
Akron, OH 44310
P: 330-630-5550
F: 330-633-0006
Contact: Kevin Brainard, Product Manager
E: info@cablenowcorp.com
www.cablenowcorp.com
Segments of industry served: PCO/MDU, Cable TV, Hospitality,
Municipalities
Products: Headend and Related Equipment
GuideNOW with Advertising is a new easy-to-use on-screen
TV guide enabling operators and property managers to generate
additional revenue and communicate with residents. The
operator has total control over ad and message creation and
scheduling. If you want to conserve bandwidth, this combination
channel fills the bill. Just log in from any Internet connection,
create and schedule. In addition to its full-featured graphics
capability, the
easy-to-use software
plays any of the following
formats: jpg,
gif, bmp, png, avi,
wmv. Sell ads to local
businesses and/or use
the upper window for
property information.
Customizable guide is
ideal for any tier up to 120 channels. Unique channels such
as “front door camera” are easily listed. Requires 1 rack unit
of headend space with listing data downloaded daily via the
Internet. Software may be uploaded to an existing PC in order
to save on hardware cost.
Visit us at the Broadband Properties Summit, Booth # 904.
Calix
1035 N. McDowell Boulevard
Petaluma, CA 94954
P: 707-766-3000
F: 707-766-3100
Contact: David Russell, Solutions Marketing Director
E: david.russell@calix.com
www.calix.com
Segments of industry served: PCO/MDU, Fiber-to-the-
Home, Telcos, Cable TV, Hospitality, Municipalities
Products: Opto-Electronics
Extended Reach-40Km
GPON: In the fall of 2008,
Calix announced a breakthrough
in extending the
reach of the GPON standard
from 20 km to 33 km. This
innovation was enabled by
changes to the GPON standard
implemented in 2008.
Calix quickly developed a
new Optical Interface Module
(OIM) for its C7 OLT to
enable customers to exploit
these changes in the GPON
standard. With the new software
release (6.1) on the C7
platform, the extended reach
GPON is now able to serve customers up to 40 km from the
OLT. All existing Calix 700 ONTs support this capability. The
end result: Service providers can quadruple the size of their
GPON service areas by simply plugging in an OIM module at
the serving office, thereby eliminating the expense of building
and operating remote cabinets. This is another Calix innovation
for serving rural communities with FTTP. Visit us at the
Broadband Properties Summit, Booth # 118.
April 2009 | www.broadbandproperties.com | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | 69

HOT PRODUCTS
Charles Industries Ltd.
5600 Apollo Drive
Rolling Meadows, IL 60008
P: 847-806-6300
F: 847-806-6231
Contact: Minesh Patel, Vice President OSP Business Unit
E: mktserv@charlesindustries.com
www.charlesindustries.com
Segments of industry served: PCO/MDU, Fiber-to-the-
Home, Wireless, Telcos, Cable TV, Municipalities
Products: Outside Plant
Charles Fiber Flexibility Pedestals (CFFP) offer a scalable,
low-cost alternative to placing centralized split points (also
known as fiber distribution hubs, or FDH) in the outside plant.
Unlike metallic cabinets, CFFPs are flood-proof and can be
installed in almost any location. Their compact size compared
with large cabinets makes them easier to install and ideally
suited to small communities and neighborhoods. Rights-ofway
are no longer a concern and the units can be economically
placed directly in the ground without the need for an expensive
pad. A two-stage “enclosure
within an enclosure”
design provides superior
protection of the inner
interconnect panel, splitter
storage and fiber routing.
CFFPs are available
in four sizes with up to
72, 96, 144 and 288 fiber
counts, and are prestubbed
with feed and
distribution cables that
are factory tested. Onesize-fits-all
splitter modules
can be used in any
model CFFP.
Connexion Technologies
111 Corning Road, Suite 250
Cary, NC 27518
P: 919-535-7329
F: 919-882-9338
Contact: Susan Knowles, Media Relations Coordinator
E: susan.knowles@cnxntech.com
www.connexiontechnologies.net
Segments of industry served: PCO/MDU, Fiber-to-the-
Home, Telcos, Cable TV, Hospitality
Products: Structured Wiring, Opto-Electronics, Design/Construction
Connexion Technologies is the country’s premier fiber optic
amenity company. It invests its capital to design, build and
operate fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) networks in single-family,
multifamily, high-rise, resort and hospitality properties nationwide.
Its award-winning, state-of-the-art networks deliver an
unsurpassed technology experience and increase property values
dramatically. By aligning its partners with leading service
providers, it offers the best in enhanced television, telephone,
Internet and security monitoring services. Connexion Technologies
creates A Better Connection with its one-source technology
solution by offering a complete suite of entertainment
and communication applications at the speed of light.
The company is based in Cary, North Carolina, with 17 offices
throughout the country. Connexion Technologies is currently
contracted to provide communications services to more
than 200 residential communities in 20 states.
Visit us at the Broadband Properties Summit, Booth # 702.
Corning Cable Systems
800 17th Street NW
Hickory, NC 28601
P: 800-743-2675
F: 828-901-5000
Contact: Stephanie Kosty, Public Relations
E: stephanie.kosty@corning.com
www.corning.com/cablesystems
Segments of industry served: PCO/MDU, Fiber-to-the-
Home, Wireless, Telcos, Cable TV
Products: Outside Plant, Inside Plant, Wireless, Test Equipment,
Design/Construction
Corning Cable Systems Evolant Solutions Loyalty Programs
provide select fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) developers,
contractors and consultants with training, tools and resources
on industry best practices and Corning-specific product innovations.
Geared toward FTTH consultants and designers, Corning’s
FTTxpert Program provides easy online access to design
standards and tools, technical product information, white papers
and articles, as well as personalized design assistance from
industry experts.
Corning’s Total Access Program (TAP) provides highly
qualified design, engineering, furnishing and installation companies
with the tools necessary to ensure successful FTTH and
wireless deployments. After completing optical access networks
installation training, TAP members are, among other things,
able to offer their customers an extended product warranty on
complete Corning FTTH solutions.
The Corning Connected Community Program assists
homebuilders, developers and service providers in implementing
fiber optic infrastructures into their building plans. Members
of the program have access to a large selection of material
that markets the value of FTTH to prospective homebuyers,
such as neighborhood signage, FTTH brochures and DVDs
for the sales office.
70 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | April 2009

HOT PRODUCTS
Display Systems International
2214 Hanselman Avenue
Sakatoon, SK S7L 6A4
P: 306-934-6884
F: 306-934-6447
Contact: Whitney Lemke
E: whitney@displaysystemsintl.com
www.displaysystemsintl.com
Segments of industry served: PCO/MDU, Telcos, Cable TV,
Hospitality, Municipalities
Products: Software
Especially popular with gated communities, multi-dwelling
units and private cable, DSI offers an inexpensive and professional
way to display advertising, real estate, community bulletin
boards and tenant information on a local cable channel.
Our software can also be used in schools, restaurants, shopping
units, timeshares, museums, hotels and hospitals to display announcements,
menus, retail specials and guest information.
Also offered by DSI is LineUp, our inexpensive electronic
programming guide that allows you to display an on-screen
scrolling guide of current TV listings. With LineUp, you have
complete control of the look, logos, fonts, colors and information
displayed. Visit us at the Broadband Properties Summit,
Booth # 716.
Draka Communications
2512 Penny Road
Claremont, NC 28610
P: 828-455-0990
F: 828-459-8444
Contact: Kim Hudson
E: kim.hudson@draka.com
www.drakaamericas.com
Segments of industry served: PCO/MDU, Fiber-to-the-
Home, Telcos, Cable TV
Products: Outside Plant, Inside Plant
Draka MDU Cable Featuring BendBright-XS:
Draka’s BendBright family of fiber optic cable combines
the unlimited transmission capacity of optical
fiber with copper-like flexibility and handling, like
installing around 90-degree corners and even stapling
the cables. BendBright-XS is particularly suitable for
MDU applications because it uses Draka’s standard,
time-proven PCVD manufacturing process and
trench technology – which means you can easily splice
or connectorize BendBright-XS to legacy fiber in your
network. Draka’s new MDU product line features:
• Premium bending-loss performance at all singlemode
fiber transmission wavelengths
• The ability to withstand repeated bending to incredibly
small radii
• Backward compatibility and the use of space-saving
components
• 100 times better bending improvement over standard single-mode
fiber
• Standard (2.9 mm diameter) and heavy-duty (4.8 mm diameter)
designs in indoor or indoor/outdoor flame ratings
• Availability with or without connectors – standard or premium
HLC ScratchGuard connector technology.
Visit us at the Broadband Properties Summit, Booth # 712.
Enablence
1075 Windward Ridge Parkway, Suite 100
Alpharetta, GA 30005
P: 603-766-8618
Contact: Scott Brown
E: NA_FTTxsales@enablence.com
www.enablence.com
Segments of industry served: PCO/MDU, Fiber-to-the-
Home, Telcos, Cable TV, Municipality
Products: End-User Applications, Opto-Electronics
Enablence Systems’
ideal solution for
m u l t i - d w e l l i n g
units is the TRI-
DENT7 Compact
Optical Line Terminal
(COLT)
with the ONT-
G888 optical network
terminal,
which allow network
operators to
serve high-density MDU complexes with a state-of-the-art gigabit
passive optical network (GPON). Deployed with a G.984
GPON-compliant interface module, the COLT provides up to
eight PON ports. Using a 1x32 split from each PON port, the
COLT connects up to 256 ONT-G888 ONTs.
Each ONT-G888 serves as many as eight subscribers each
with 100 Mbps of data service, POTS, RF and IP video, providing
network operators and/or MDU management with many
options to attract customers/tenants, provide new services and
generate revenue. The COLT requires only two rack units (2
RU) of space. Because it is temperature-hardened it may be
deployed in non-climate-controlled cabinets. In a high-rise deployment,
the COLT can be placed in the basement with the
ONTs, or the ONTs can be deployed on each floor.
Great Lakes Data Systems Inc.
5954 Priestly Drive
Carlsbad, CA 92008
P: 760-602-1900
F: 760-602-1928
Contact: Garrick Russell, Vice President Operations
E: garrick@glds.com
www.glds.com
April 2009 | www.broadbandproperties.com | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | 71

HOT PRODUCTS
Segments of industry served: PCO/MDU, Fiber-to-the-
Home, Wireless, Telcos, Cable TV, Municipalities
Products: Software
WinCable sets a new standard for broadband billing and subscriber
management software. WinCable’s client/server architecture,
attractive Windows design and robust SQL database
provide optimal features, benefits, and value.
Digital, analog and IPTV set-top boxes, FTTH, conditional
access, satellite receivers, cable modems, VOD and VoIP
can all be managed directly from the WinCable billing system.
GLDS also offers Web-enabled customer self-care including
bill view, subscriber self-upgrades, PPV ordering, and online
credit card payment.
• Designed for the requirements of private, municipal and
telco video
• Exclusive address-based features
• Full support for interdiction, FTTP, digital, analog, IPTV,
data, VoIP and more
• Landlord/tenant billing options
• Low-cost online solutions for small systems
Currently serving small and mid-sized operators since 1980,
GLDS has implemented its solutions for over 300 operators in
49 US states and 40 countries worldwide. For more information,
contact GLDS Sales at 800.882.7950 or sales@glds.com.
Visit us at the Broadband Properties Summit, Booth # 212.
Hitachi Communication Technologies
America, Inc.
3617 Parkway Lane
Norcross, GA 30092
P: 770-797-2521
F: 770-797-2550
Contact: Pete Westafer, Director of Marketing
E: pete.westafer@hitachi-cta.com
www.hitachi-cta.com
Segments of industry served: PCO/MDU, Fiber-to-the-
Home, Wireless, Telcos, Cable TV, Hospitality, Municipalities,
Source-to-Subscriber Applications
Products: Wireless, End-User Applications, Network Services/Programming,
Design/Construction, Headend and
Related Equipment, Opto-Electronics
Hitachi Node+Zero RFOG Module: Designed as a universal
single-fiber FTTP
(fiber-to-the-premises)
solution for
HFC (hybrid fiber/
coax) network operators,
the Hitachi
Node+Zero RFOG
(Radio Frequency
over Glass) module
enables a fiber optic
connection from the
headend to the subscriber, reducing costly active components
in the network. Research shows that operating expense can be
reduced by up to 80 percent in a new RFOG build, and by up
to 67 percent in an RFOG upgrade of existing HFC network
(The Broadband Group, 2009). This savings is ongoing, not just
one-time, and represents a powerful positive impact to the network
operator’s bottom line.
The Hitachi Node+Zero module follows the specifications
of the emerging SCTE RFOG standards initiative, allowing
CATV operators to leverage existing headend equipment and
to migrate to passive optical network (PON) technology as
market conditions warrant.
Visit us at the Broadband Properties Summit, Booth # 602.
Multicom – MCONNECT
1076 Florida Central Parkway
Longwood, FL 32750
P: 800-423-2594
F: 407-339-0204
Contact: Scott Brietz, Sales Manager
E: multicom@multicominc.com
www.multicominc.com
Segments of industry served: PCO/MDU, Fiber-to-the-
Home, Telcos, Cable TV, Hospitality, VoIP
Products: Outside Plant, Inside Plant, Structured Wiring, Test
Equipment, End-User Applications, Design/Construction,
Headend and Related Equipment, Opto-Electronics
Multicom, a name you have trusted for 27 years for all your
CATV and fiber optic needs, has established Mconnect, a digital
phone service customized specifically for cable operators.
Mconnect gives cable operators the ability to complement
their existing lineup of video and data services with a stateof-the-art
redundant digital phone service, creating the same
triple play options that MSO and telco competitors are now
providing their subscribers.
Each cable operator/reseller is provided with a branded
sign-up portal designed with the bundled product and pricing
specifications exactly the way you want it. In addition, you
can track data and revenue by system location. Visit us at the
Broadband Properties Summit, Booth # 120.
OFS
2000 Northeast Expressway
Norcross, GA 30071
P: 1-888-342-3743
Contact: Fernando Costantino, Global Marketing Manager
E: ofs@ofsoptics.com
www.ofsoptics.com
Segments of industry served: PCO/MDU, Fiber-to-the-
Home, Wireless, Telcos, Cable TV, Municipalities
Products: Outside Plant, Inside Plant, Wireless, In-Home
Networking, Design/Construction
72 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | April 2009

HOT PRODUCTS
EZ-Bend Optical Cables
help speed and simplify
indoor optical drop cable
installations using breakthrough
technology pioneered
by OFS. They can
be routed around corners
and behind moldings,
and stapled using traditional fast and easy “copper-like” installation
practices, with negligible signal loss. Ideal for aggressive
routing environments where space is at a premium, EZ-Bend
Cables offer reliable support for MDU drop and in-home wiring
applications, and support HDTV, on-demand video and
many other revenue-generating services.
Available in indoor/outdoor, riser, plenum, and low-smokezero-halogen
constructions, the EZ-Bend Cables feature 4.8
mm or 3.0 mm diameter ruggedized simplex cordages offering
less than 0.1 dB macrobending attenuation at 1550 nm
for 1 turn at 5 mm fiber bend radius. Their solid fiber construction
enables macrobending performance far better than
ITU G.657B requirements, and backward compatibility with
installed G.652D fibers. EZ-Bend Cables are a green solution,
free of heavy metals and RoHS-compliant. Visit us at the
Broadband Properties Summit, Booth # 302.
Pace International
3581 Technology Drive NW
Rochester, MN 55901
P: 800-444-PACE (7223)
Contact: Opie Williams, Vice President of Sales
E: opie@paceintl.com
www.paceintl.com
Segments of industry served: PCO/MDU, Fiber-to-the-
Home, Telcos, Cable TV, Hospitality
Products: Outside Plant, Inside Plant, Structured Wiring,
Test Equipment, In-Home Networking, Network Services/
Programming, Software, Design/Construction, Headend
and Related Equipment, Opto-Electronics
Pace-Built QAM Headends:
Pace International has teamed
up with Televes USA, a manufacturer
of premium-quality
QAM hardware that supports
HD and digital services for
MDU and commercial applications.
Pace is the primary
distributor for the hardware
in the United States. Televes,
based in Spain, was the first
company to introduce QAM
technology to the DBS marketplace.
QAM technology allows
HD and other high-bandwidth
digital content to be distributed
through existing wiring in a building, using a headend
and customer devices for individual subscribers. The technology
allows properties to offer digital video content to residents at a
very low cost for entry when compared to other solutions. The
Televes CDC Headend Management System lets you monitor
the headend locally or via remote control (using a modem). This
feature will save the operator time by reducing truck rolls to
check operating status. This will also enable the service technician
to accurately diagnose problems and solve them remotely
or ensure that the proper replacements are brought to the site.
For more information, visit www.paceintl.com/qam.
Visit Pace and Televes at the Broadband Properties Summit,
Booth #704
Preformed Line Products
660 Beta Drive
Mayfield Village, OH 44143
P: 440-461-5200
F: 440-442-8816
Contact: Bill Upton, Sales Manager
E: inquiries@preformed.com
www.preformed.com
Segments of industry served: PCO/MDU, Fiber-to-the-
Home, Telcos, Cable TV, Municipalities
Products: Outside Plant
Preformed Line
Products Axcess Solutions
product line
offers customized
COYOTE pre-terminated
wall- and
rack-mount cabinets.
These cabinets
not only save time,
they also save on installation
labor costs. These units are ready for splicing right
out of the carton and accommodate standard COYOTE Splice
Trays and Adapter Modules. Cabinets are available in two colors,
almond or black, and include mounting hardware, tie-off
brackets, grounding posts, grommets and hardware to secure
splice trays. A lockable inner door secures the splicing compartment.
All fiber cabinets are made from rugged 16-gauge
steel and protected with a durable powder-coat finish. Each
cabinet can be ordered empty or preterminated to your specifications.
Fiber assemblies are 100 percent tested and labeled
under ISO-certified procedures.
Satellite Management Services (SMS)
4519 E. Broadway Road, Suite 100
Phoenix, AZ 85040
P: 602-386-4423
F: 602-386-4401
Contact: Don Bowen, Executive Vice President
E: dbowen@smstv.com
www.smstv.com
April 2009 | www.broadbandproperties.com | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | 73

HOT PRODUCTS
Segments of industry served: PCO/MDU, Wireless, Telcos,
Cable TV, Hospitality, Municipalities
Products served: Outside Plant, Wireless, Network/Services
Programming, Design/Construction, Headend and Related
Equipment
The most exciting program ever available to
private cable operators: The Dish Network
PCO Program through Satellite Management
Services. SMS is proud to be an authorized
Master Distributor of Dish Networks
PCO Program. Pricing, policies and agreements are identical to
going to Dish Network direct, but we offer additional value!
The value of using SMS as your Master Distributor includes:
• Operational assistance – SMS has been operating private
cable systems since 1985, and you benefit from that experience.
• Hardware assistance – SMS can assist you with every part of
the hardware and equipment required to operate your systems.
Whether it is design or rack and balance, we can help.
• Programming and billing assistance – SMS’s experienced
staff will assist you through the application and launch process.
• PCO forum – SMS set up and participates in a Web forum
specifically for sharing information on the PCO program.
Speed Wire Inc.
249-50 Jericho Turnpike
Floral Park, NY 11001
P: 516-945-6885
F: 516-327-6084
Contact: Kevin Donnelly, President
E: kdonnelly@speedwireinc.com
www.speedwireinc.com
Segments of industry served: PCO/MDU, Fiber-to-the-Home,
Wireless, Telcos, Cable TV, Hospitality, Municipalities
Products: Outside Plant, Inside Plant, Wireless, Structured
Wiring, Design/Construction, Headend and Related
Equipment
Speed Wire is a premier provider of technology installation
services. We install wired and wireless broadband Internet access
infrastructure for residential and business communities.
Some of the Nation’s largest CLECs, ILECs and Fortune 500
Companies contract Speed Wire’s field services team for installations,
upgrades and deployment services.
Providing installation and support for copper and fiber
structured cabling • wireless technologies (WiFi, WiMAX,
P2P) • site surveys • nationwide roll outs • project design •
project management
Providing nationwide installation services since 1996. Visit
us at the Broadband Properties Summit, Booth # 902.
Spot On Networks
55 Church Street
New Haven, CT 06510
P: 203-523-5207
F: 203-773-1947
Contact: Oliver Oetterer, VP of Sales
E: ooetterer@spotonnetworks.com
www.spotonnetworks.com
Segments of industry served: PCO/MDU, Wireless, Hospitality,
Municipalities
Products: Wireless, End-User Applications, In-Home Networking,
Network Services/Programming
High-speed broadband is a hot topic. High-speed wireless
broadband is
sizzling. Do
your residents
want faster,
cost-efficient
propertywide
Internet access?
Count
on it! They
know all
about WiFi
and there is a
rapidly growing
expectation that wireless Internet will be available the minute
they move in. Spot On Network’s wireless, secure and
monitored networks provide instant access to high-speed
Internet in the apartments and throughout the community
complex the minute your tenant settles in. Absolve yourself of
all CALEA compliancy issues, and provide your prospective
and current residents with the hottest product out there. Your
residents want to save money, and we can help. Go wireless
with Spot On. Visit us at the Broadband Properties Summit,
Booth # 908.
Sumitomo Electric Lightwave
78 Alexander Drive
Research Triangle Park,
NC 27709
P: 800-358-7378
Contact: Customer Service
E: info@sumitomoelectric.com
www.sumitomoelectric.com and www.futureflex.com
Segments of industry served: PCO/MDU, Fiber-to-the-
Home, Telcos, Cable TV, Municipalities
Products: Outside Plant, Inside Plant, Structured Wiring
Sumitomo Electric Lightwave manufactures and tailors fiber
optic network innovations specifically designed to lower the
cost of deployment for fiber-to-the-home, fiber-to-the-premises,
MDU, and access and enterprise networks including fiber optic
cable, termination solutions, fusion splicers and accessories,
74 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | April 2009

HOT PRODUCTS
splitters and passive products.
As the leader in optical
ribbon fiber technology
and first-to-market
innovations, Sumitomo
has introduced the industry’s
first ribbon drop
cable, as well as the first
and most popular handheld
splicers. Featured
also are the industry’s
only dual-heater fusion
splicers, which improve
splicing efficiency by over
80 percent.
Sumitomo also manufactures the environmentally green
FutureFlex Air-Blown Fiber LAN infrastructure, which
has been adopted by the Pentagon, DFW Airport, Maricopa
County, Arizona Cardinals’ Stadium, Johns Hopkins University,
ESPN, CNN, MGM Grand, National Library of Medicine
(NIH), Mayo Clinic and others. Visit us at the Broadband
Properties Summit, Booth # 610.
Suttle
1001 East Highway 212
Hector, MN 55342
P: 800-852-8662
F: 320-848-6218
E: suttlesales@commsysinc.com
www.suttleonline.com
Segments of industry served: PCO/MDU, Fiber-to-the-
Home, Telcos, Cable TV
Products: Structured Wiring, In-Home Networking
TWiN Lock Connector:
This small, compact
universal F connector holds
just as much street credit as
– if not more than – the standard
F connectors in the market
today. From its complete
blockage of water migration
to its superb 75 pounds of pull
strength, the TWiN lock not
only meets SCTE standards but exceeds them as well. The patented
twin 360-degree compression-style connection allows a
full contact of metal drawn down on the cable itself, as opposed
to a friction-based connection on standard F connectors.
The TWiN Lock not only performs and protects your signal
better, but it also saves you money compared with the standard
connectors in the market today. The TWiN Lock is available in
F, RCA and BNC. Visit us at the Broadband Properties Summit,
Booth # 406.
Telco Systems
3 Hampshire Street
Foxboro, MA 02035
P: 781-551-0300
F: 781-255-2344
Contact: Raylene Kadrmas,
Marketing Communications Manager
E: rkadrmas@telco.com
www.telco.com
Segments of industry served: Fiber-to-the-Home, Telcos,
Cable TV, Municipalities
Products: In-Home Networking, Opto-Electronics
Telco Systems’ EdgeGate
product family provides triple
play, all-in-one, future-proof
outdoor and indoor CPE options
designed to deliver voice,
video and data services to
homes, small office/home office
(SOHO) and small enterprises.
The EdgeGate family has been
deployed at thousands of homes
and businesses worldwide. It
offers ILECs, utilities, municipalities
and greenfield developers
a cost-effective means to
offer high-reliability and high-availability triple play services
over a fiber-based network. These CPE gateways support multiple
analog voice lines
(VoIP FXS ports) and
Ethernet LAN ports
for both PC and TV
connections. The optical
uplink dynamically
supports 100 Mbps or
1 Gbps Ethernet over
traditional fiber pair
or single-strand bidirectional
fiber, cutting
costs in half. Product family members include the RUS-approved
EdgeGate 482 and 232, as well as the EdgeGate 483 outdoor
CPE gateway with RF support, and the EdgeGate 242W indoor
CPE with wireless LAN capabilities. Visit us at the Broadband
Properties Summit, Booth # 806.
Verizon Enhanced Communities
One Verizon Enhanced Communities
Basking Ridge, NJ 07920
P: 908-559-1433
F: 908-766-5267
Contact: Daniel O’Connell, Director, National Sales
E: FiosNow-VEC@Verizon.com
www.verizon.com/communities
April 2009 | www.broadbandproperties.com | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | 75

HOT PRODUCTS
Segments of industry served: MDUs
Products: In-Home Networking, Network
Services/Programming, End-
User Applications
FiOS TV Fantasy Football Widget:
With just a click of their TV remote
controls, Fantasy Football fanatics can
now quickly access their players and
teams. The new widget provides instant
on-screen access to personalized ESPN
Fantasy Football points and football
statistics, including rosters, box scores,
scoring leaders and player information.
All of the information is available in real
time, at no additional charge to FiOS
TV customers who are registered ESPN
Fantasy Football players. The widget’s
The Only supplier that has everything
you need for QuickTake Plus Upgrades!
Receive reduced pricing on QuickTake Plus headend
equipment when you purchase Motorola Set-Tops from AMT!
The QuickTake platform now offers operators
the ability to add more than 280 digital services
including advanced HD and DVR features.
➤ QPSK to QAM Transcoders
➤ DSR 4550 ➤ HD & DVR Set-Tops
➤ OM 2000 ➤ Satellite Antennas
AMT has everything you need to launch now!
Advanced Media Technologies, Inc.®
720 S. Powerline Road, Suite G • Deerfield Beach, FL 33442
Direct: 954.427.5711 • Toll Free: 888.293.5856 • Fax: 954.427.9688 • www.amt.com • sales@amt.com
features include:
My Match Up - tracks total fantasy
points for a user’s weekly matchup,
including individual player fantasy
points.
Box Score - calculates total fantasy
points for a user’s team and that
week’s opponent.
Roster - indicates a user’s individual
player game starts, such as “B. Farve/
NYJ@MIAMI 1 p.m.”
Player Cards - offers player photos, statistics
and the user’s points for the
day and season, along with player
news.
Scoring Leaders - keeps track of the top
50 fantasy players.
Visit us at the Broadband Properties
Summit, Booth # 100.
Have You Visited
www.
broadband
properties.com
Lately?
Click on the BBP Online
Button for quick access
to our digital edition,
interactive databases and
the Spanish-language and
European editions of our
Broadband Primer.
Shortcut URL:
www.bbpmag.com
76 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | April 2009

SMS: Solutions Made Simple!
Questions Answered, Problems Solved.
ProgrAMMing
SMS is a National Distributor of all television programming
regardless of technology or delivery method.
Programming Platforms
• Dish PCO
• DIRECTV Transport & Bulk Packages
• Dish Transport & Bulk Packages
• IPTV Content Rights
• Franchise TV Rights
EQuiPMEnt
SMS is a Value Added Reseller of the finest commercial
grade analog & digital video and data equipment for
the Private Broadband industry. We are much more
than just a hardware vendor; we also provide expert
guidance in the implementation and deployment of this
highly technical equipment.
Manufacturers
• Blonder Tongue
• Cisco
• Drake
• Holland
• Pico Macom
SyStEM DESign
SMS offers the latest CAD program and years of
hands on experience to provide a proven and
efficient road map to success.
Distribution Design
• QAM
• MFH2
• Fiber
ProfESSionAl SErvicES
SMS has over 23 years experience in Private
Cable and can assist you in all phases of the
business. We help you to maximize system
revenues, navigate the maze of technology
options and provide assistance with financial
modeling and ROE’s. We deliver a true nut &
bolt solution to maximize revenue and execute a
successful business plan.
Consulting
• Bandwidth Provisioning
• System Brokering
• Financial Feasibility Modeling
Since 1985 SMS has provided a wide array of
integrated broadband product and support to operators
of Private Cable properties such as apartments and
condominiums, hotels & motels, prison & correctional
facilities, colleges & universities, mobile home and RV
parks and other multi unit properties.
www.smstv.com
800.788.8388
Since 1985

TECHNOLOGY
Passive Optical Design
for RFOG and Beyond
With the emerging RFOG standard, cable companies can use existing equipment
and back-office systems in a fiber network. But RFOG isn’t the endgame,
so the network should be designed for eventually upgrading to PON.
By Mark Conner ■ Corning Cable Systems
For years, cable multiple system operators
(MSOs) have successfully
taken an evolutionary approach to
maintaining and upgrading their broadband
access networks. Pushing optical
fiber deeper toward subscribers has been
a logical part of that ongoing process.
As subscribers’ appetites for bandwidth
and higher-quality content continue to
grow, and as competition works to meet
that demand, taking fiber all the way to
homes and businesses makes more and
more sense – especially because the cost
gap between all-fiber and hybrid fiber/
coax (HFC) deployments has narrowed
considerably.
RF over Glass (RFOG) is an electronics
solution for MSOs that paves
the way to all-fiber access networks
compatible with current headend equipment.
In keeping with their evolutionary
strategy, MSOs have suggested that
RFOG support a clear migration path
to higher network capacity, potentially
through the use of an overlay technology.
With proper design of the passive
network structure, RFOG can deliver a
cost-effective solution today and lay the
foundation for very high bandwidth and
plentiful content delivery in the future.
RFOG at a Glance
Pushing fiber deeper into the network
may be evolutionary and logical for
MSOs, but until now it has not typically
been practical for triple-play service
delivery. Platforms used by telcos,
such as gigabit passive optical networks
MSOs want RFOG to support a clear migration
path to higher network capacity, potentially
through the use of an overlay technology.
With proper design of the passive network
structure, RFOG can lay the foundation for very
high bandwidth in the future.
Figure 1 – RFOG network elements
(GPONs), are not a clean match for
the delivery systems used in an MSO’s
headend. They don’t interface well either
with the cable modem termination system
or with the back-office systems. A
solution has been needed to overcome
this barrier. A basic implementation of
RFOG takes the function of the node
and pushes it to the side of the home
or business, so that the MSO’s existing
headend gear, back-office systems and
customer premises equipment (CPE)
can remain in place.
The Society of Cable Telecommunications
Engineers has a specification
under development that defines RFOG
technology. While the details are still
in flux, prominent electronics vendors
are already offering solutions based on
the main tenets of the pending specification.
The key elements necessary for
78 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | April 2009

TECHNOLOGY
passive network design – loss budgets,
reflection, distance reach and wavelengths
– are sufficiently well established
so that a design framework can be constructed.
These elements are intentionally
aligned with the current requirements
of GPONs and Ethernet passive
optical networks (EPONs), as well as
with the anticipated 10 Gbps versions of
these standards.
The current RFOG network concept
is shown in Figure 1. Note that the
specification is neutral as to where the
optical hub electronics are located - they
may be deployed in the headend or in
the field, at locations similar to where
today’s HFC nodes are placed. If the
electronics are in the headend, a true
passive optical network to the subscriber
is possible – no actives in the field. With
the hub function in the neighborhood,
one active still remains, but it is just one
active location, compared with as many
as 40 to 50 actives (node and amplifiers)
that would be required for a conventional
coaxial distribution.
Regardless of where the hub function
is located, the proposed parameter
values for the optical distribution network
are similar to EPON and GPON
requirements – mainly, a 20 km reach, a
28 dB loss budget (based on 1310 nm)
and an overall split ratio of 1x32.
A key benefit of RFOG for MSOs
is the potential to reduce operating expenses
by:
• Minimizing or eliminating system
power bills and outages due to power
failures
• Needing no adjustments in the outside
plant (such as amp balancing)
• Elimination of annual performance
testing (cable leakage inspection flyovers
and leakage sweeping ride outs)
and
• Elimination of return-path ingress
issues.
Migration
Normally, one finds a discussion about
network migration at the end of an article.
In this case, the future migration
path has important implications for the
design of the network, and it must be
understood before design can begin. A
The Society of Cable Telecommunications
Engineers has a specification under development
that defines RFOG technology. While the details
are still in flux, prominent electronics vendors
are already offering solutions based on the main
tenets of the pending specification.
migration path to greater capacity can
be beneficial for MSOs. A likely option
will be an overlay of EPON or GPON
(or their coming 10 Gbps versions) to
add data capacity, with RFOG continuing
in operation. This means that CPE
devices currently in use by MSOs, such
as video set-top boxes, can continue to
be used while more data can be supplied.
In a sense, this is the best of both worlds
– current systems continue to provide
current services and added technology
expands the service offering.
An MSO deploying RFOG must
evaluate the potential need to add an
overlay technology in the future and
drive the design accordingly. This is
important because, depending on the
deployment scenario, the splitter placement
strategy or architectural choice
can determine how easily the network
will accept technology changes. To enable
smooth upgrades in the future, the
network should be designed so that:
• Staff with basic skill sets can manage
subscribers by visiting just one or two
field locations (the subscriber and
possibly one management point)
• Technology can be migrated by
changing only the active devices on
the ends of the passive network
• Optical splitting can be replaced by
wavelength multiplexing, without
splicing fiber, by visiting just one
field location and the subscriber.
This last example may seem rather
advanced, but the technology supporting
it (WDM-PON) already exists.
The design and deployment choices
made up front may have little impact on
initial cost. But these choices could have
a significant impact on future costs,
especially if additional construction is
required to meet subscriber needs and
remain competitive. For this reason, migration
and growth (spare fibers) should
be planned into the network now, not
added later.
Architectures and
splitting strategy
A crucial design choice is the placement
of optical splitters. There are several different
strategies for placing splitters.
The “home-run” model places splitters
in the headend and provides a dedicated
optical path to each subscriber in
the service area. This approach offers
tremendous bandwidth, management
and asset scaling potential, but it is very
fiber rich. It also requires splicing each
fiber through the transport and distribution
parts of the network.
In the “centralized split” model,
splitters are placed in the field, alleviating
headend space concerns and reducing
transport fiber counts by a typical
factor of 32. In this model, assuming a
1x32 split ratio, all splitting for a group
of 32 subscribers resides in one physical
location. A large number of splitters
may be “concentrated” in a single location
or, using a “segmented” approach, a
location may contain just a few (one to
four) splitters.
Finally, the “distributed split” model
spreads the splitting deeper into the
network, reducing the fiber counts in
the distribution layer. In this approach,
there are two or more layers of splitting
where the output of one splitter feeds the
inputs to other splitters located closer to
subscribers, such as the way a coaxial
cable distribution system splits signals
where the drop cables are connected.
The choice of splitting strategy is
driven in large part by subscriber density
and anticipated future changes. A
April 2009 | www.broadbandproperties.com | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | 79

TECHNOLOGY
The migration path has important implications
for the design of the network, and it must be
understood before design can begin.
The splitter placement strategy or architectural
choice can determine how easily the network
will accept technology changes.
distributed splitting approach may work
well in lower-density areas or in places
with extreme space constraints that
limit maximum cable size. However,
distributed splitting can have important
disadvantages such as unproductive or
stranded ports, underutilized network
electronics and challenges in managing
subscriber connections and technology
changes. All of these architectures are
viable models, but it is important to analyze
the expected initial and long-term
deployment scenarios when selecting the
best architecture for a given project.
Deployment Scenarios
A variety of deployment scenarios may
be used to leverage RFOG technology.
For example, RFOG may be deployed as
a stand-alone solution, delivering voice,
video and data. When more data capacity
is needed to serve high-end residential
users and small to medium business
customers or simply to meet increasing
bandwidth demand, EPON or GPON
may be deployed as an overlay. The reverse
scenario is also possible, in which
EPON or GPON is supplying data and
voice, and RFOG is added for video delivery.
An MSO may preprovision for an
overlay by placing electronics to which
capabilities may be added when needed,
or it may adopt a strategy of swapping
out equipment (RFOG ONU) when
necessary to upgrade a customer. This
last approach uses the lowest-cost devices
to provide initial services.
It is important to consider how to
enhance capacity for one subscriber
without affecting other subscribers.
If preprovisioning is used, a device is
added or changed at the premises of the
subscriber being upgraded so that additional
signals already present on the
fiber may be used. This provides a fast
upgrade path, but may require highercost
assets to be deployed before they
produce significant revenue.
Another approach is to simply have
one splitter that supports the added capacity
via technology overlay, while another
splitter in the same housing has a
single delivery platform. The technician
may then visit the (connectorized) splitter
location and change the subscriber
from the “standard” service splitter to
the “premium” service splitter (Figure
2). By having at least two connectorized
splitters, the technician can make this
change in a matter of minutes, proceeding
to the subscriber premises to finish
the upgrade. Over time, all splitters
may handle the higher level of service,
but change is easily facilitated because
all subscribers on the splitter can be individually
accessed at one location, and
changes are made via connectors without
splicing.
From Hybrid Fiber/Coax to an
All-Fiber Access Network
Current HFC design already involves
driving fiber deeper into the network.
Nodes that once handled hundreds of
customers have been segmented or split to
reduce the service pockets down to about
125 subscribers per node. This node splitting
process has been done over the last
few years to handle the ever-increasing
bandwidth requirements generated by
the need to provide data, voice and highdefinition
video programming.
In all-fiber access networks, cabinets
and splitters create a one-to-many
relationship as do the nodes in HFC
networks. Many networks have been
using a concentrated splitting design
with large cabinets as local convergence
points. The cabinets have typically been
equipped to handle from 144 to as many
as 864 subscribers per location.
Most of the elements in these two
architectures are similar in function.
Coax taps in HFC networks are analogous
to network access points (NAPs),
also called terminals, where drops are
connected in fiber networks. The coax
drop cable is analogous to an optical
Figure 2 - Moving a subscriber to a premium service via overlay
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TECHNOLOGY
Figure 3: Segmented splitting with branch- and series-connected NAPs
drop cable assembly with hardened connectors.
The most notable change is the
elimination of the network’s active devices
– field-installed nodes, amplifiers
and power supplies.
Properly designed, the same network
can support RFOG technology to leverage
deployed headend and standard customer
premises equipment in a DOCSIS
environment, as well as support future
“xPON” technologies.
Segmented Splitting
Taking a cue from current HFC design,
all-fiber access methods can be modified
to reduce the network’s footprint,
reduce deployment costs and better fit
the phasing common in new residential
developments. Where traditional allfiber
design concentrates many splitters
(and subscribers) into one large cabinet,
segmented splitting literally “segments”
this serving area into zones of up to 128
homes (up to four 1x32 splitter groups).
The smaller footprint costs less to
install and can better match the area to
be served, especially when future homes
have not yet been built. Because it is
still a central split architecture, the scaling
and future-proofing qualities of the
concentrated split are retained. Another
benefit of this approach is that the cables
radiating out from these smaller local
convergence points have lower fiber
counts than those used in concentrated
splitting topologies. Lower fiber counts
generally cost less, can use smaller conduits
and are more quickly repaired in
the event of a cable cut. Figure 3 illustrates
the segmented split concept.
Preconnectorization
Further speeding deployment are preconnectorized
assemblies with factoryinstalled
connection points that avoid
the need to splice at each network access
point or terminal location. NAP
placement can be deferred until service
orders or revenue exists to support them.
This approach can be leveraged for new
builds and to migrate existing customers
to an all-fiber access solution.
Branch- and
Series-Connected NAPs
Research has shown that a four-port
terminal minimizes drop lengths compared
with higher-count terminals. On
the other hand, minimizing per-portand
home-passed cost for factory access
points on cable assemblies requires preconnectorized
assemblies to access fibers
in groups of 12 or 24. To marry these
two discrepant positions, branch and
series-connected NAPs can be “fed”
from a 12-fiber connector at the access
point; the NAPs have connections to
share the fibers with other NAPs in the
branch or series. Each of the three connected
NAPs can serve four subscribers
(12 drop connections in all). Each factory
access point can provide two 12-fiber
connections. Figure 3 illustrates the
use of branch- and series-connected terminals
combined with the overall segmented
split design.
Conclusion
RFOG affords MSOs the ability to leverage
an all-fiber access network and build
a solid foundation for future advances.
To take advantage of all that RFOG and
potential overlay technologies can provide
in the years to come, anticipated
deployment scenarios must be considered
so that the passive network design
can be optimized accordingly.
One of the key design factors is splitter
placement strategy, which affects the
ability to manage, test and migrate subscribers
through the technical evolution
that history suggests will take place. Once
designed, network deployments can use
conventional components or tap into new
ones that promise to map well into the
MSO network design philosophy. Most
importantly, the passive network design
should meet the basic requirements for
RFOG, as well as technologies such as
EPON and GPON, to ensure a wide
range of evolutionary options. BBP
About the Author
Mark Conner is Market Development
Manager, Advanced Access, Corning Cable
Systems. He serves on the committee of
the Society of Cable Telecommunications
Engineers that is developing standards for
RFOG. You can reach Mark at Mark.
Conner@corning.com.
Because most of the network elements in HFC and
PON networks are similar in function, it’s not hard
to design a network so that it can evolve from
RFOG to PON as customers’ bandwidth needs
increase over the years.
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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Broadband Fiber Networks:
The 21st-Century Crossroads
A collaborative fiber backbone in Indiana helps independent telcos bring
FTTH to smaller cities, benefiting both the telcos and the cities.
By Graham Richard ■ Graham Richard Associates LLC
The Indiana Fiber Network provides a fiber
backbone that enables small towns to connect
to the rest of the world at high speed.
If a state wants to be known as the
crossroads of America and to attract
local, national and international
businesses – and what state doesn’t? –
even its smallest communities need to
offer broadband connectivity via fiber to
the home (FTTH). Communities that
cannot offer fiber connectivity are on
the off-ramp of the information and innovation
superhighway. Unfortunately,
some of the major telcos have shown
little interest in building out their highspeed
broadband networks in small
towns. And while many smaller telcos
are willing, some are hampered by the
lack of nearby high-speed broadband
connections to the rest of the world.
Organizations like the Indiana Fiber
Network (IFN) were formed to make
these connections. IFN is a consortium
of 21 independent telephone companies
in Indiana that have come together in
an entrepreneurial, collaborative spirit
to create a fiber-optic ring network. The
initial build-out, completed in early
2005, consists of more than 1,700 miles
of fiber. IFN members can provide their
customers with advanced telecommunications
services by deploying FTTH
networks and connecting them to the
IFN ring. (IFN also has points of presence
in larger cities, including Indianapolis
and Ft. Wayne, as well as Cincinnati
in neighboring Ohio.)
Though these FTTH overbuilds
may be small, they can take advantage
of the latest developments in fiber-tothe-home
electronics to offer powerful
broadband services such as 2.4 GPON
for residential and small-business customers,
or even active Ethernet, which is
sometimes preferred by larger businesses
that demand dedicated fiber access. IFN
Independent telcos belonging to the Indiana
Fiber Network are investing in fiber-to-thehome
networks in order to support economic
development in their service areas.
members are investing in these buildouts
because they see FTTH as one of the
single most important economic development
activities they can undertake.
Big Pipes Keep Local
Telcos Relevant
“It’s turning into a wireless world, and
we believe that offering a big pipe to the
home is the only way for a landline telco
to remain relevant to its customers and
compete in the future,” says Michael
East, chief executive officer of Endeavor
Communications, a cooperative that is
headquartered in Cloverdale, Indiana,
and serves nine exchanges. “We have
to provide every service our customers
want, including the triple play of telephone,
TV and high-speed Internet,
over those pipes.”
Endeavor has initiated a fiber overbuild
of its existing wireline network,
enabling it to connect to the IFN for
telephone and high-speed Internet connectivity
and to the Indiana Video Network
for switched-digital video content.
Like many small telcos, the company
is building out its broadband network
gradually. More than three years ago, it
started with two of its core areas where
there was increased growth, and it currently
offers fiber connections to the
home in all or part of four exchanges
that serve about 3,200 people. The company
expects to complete the full fiber
overbuild of all its nine exchanges in the
next six to seven years.
As it builds out, Endeavor upgrades
to new services as they become available
and economically feasible. For example,
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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
it started out offering an early 1.2 Gbps
version of GPON but is now deploying
2.4 Gbps GPON. It is also looking at
active Ethernet, although it believes that
GPON is currently still the right solution
for its needs.
Do-It-Yourself FTTH Pays Off
Communities can start feeling the economic
benefits of an FTTH build-out
long before they even start to offer broadband
service to residents. Endeavor, for
example, started its fiber overbuild using
an outside contractor, and the projected
cost of fiber to the premises for all nine
exchanges was $105 million. But when
costs started to rise, the telco decided
to become its own contractor, hiring
construction crews locally, purchasing
equipment and building out the network
at a pace of about 150 main-line
fiber miles a year.
“We did things a little differently
from most telcos, but as a result we’ll
save a minimum of $20 million over
the life of the project,” says East. “Plus,
we’ve trained people and built a workforce
within our community, so the cost
of the project is indirectly put back into
the community by keeping those labor
dollars local. And we are finding that we
can do the job as well as or better than
the contractors.”
FTTH as an Economic Driver
The idea that the advanced communications
enabled by FTTH can play a powerful
role in a community is confirmed
by a series of studies done by the city of
Ft. Wayne on job creation and economic
development. As expected, the surveys
show that a highly skilled workforce is
the number one consideration of businesses
in choosing a location for a new
plant, adding more jobs or expanding.
Until a few years ago, lower taxes also
ranked high in importance, followed by
criteria such as public safety, cost and
availability of city utilities, electricity
and shovel-ready building sites.
But something unexpected showed
up in the 2007 survey: for the first time,
the availability of high-speed broadband
ranked higher than most other traditional
considerations, coming in as the
second most important factor. Fortunately
Verizon, which had been encouraged
to build out the FiOS system in Ft.
Wayne in 2005, now passes more than
132,000 homes and businesses there
with high-speed fiber-optic services. The
availability of FTTH is a now a major
factor in the economic decision making
of people who are deciding where to invest
money and expand their businesses.
This shift in business priorities offers
Indiana cities and towns a new
strategy for retaining and gaining jobs:
Small communities can be much more
competitive if they have an FTTH infrastructure.
Certainly the experience
Smithville Telephone Upgrades to Fiber
Founded as a family-owned
and -operated service provider
in 1922, Smithville
Telephone, located in Ellettsville,
Indiana, has grown
to become the largest independent
telecommunications
broadband provider
in the state. The company
provides both business and
residential services to over 27,000 access lines in 17 rural counties of southcentral
Indiana.
Because it serves a rural customer base and because copper infrastructure
lacks the bandwidth speeds Smithville’s customers desire, “Fiber was
the better choice for our network upgrade,” according to Darryl Smith, director
of network operations. “We are willing to spend more money on the
fiber infrastructure and to conduct a complete overhaul of our network –
we see the long-term viability of a FTTH deployment.”
“We have a tradition of reinvesting in our customers,” says Darby Mc-
Carty, president and fourth-generation leader at Smithville. “We’re always
looking to better serve our customers and knew that to do so successfully,
we were going to need a significant infrastructure rebuild. We knew fiber
was our only option.”
In April 2008, Smithville
announced a $90 million
FTTH overbuild. The project,
scheduled to last approximately
four years, will
increase the speeds of existing
Internet and telecom
services up to the 100 Mbps
range as well as enable future
video services. The
overbuild will also include
HDTV plus security and related services.
Access equipment for this project is being provided by Calix. Smithville
is deploying Calix C-7 equipment for BPON, GPON, Ethernet, and ADSL2+
services.
Smithville plans to roll out more services with its rebuild, including extended
data and consumer video packages. The company expects to complete
the project by early in the third quarter of 2013. For more information
on Smithville Telephone, visit its Web site at www.smithville.net.
April 2009 | www.broadbandproperties.com | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | 83

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
A big pipeline can make a community stand
out when it’s competing for business in
hard times – ask Cloverdale.
of communities served by IFN members
bears this out. The FTTH services
offered by the CLEC business of Enhanced
Telecom Corp. (ETC) of Sunman,
Indiana, were instrumental in expanding
the economic base of its service
area. When car manufacturing giant
Honda was scouting for a location for a
new plant in the mid-2000s, it checked
out the area around Sunman – and liked
what it found.
“ETC was building an overlay FTTH
network at the time Honda was evaluating
a site in the town of Greensburg,”
says Kent Claussen, vice president and
network manager of ETC. “As a result,
we were able to show Honda that we
could provide the broadband service it
needed to support the needs of a huge
plant. Our ability to provide broadband
connectivity was an important factor in
Honda’s decision to build in this area.”
In November 2008, Honda Manufacturing
of Indiana dedicated a new
auto plant in Greensburg, which has
a population of just over 10,000. Currently
the plant produces Honda Civic
sedans, and this year the company plans
to transfer exclusive production of the
world’s only compressed-natural-gas
passenger vehicle, the Civic GX, to the
plant. At full capacity the plant will employ
about 2,000 people, making it one
of the most important employers in the
area ETC serves.
Broadband Pipe Attracts
Pipeline Business
The broadband services offered by Endeavor
have also proven to be a big plus
in attracting new business to local communities.
Endeavor has not traditionally
served the business sector; its customers
are mainly residential, although there
are some truck stops and fast-food restaurants
along an interstate highway that
runs through the middle of the exchange.
But that profile changed recently when
a company building a large gas pipeline
through Indiana decided to locate several
offices in and around Cloverdale.
“One of their considerations was
based on what type of telephone circuits
and data circuits they could get here,
and FTTH really put us in a better competitive
position,” says Robert Williams,
engineering and construction manager
at Endeavor. “We can now offer 6 Mbps
data service over fiber, while over [copper]
wire we can only offer 512 Kbps
tops. A big pipeline can make a community
stand out when it’s competing for
business in hard times – and the pipeline
company’s presence in Cloverdale has really
been a boost to the local economy.”
FTTH and the Workforce
A highly skilled workforce is still the
number one criterion for businesses
choosing a new location, and broadband
availability can help here as well.
Distance learning in some form, from
elementary school through to advanced
degrees, is fast becoming the norm. Particularly
in smaller communities, distance
learning opens up opportunities
and access to resources – from a virtual
field trip to an Antarctic research station
to earning an online technical certificate
or degree – that are available only
if local high-speed broadband service
is available.
Cloverdale High School, which
serves part of Putnam County, recently
requested a 50 Mbps pipe that it will
use for distance learning. Without its
connection to IFN, Endeavor could
not offer such a pipe – but now it can.
Ultimately, the school district wants to
connect all of the schools in Putnam
County to its network.
FTTH service also enables adults
to update their skills and earn degrees
from home, without traveling miles to
the nearest college or technical institute.
And today more people than ever are receiving
their degrees online.
Furthermore, a broadband connection
via FTTH makes it far easier for
people to make a living by working at
home. Not only do studies show that
people want to work at home, but also
for many these days it is a necessity, as
workers are laid off, work hours go down
and benefits are cut.
Broadband Applications
Extend Big-Pipe Benefits
While communities are already receiving
many benefits from an FTTH infrastructure
that interconnects with a statewide
fiber ring such as the IFN, they
will benefit even more from the next
round of broadband innovations – applications
that are specifically designed
to take advantage of the fiber highway.
As fiber networks are built out in more
communities, there will be a market
for new applications to serve hospitals,
universities, public safety organizations
and municipalities, particularly those in
areas that are now underserved.
The combination of a statewide fiber
ring and local FTTH networks enables
innovation, communication and
collaboration, making small Indiana
communities more attractive to both
businesses and residents. In fact, small
towns now have the opportunity to be
more bandwidth-rich than big cities. An
apartment building in downtown Chicago
will have reasonable bandwidth,
but it may not have high-speed fiberoptic
broadband.
The benefits of a big pipe in a small
town are clear. Communities that do
not make high-speed broadband services
available to residents and businesses
will lose out in the economic development
race that we are running in
this next decade. And ultimately, these
high-speed broadband services will play
a large role in keeping small towns not
just viable but desirable places to live and
work. BBP
About the Author
Graham Richard is the former mayor of Ft.
Wayne, Indiana, and the author of “Performance
is the Best Politics.” His company,
Graham Richard & Associates, advises government
leaders and business executives on
achieving high-performance results. He can
be reached at gr@grahamrichard.com.
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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Planned Community, Planned
Communications Infrastructure
Infrastructure for the new town of Anson, Indiana, allows multiple service
providers to deliver advanced services to residents and businesses.
By Stephen Mayo ■ Inteleconnect Inc.
Master-planned communities
and mixed-use greenfield
developments have become
commonplace across the United States.
However, designing the telecommunications
solution for huge projects like
Anson, Indiana, poses several interesting
challenges. Anson is a 1,700-acre
new town, now under construction
northwest of Indianapolis, designed to
combine residential, commercial and
civic uses. Health services, retailers, hotels,
offices, technology companies and
warehouses/distributors are all part of
the business mix – and Duke Realty, the
developer, projects that these businesses
will employ nearly 25,000 people when
the 14-year build-out is complete.
The communications infrastructure
of older towns cannot serve as a model
for integrated planned communities like
Anson. The types of services available
today developed over a long timeframe –
Piecemeal, parallel deployment makes no sense
for a planned community. It’s inefficient for
telephone and cable companies to have separate
infrastructures when they can share a fiber path.
and it shows. The earliest telephone lines
were strung overhead on poles, and many
lines still are. Later, cables were directburied
underground, but they have to be
dug up when repairs are required. This is
disruptive not only for the provider but
also for the community, because streets
and sidewalks may need to be torn up
on a more regular basis to accommodate
more traffic and to improve other services
located in the rights-of-way such
as water and sewer. More recently, the
incumbent telephone companies (telcos)
have begun installing their cable
in buried conduits that they can access
through manhole boxes with street-level
lids. Cable TV companies then came
along on a similar path, building their
own infrastructures, stringing coax on
poles that often quite literally paralleled
telcos’ facilities and accessing the coax
from separate boxes that might be only a
few feet away from the telcos’ facilities.
This type of piecemeal, parallel deployment
makes no sense for a planned
community. Working out a telecommunications
plan for Anson highlighted
how inefficient – and even silly – it is
for phone and cable companies to have
two separate infrastructures. Instead,
we designed the required underlying
infrastructure for both relying primarily
on fiber. Since the entire community is
planned, as the telecommunications developer
we are not interested in building
separate, specific infrastructures for different
providers, but on a single overall
telecommunications infrastructure.
In the new town of Anson, Indiana, developers are trying to integrate living, playing, working and
learning in a way that will be sustainable for many years to come. A future-proof communications
infrastructure is a critical component of the plan.
Shared Conduit,
Independent Providers
Today, everything should go underground,
and it should be in conduit,
which makes it far easier and less disruptive
to make changes, updates and repairs.
And it only makes sense that telco,
cable and other service providers should
share the same conduit system. Providers
have been leery of doing this, fearing
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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
that competitors could harm their systems.
Ultimately, however, the reasons
for having separate infrastructures for
each provider are not really that strong.
A neutral telecommunications infrastructure
removes artificial barriers to
entry for competitive service providers.
Providers that win the bid to provide
services to the community pull their
own fiber through the conduit and install
their own electronics at the manholes.
We simply provide the pathways;
the providers that share them are completely
independent of one another. The
single infrastructure also gives service
providers a single connection point to
dark fiber where they can access their
own off-property services.
Although Inteleconnect provides for
a single communications infrastructure,
we do not include the electronics, giving
providers complete freedom to choose
the products that best suit the services
they offer. Those serving the residential
market with fiber to the home (FTTH)
might opt for 2.4 Gbps GPON optical
network terminals (ONTs) at their headends,
while those serving mid-sized businesses
that demand dedicated fiber access
may want to deploy ONTs that support
active Ethernet in addition to GPON.
The Anson master plan includes a
five-conduit fiber system, one of which is
owned by developer Duke Realty, which
can use it as a “shadow” communications
system. This is a particularly interesting
concept, since the system can be
used by environmental control, security,
power distribution, point of sale (POS)
and other services within Anson. For
example, a security company with customers
in the development could use the
“shadow” system to connect equipment
within the development and lease connectivity
from the service providers to
get off property and back to its central
station. A big-box retailer could use the
system for a private POS network linking
several locations within the development.
The developer itself may want to
use the conduit for property-centric purposes,
such as a video surveillance system
in large garages. If the shadow system is
based on Ethernet, bandwidth can be
A developer that owns the conduit will find it
easier to attract a new provider if the original
provider is no longer providing services. Having
conduit in place also makes bringing up services
easier, faster and less expensive.
increased to accommodate new applications
simply by updating the electronics.
Cost and ROI Benefits
for the Developer
From the cost and return on investment
(ROI) perspective of a developer, this
one-infrastructure approach makes the
most sense. It also protects developers
who are uneasy about having to sign
exclusive deals with providers who build
their own infrastructure for fear their
services will be poor or that they may
go out of business. Without a developerowned
conduit, a provider can pull out
its privately-owned infrastructure, and
it may be difficult for the developer to
find another provider willing to make
an investment in the community, particularly
after the homes are built.
When the developer owns the conduit,
it is far easier to attract a new provider,
and easier, faster and less expensive for
the provider to bring up services.
Developer-owned conduit also
makes the most sense in terms of infrastructure
layout, as we can determine
at the outset where telco and cable providers
can install their equipment, even
before any construction starts, and they
can build at these locations as they are
developed. For example, Duke Realty is
building out the commercial and retail
portions of Anson first; the residential
portion will be built later. But we have
already built the pathways that will serve
residences. This is a major plus for many
developers, who usually find the lack of
communications pathways an impediment;
development is less expensive if
conduit is already in place.
In fact, Inteleconnect has employed a
“pathways first” model for several years,
and this model has proven beneficial in a
A Campus of Campuses at Lake Nona
The shared-conduit model is also employed at the planned Lake Nona community
near Orlando, Florida. Like Anson, Lake Nona is a large mixed-used
development encompassing more than 12,000 homes, condos and apartments;
a downtown with retail and small-office space; two large commercial
high-rises; and five medical campuses, including a VA hospital, a children’s
hospital, the University of South Florida medical campus and more.
This development might be described as a campus of campuses, each
campus having multiple buildings, and with a conduit system that ties everything
together. Having a single communications infrastructure is particularly
important for the medical campuses, as it enables them to partner
and consult with one another. The children’s hospital, for example, may
want to communicate with the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. In fact, the
medical campuses have seized the opportunity afforded by the infrastructure
to have live pilot programs involving several medical centers. Another
benefit of the conduit system that the medical campuses in particular are
excited about is that none of their intra- or inter-campus communications
go out to the public Internet. This in itself provides a certain level of security,
which is always important when dealing with private medical information
and intellectual property.
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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Putting the conduit/manhole infrastructure in place ahead of time makes it easy for providers to pull fiber to homes as they are built, which in turn helps
speed sales.
slow housing market. A developer investing
up front in a conduit/manhole infrastructure
that passes all homes – just as it
would invest in water and sewer systems
– makes it easy for cable and telephone
companies to pull fiber to homes as they
are built. And this helps speed the sales
process. In many states the developer
pays the service providers for the infrastructure
anyway, but without a lot of
input regarding its design or function.
Broadband for Big Boxes
Developer-owned conduit is also a huge
plus in attracting commercial and retail
tenants to areas where the large regional
and national telcos are unwilling to
make the investment in competitively
priced high-speed service. The developer
can connect its infrastructure to dark fiber
that provides bandwidth that even
the largest businesses need – a solution
that Anson takes full advantage of.
Anson is unusual among planned
multiuse communities in that it has a
big-box commercial area designed to attract
large operations – and these operations
require access to broadband communications,
especially if they are to
grow within the community. In 2008,
for example, Medco Health Solutions
broke ground for the world’s largest automated
pharmacy. Shortly thereafter,
Amazon opened a 600,000-square-foot
automated distribution center that will
create more than 1,200 jobs by 2010.
For such companies, a conduit-based
communications system is particularly
important, since it makes it much easier
to expand their operations if they can
tie together networks in different buildings
so they appear to be one network
in one location. In fact, such networks
can appear to be like a campus network
where all the electronics are physically
connected, whereas they are actually
dispersed among several buildings that
may be owned by different landlords.
And businesses can use the infrastructure’s
connection point to dark fiber for
their own purposes, giving them the
bandwidth they need to connect to data
hubs, for example.
For most service providers, the idea
of sharing a developer-owned conduit/
handhold infrastructure with competitors
is new, not to say unsettling, and
they may regard it as against their best
interests. Inteleconnect, however, has
successfully encouraged incumbent telephone
and cable companies to share in
the installation and use of a common
conduit and manhole system for developments
to save costs and space. This
approach to planning a community
provides benefits to all involved – community
developer, service providers,
residents, and businesses – while minimizing
risk. BBP
About the Author
Stephen Mayo is the president and owner
of Inteleconnect Inc., a technology consulting
firm focusing on first-mile strategies
for residential and campus environments.
You can reach him at 734-944-6694 or
smayo@inteleconnect.com.
Retailers that have several locations in Anson can tie their networks together so they appear to be a
single network at a single location. This makes it easier for them to expand their operations.
April 2009 | www.broadbandproperties.com | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | 87

INTERNATIONAL coverage
“Broadband Access is Vital
for Economic Growth and
Social Coherence”
Uffe Toudal Pedersen, permanent secretary of the Danish Ministry of Science,
Technology and Innovation, opened the FTTH Council Europe’s annual conference
in Copenhagen with these remarks:
The theme of this year’s conference,
“Building a Sustainable
Future,” is extremely well chosen.
Ten months from now, the United
Nations Climate Change Conference,
COP15, will be held right here in this
very conference center. I think it is safe
to envisage that COP15 will be one of
the largest UN events ever to be held –
and we hope also one of the most important
ones. Altogether, as many as 18,000
participants are expected to attend.
However, the bleak background for
this summit is that climate change is accelerating
even faster than we expected
previously. So reaching an ambitious
global climate agreement at COP15 is
an essential political step. The goal is
to enter into a binding global climate
ICTs are responsible for two per cent of
worldwide emissions. This is equivalent to carbon
emissions from the aviation industry. But ICTs
should not only be seen as a problem. They are
also part of the solution. ICTs hold the potential
for optimizing our use of resources and
reducing CO 2
emissions.
agreement that will apply to the period
after 2012.
This is where we all have a part to
play. In order to live up to new goals
for reducing CO 2
emissions, it is absolutely
necessary to introduce new green
technologies. This is the only way to ensure
low-carbon, sustainable economic
growth. In our view, the ICT sector will
play a vital role in this change of our society.
ICT is responsible for 2 percent of
total emissions, or the equivalent of carbon
emissions from the aviation industry.
But ICT should not only be seen as
a problem. It is also part of the solution.
ICT holds the potential for optimizing
our use of resources and reducing
CO 2
emissions. Denmark is already one
of the leading ICT nations, and we are
in the forefront when it comes to introducing
new environmental technologies.
Our goal is to combine these strengths
and become a frontrunner when it comes
to green ICT.
Another issue that concerns all of
us these days is the global financial and
economic crisis. Many governments
are currently considering ambitious
initiatives in order to get the economy
moving on the right track again. The
majority of these initiatives have broadband
on the agenda, from the European
Commission to the US. There is a great
wish to make broadband access available
in geographical areas where it is not accessible
today. The reason for this is very
simple. Today, broadband access is vital
for economic growth as well as social coherence.
That is why this conference is
held at a crucial point in time.
As for Denmark, the current goal is
to ensure that all Danes can get access to
broadband. Today more than 99 percent
of Danish households and businesses
can get broadband access. By the end of
2010 we plan to have the remaining approximately
21,000 households covered.
Today a broadband connection is not
just a broadband connection. Speed is
increasingly important, as we all know.
It is quite evident that the new challenge
for Denmark concerns broadband
speeds and how we can provide faster
88 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | April 2009

INTERNATIONAL coverage
connections with a speed of up to 100
Mbps, or even more.
High-speed broadband is necessary
to ensure:
• Access to new and advanced public
and private services;
• Economic development in all areas
of the country; and
• A progressive development of the
ICT sector.
Thus, the development of a solid
broadband infrastructure has a very high
priority for the Danish government.
In Denmark broadband access will be
provided for by a mix of technologies –
through existing copper, coax, fiber and
wireless technologies. We are currently
experiencing a somewhat heated debate
about the investments in fiber optic
connections. The debate centers about
whether or not it is possible to make a
solid business case from investment in
infrastructure. The core of the question
is, of course, whether the customers will
be willing to pay the extra costs.
There are many issues to resolve and
now I will weigh my words with care. The
goal is clear: to ensure access to the best
suited technologies for the future at the
right price. The difficult part relates to:
• Who should be responsible for providing
the access;
• At what price should investments be
made; and
• Using which technologies.
I do not have a clear answer, but
choices will have to be made. And personally,
I think that consolidation and
cooperation will be key words. There is
a role for governments and there is a role
to play for market players. For now, let
me refer to two principles, which will be
part of our considerations.
First of all, we will most certainly
stick to the principle of technological
neutrality in our regulation. Today, in
this room, there is of course a focus on
one specific access technology, fiber to
the home. Fiber to the home is very interesting
because it can guarantee very
Today more than 99 percent of
Danish households and businesses can get
broadband access. By the end of 2010 we plan
to have the remaining approximately
21,000 households covered.
high speeds and a high quality level. By
the end of 2008, 18 percent of all Danish
homes and businesses could get access
to fiber-based broadband, either as
fiber to the home or via local area networks.
But other technologies can also
play an important role when implementing
next-generation networks. In other
words, we are keeping all options open
when it comes to technology.
The second principle that we adhere
to is that development in general should
be market-driven. Looking at broadband
development so far, the role of the public
sector has mainly been to facilitate
market-driven development. We have
done this through regulatory initiatives
to enhance competition, an ambitious e-
government strategy to ensure relevant
services to the benefit of citizens and
businesses, and a general policy towards
enhancing the uptake of new services.
This has included a focus on e-skills as
well as on trust and security.
There is no doubt that access to highspeed
broadband will be one of the parameters
that defines the winner of tomorrow.
Therefore this is an issue that
will be high on the political agenda for a
long time. It represents an exciting challenge
for governments and businesses and
I am sure that we can all benefit from this
if we keep our dialog going. BBP
April 2009 | www.broadbandproperties.com | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | 89

Focus on Cable PON
Alloptic Delivers DOCSIS-Enabled EPON
From BBP Wires
LIVERMORE, CA – Alloptic (www.
alloptic.com) announced the availability
of DPC – DOCSIS PON Controller
software – which enables DOCSIS provisioning
and control of its EPON system.
DPC facilitates the acceleration of
passive optical network (PON) rollouts
by cable operators.
DPC allows network operators to
realize the benefits of PON while continuing
to use DOCSIS flow-through
provisioning and control. DPC acts as a
proxy between back- office systems and
Alloptic’s GePON system. In effect, the
PON optical line terminal in the central
office appears to be a cable modem termination
system, and the PON optical
network terminal at the customer premises
takes the place of the cable modem,
resulting in PON performance from a
DOCSIS-controlled network.
“DPC solves several problems for
From BBP Wires
OAKLAND, CA – Zhone Technologies
Inc. (www.zhone.com) announced
the expansion of its GPON portfolio
through a strategic agreement with Alloptic,
a leader in radio frequency over glass
(RFOG) solutions. Integrating RFOG
with Zhone’s standards-based GPON
system boosts available spectrum and enables
carriers to deliver advanced digital
cable operators,” says IDC analyst Dave
Emberley. “The biggest benefit is expanding
their ability to address a broader set
of business needs for enhanced Ethernet
and TDM services while continuing to
use their OSS and billing systems.”
“Leveraging network operators’ existing
investment is vital to their success,”
says Shane Eleniak, vice president
of Marketing and Business Development
for Alloptic. “Alloptic’s systems
drop into the access network alongside
other technologies including RFOG
[Radio Frequency Over Glass], making
the transition to PON-based architectures
possible at a pace and scale that
makes sense for the service provider.”
DPC works in concert with Alloptic’s
other products including its RFOG
MicroNode ONUs, GePON OLTs and
ONTs and the GEMS management system
to allow increased operational efficiencies,
bandwidth gains and the ability
video services without replacing existing
analog video headend equipment. The
partnership ensures Zhone customers the
greatest flexibility in delivering up-to-theminute
entertainment services including
interactive programming, video on demand
and pay-per-view over RF-based
video networks. Integrating GPON and
RFOG allows carriers to pace migration
to all-digital networks while ensuring a
to offer advanced services to residential
and business customers without requiring
major overhauls or replacement of
OSS components.
“We are impressed with the ease and
simplicity of flow-through provisioning
with Alloptic’s DPC system,” reports
Matt Hoskins, Network Operations
Manager, NPG Cable of Saint Joseph,
Missouri, a cable operator that has been
involved in early trials of the system. “As
we increase PON deployments, DOC-
SIS management of those networks not
only expands our service offering; it improves
our service delivery times.”
By enabling DOCSIS-controlled
PONs, service providers can enhance
their current networks in a phased approach,
with new network elements
that accommodate both greenfield and
brownfield deployments, integrating
tried-and-true technologies where ripand-replace
isn’t economically feasible.
Zhone Integrates Alloptic RFOG Technology
with GPON
seamless consumer experience.
Steven Glapa, vice president of
product management and marketing
for Zhone, says, “Integrated GPON –
RFOG enables intelligent processes like
targeted ad placement, content-aware
programming and Layer 3 management
– all critical to increased carrier revenues
and ultimately the quality of experience
for the subscriber.”
Motorola to Distribute Alloptic RFOG Equipment
From BBP Wires
HORSHAM, PA – Motorola (www.
motorola.com) announced that it has
broadened its cable passive optical
network (PON) portfolio with radio
frequency over glass (RFOG) solutions
through a strategic agreement
with Alloptic. The agreement provides
Motorola with exclusive rights to offer
Alloptic’s RFOG solutions to leading
cable operators worldwide. The addition
of these new products to Motorola’s
existing portfolio of RFOG solutions
addresses cable operators’ needs to cre-
90 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | April 2009

ate a seamless evolution while reducing
operational expenditures on the path to
all-fiber infrastructures.
The cable industry is seeking ways to
extend fiber deeper into the network to
provide increased video capacity, voice
and ultra-broadband data services to
business and residential customers. To
meet this need, Motorola offers solutions
including fiber deep hybrid fiber/coax
(HFC) and fiber-to-the-home (FTTH).
With this agreement, Motorola rounds
From BBP Wires
SANTA CLARA, CA – Aurora Networks
Inc. (www.aurora.com) announced
the new OR4168 Virtual
Hub (VHub) module and CP8013U
customer premises equipment (CPE),
out its cable PON portfolio of access network
solutions ready for cable operators.
By helping to protect existing investments
in infrastructure and customer
premises equipment, RFOG minimizes
capital expenditure and provides cable
operators the ability to gracefully evolve
to an all-fiber network.
According to Floyd Waggoner, senior
manager of marketing in Motorola’s
access network division, Motorola
will be selling Alloptic customer-premises
equipment as part of an end-to-end
Aurora Networks Expands RFOG-Plus-PON
Solution
which, together with the company’s existing
VHub, Node PON module and
GePON CPE, complete a full singlefiber,
end-to-end RFPON solution enabling
cable operators to leverage existing
and future fiber investments.
RFOG solution including Motorola’s
optical headend, transmitters and other
equipment. The Alloptic node will be
branded as Motorola equipment and
supported by Motorola. Waggoner adds,
“At some point we believe the operator
environment will move to all-fiber, so
it’s important for us to have the evolutionary
steps….Every operator is different
– some will move sooner than others
– but in five or 10 years there will
be a continued growth in the amount
of FTTH.”
Designed to introduce PON into existing
RFOG environments, or vice versa,
Aurora Networks’ VHub OR4168 module
enables operators to extend network
reach to over 60 km using a single fiber to
provide a local service area concentration
April 2009 | www.broadbandproperties.com | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | 91

point for management of downstream
and upstream RFOG and PON wavelengths.
The module also facilitates route
redundancy for high network reliability
and increases VHub efficiency and cost
savings by consolidating the functionality
of three separate products.
The new CP8013U RFOG CPE supports
triple play service requirements for
From BBP Wires
ATLANTA, GA – Hitachi Telecom
(www.hitel.com) and Pacific Broadband
Networks (www.pbn.com.au) announced
a technology partnership to
develop fiber-to-the-premises solutions
for hybrid fiber/coax network operators.
The first product from this collaboration,
designed and specified by Hitachi, is the
Hitachi Node+Zero RFOG module, a
single-fiber FTTP solution that leverages
video, voice and data services, including
DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem traffic. It
fits in a compact die-cast housing that
provides a rugged, RF-shielded environment
for long-term stability and reliability,
and is supplied with a power inserter.
The CP8013U is supported by a full line
of outdoor housings with optimized fiber
management, as well as standard
and UPS powering options.
John Dahlquist, vice president of
marketing at Aurora Networks, explains,
“Our complete RFPON solution
not only serves as a way to extend capabilities
in traditional RFOG situations,
but is also a significant new tool for operators
to address the largely untapped
commercial services market.”
Hitachi and PBN Team Up to Deliver FTTP
Solutions for Cable TV Operators
existing headend and customer premises
infrastructure. The Node+Zero module,
introduced in June 2008, is transparent
to existing DOCSIS and CMTS protocols
and management systems, and accommodates
RF headend and customerpremises
equipment combinations from
virtually any manufacturer.
RFOG extends the fiber optic path
to the subscriber’s premises via a PON
outside plant architecture. PON minimizes
operational expense for powering
and network balancing, and the combination
of RFOG and PON offers a very
flexible deployment model that allows
operators to closely match network improvements
to revenue potential. According
to Hitachi, the solution provides
more consistent service to existing customers,
while providing market growth
potential for higher-ARPU small and
medium business customers.
Focus on Next-Gen Systems
OKI Prototypes First 160 Gbps PON System
From BBP Wires
TOKYO – OKI Electric Industry (www.
oki.com) announced it has developed the
world’s first 160 Gbps PON system using
hybrid Optical Time Division Multiplexing
(OTDM) and Optical Code Division
Multiplexing (OCDM). 160 Gbps, or 64
times the capacity of a GPON system,
is equivalent to streaming six channels
of uncompressed ultra-high-definition
video or 33 channels of high-definition
Vitesse Chipset Enables 10 Gbps EPON
From BBP Wires
CAMARILLO, CA – Vitesse Semiconductor
Corporation (www.vitesse.com)
announced a complete physical media
dependent (PMD) chipset for 10 Gbps
Ethernet passive optical networks (10Ge-
PON). Designed to be used in next-generation
fiber-to-the-home deployments,
this chipset provides OEMs an accelerated
and cost-effective migration path to
video. Transmitting signals at a speed of
160 Gbps on a single optical fiber downstream
means that super high-resolution
and high-quality video delivery service
can be offered for purposes such as movie
distribution and telemedicine.
implement faster data rates within the
existing network infrastructure.
Driving the need for these higher data
rates are multi-dwelling units (MDUs)
and small and medium-sized enterprise
(SME) businesses where bandwidthintensive
applications and services (HD
IPTV, VoD, VoIP, and peer-to-peer networking)
are now required.
To address this need, Vitesse pairs four
integrated circuits. The chipset is compliant
with the IEEE P802.3av/D3.0 standard,
which allows for the coexistence of
1G-EPON and 10G-EPON systems on
the same distribution network. According
to Angus Lai, product marketing
manager for Vitesse, many industry experts
foresee 10G-EPON-based products
maturing enough for initial commercial
deployments by late 2009 or early 2010.
Vitesse is also working with Teknovus,
Emcore and Anritsu in developing
10G and 40G PON, as well as wave-
92 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | April 2009

division multiplexing PON, in access
networks, developing solutions that provide
standards compliance, backward
From BBP Wires
SANTA CLARA, CA – PMC-Sierra
(www.pmc-sierra.com) announced the
availability of complete systems for symmetric
10GePON, including optical line
terminals and optical network terminals.
Carriers have already begun trials of this
PMC-Sierra Announces Availability of
Symmetric 10G EPON Platforms
equipment, according to Raphael Sankar,
vice president of marketing for PMC-Sierra’s
Fiber to the Home Business Unit.
He adds, “This performance will allow
carriers to provide new services, such as
the next level of HDTV broadcasting
and advanced business offerings, while
further reducing capital expenditures.”
compatibility and a smooth upgrade
path from existing PON networks. The
group’s objectives include proving interoperability
with subsystem and component
vendors and shortening time to
market for OEMs.
PMC-Sierra says these solutions are
interoperable with the more than 7 million
EPON optical network terminals
deployed worldwide that are based on
PMC-Sierra’s devices. This enables a
smooth and gradual upgrade from Ge-
PON to 10GePON, while lowering carriers’
capital and operational expenditures.
Calix Expands Partnership with Xangati
From BBP Wires
PETALUMA, CA – Calix (www.calix.
com), the largest telecom equipment supplier
focused solely on access solutions for
broadband service delivery, announced a
reseller relationship with Xangati (www.
xangati.com), based on the positive service
provider response to initial integration
efforts between the Calix Management
System (CMS) and the Xangati
Application Management 2.0 solution.
The integration of Xangati with
CMS provides a 360-degree perspective
into every network subscriber’s applica-
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For over 51 years, Televes, ‘the Bull from Spain’ has delivered television to billions of
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same tenacity and commitment required of those that ‘Run
with the Bulls’, Pace is committed to delivering the best
solution for operators in the multiplatform marketplace.
Together, Pace and Televes are committed to your success.
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April 2009 | www.broadbandproperties.com | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | 93

tion usage and overall traffic. A single two-rack unit appliance,
the Xangati solution plugs into any available data management
network port and is treated as just another operations support
system in the back office. The solution has zero footprint in
the network, with no hardware probes or software agents. Service
providers can use the combination of Xangati and CMS to
dramatically lower OPEX by remotely identifying, diagnosing,
and resolving many network problems without dispatching a
field technician to the subscriber premises.
Providers Plan to Apply for
Broadband Stimulus Funding
From BBP Wires
PETALUMA, CA – In a recent survey
of its customers, Calix (www.calix.com)
found that 38 percent are planning to
apply for broadband stimulus funds,
and another 39 percent are considering
applying. Eighteen percent will apply
only for Round One funding (Spring
Rural Utilities Service Approves
Additional Equipment
From BBP Wires
With the USDA’s Rural Utilities Service (also called Rural Development
Utilities Programs) emerging as one of the primary
sources of funding for broadband builds, its list of approved
equipment becomes even more critical. Recent additions to the
list include the following:
• ADC’s LSX Fiber Panel product family
From BBP Wires
CHINO, CA – Communications equipment
provider Versa Technology (www.
versatek.com) announced the development
and release of a new GePON product
line. Versa says its GePON solution
can support everything providers need
to deliver fiber to the home and to the
building with speeds up to 1 Gbps to
the subscriber and CATV overlay.
Versa Technology’s Gigabit Ethernet
PON platform for the single-family
2009), while 40 percent intend to apply
for funds in all three rounds.
About 60 percent of Calix customers
will approach both the NTIA and the
RUS for funding; the agencies have encouraged
such an approach, even though
the statute says NTIA and RUS funds
cannot be combined in the same parts of
Customers benefit from the combined solution in the following
ways:
• They can anticipate problems that could affect service levels
and rapidly identify those that already have
• They can see which applications and end users are monopolizing
critical resources
• They can see the effects of major changes on high-value resources.
• Calient Networks’ DiamondWave automated fiber crossconnect
product family
• Clearfield’s FieldSmart Fiber Delivery Point (FDP) Open
Pedestal Insert
• Occam Networks’ BLC 6000 series 6322 GPON Optical
Line Terminal (OLT) and ON 2400 series Optical Network
Terminals (ONTs)
• Zhone’s MALC OLT and zNID ONT GPON platforms.
Versa Technology Introduces GePON
Product Line
a project. But separate parts or functions
of the same network can be funded by
one agency or the other.
The top three technology combinations
that these providers will propose for
funding are 1) GPON, active Ethernet
and wireless broadband; 2) GPON alone;
and 3) GPON and wireless broadband.
home and MTU/DMU/MHU includes
the central-office concentrator VX-
EP3120 and the customer-side ONT (optical
network terminal). The VX-EP3120
concentrates traffic from up to 20 PONs
and 16 or 32 ONTs. The reach is up to 20
km at the maximum speed of 1.25 Gbps.
Versa’s “shelf” type of CO-side concentrator
enables a wide variety of deployment
options of FTTP from customer’s
premises to carrier’s office. It guarantees
competitive access performance beyond
100 Mbps bandwidth per subscriber necessary
for multichannel high-resolution
video delivery as well as high-speed data
and toll-quality voice with RF video to
all customers on the PON.
The product line secures a migration
path to the premises for IP-centric
services such as VLAN, multicasting,
link aggregation, multilayer filtering,
rate limiting, class of service (CoS) and
quality of service (QoS). A robust, open
Web-based management system provides
capabilities for operation administration,
maintenance and provisioning.
94 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | April 2009

Clearfield Expands Product Line
From BBP Wires
MINNEAPOLIS – Fiber management
solution specialist Clearfield (www.clearfieldconnection.com)
has expanded its
FieldSmart product line with the “PON
in a PED” and “PON in a Box,” for
small communities and multiple dwelling
units, respectively. PON in a PED
lets broadband service providers manage
fiber with industry-standard pedestals
with a separate Clearfield-factory preconfigured
insert. The solution provides fiber
connectivity, cable drop splicing, sheathto-sheath
splicing and optical component
housings within the Clearview Cassette.
This allows service providers to protect fiber
with a much smaller footprint than a
traditional fiber distribution hub.
The PON in a PED is tailored for
communities and neighborhoods from
12 to 96 homes. It reduces deployment
costs as no pad or underground enclosure
is needed at the installation point,
and it reduces operational expenses with
faster installations and lower inventory
levels. Allocation of cassette splicing to
multiple cable sheaths, along with midspan
capable hardware, allows the user
to express fiber buffer tubes through
the pedestal or provide an interconnect
point for separate but parallel networks.
The PON in a Box is an indoor wallmount
panel connecting 144 ports of fiber
connectivity with up to four splitters
in a compact 24” x 26” x 8” footprint. It
is designed for deploying passive FTTH
networks in a multi-dwelling unit, and
allows for 12 to 144 ports of connectivity
from a single deployment point. It
is also stackable, allowing for 288-port
availability. The solution supports configurations
for deploying flat drop cable
to the customer dwelling unit.
The 144-Port Wall Mount Panel
brings the fiber protection of an outside
plant fiber distribution hub to the access
network – without the cost of a pad or
underground enclosure. Splitter density
is maximized through the use of splitter
modules that stack together in a toploaded
splitter cage. These ruggedized
outside plant-rated splitters ship with
the individual legs pre-parked within a
disposable FieldSmart “Parking Block”
for easy and rapid deployment.
While MDU applications are usually
considered an urban or suburban issue,
Clearfield president and CEO Cheri
Podzimek explains that for rural telcos –
Clearfield’s traditional market – MDUs
in small towns often present greater
challenges due to the age of buildings.
In another announcement, Clearfield
says it has repackaged the splitters used
in its outside plant PON cabinets into
an industry-standard LGX footprint for
alternative applications. This product is
available preterminated with a connector
of choice.
Prepare your community for tomorrow
with Connexion Technologies…
You can provide for the ever-changing technological needs
of residents without touching your budget. By partnering with
Connexion Technologies to install a cutting-edge Fiber to the
Home network in your community, your residents can enjoy the
best entertainment and communications services delivered over
a fiber-optic network. This network will also be ready to handle
almost any new service that comes to market.
Find out more at www.connexiontechnologies.net
or contact us at 919.535.7329.
April 2009 | www.broadbandproperties.com | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | 95

calendar & ad index
AD INDEX
Advertiser Page Website
ADC 32 www.graybar.com/adc
Advanced Media Technologies 76 www.amt.com
AFL Telecommunications 3 www.afltele.com
Allied Telesis 16 www.alliedtelesis.com
AT&T Inside Back Cover www.att.com/communities
Broadband Integration Group 89 www.broadbandintegration
group.com
CableNOW Corp. 69 www.cablenowcorp.com
Calix 1 www.calix.com
Charles Industries 17 www.charlesindustries.com
Connexion Technologies 95 www.connexiontechnologies.com
Corning Cable Systems Back Cover www.corning.com/cablesystems/
ftthprograms
Display Systems International 91 www.displaysystemsintl.com
Draka 9 www.drakaamericas.com
Enablence 29 www.enablence.com
Great Lakes Data 14 www.cablebilling.com
Hitachi 7 www.hitachi-cta.com
Multicom, Inc. 19 www.multicominc.com
OFS 5 www.ofsoptics.com
Pace Electronics 93 www.paceintl.com
Preformed Line Products 11 www.preformed.com
SMS 77 www.smstv.com
Speed Wire, Inc. 28 www.speedwireinc.com
Spot On Networks 74 www.spotonetworks.com
Sumitomo Electric Lightwave 74 www.sumitomoelectric.com /
www.futureflex.com
Suttle 20 www.suttleonline.com
Telco Systems 65 www.telco.com
Verizon Enhanced Communities Inside Front Cover www.verizon.com/communities
May
5–6
WCAI Wireless Policy Summit
Grand Hyatt Hotel
Washington, DC
202-452-7823 • www.wcai.com
11–13
BICSI Spring Conference
Baltimore Convention Center
Baltimore, MD
813-979-1991 • www.bicsi.org
13–15
Building the Broadband Economy 2009
Polytechnic Institute of NYU
New York, NY
646-291-6166
www.intelligentcommunity.org
17–21
INTEROP
Mandalay Bay Convention Center
Las Vegas, NV
800-745-6493 • www.interop.com
20–21
Digital City Expo
Online Event
330-467-7588
www.digitalcityexpo.com
JUNE
1–4
UTC Telecom 2009
Mirage Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, NV
866-996-6338
www.utctelecom2009.utc.org
September
15
WCAI Annual International Symposium
Co-located with 4G World
McCormick Place
Chicago, IL
220-452-7823 • www.wcai.com
21–24
BICSI Fall Conference
MGM Grand Hotel & Convention Center
Las Vegas, NV
813-979-1991 • www.bicsi.org
25–27
CTAM 2009
Denver Convention Center
Denver, CO
www.ctamconferences.com
27–Oct 1
FTTH Conference
George R Brown Convention Center
Houston, TX
613-226-9988
www.ftthconference.com
96 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | April 2009

Connected Communities
Necessity
has evolved.
© 2008 – 2009 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T, the AT&T logo and all other AT&T marks
contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies.
Technology is always changing. You want to know
that what you have today won’t be obsolete tomorrow.
AT&T Connected Communities SM ensures that your
residents have all of the high speed Internet, Advanced
TV, and voice necessities of modern living. AT&T’s
state-of-the-art network, incorporating fiber technology,
delivers next-generation services to your communities.
Call today and maximize the value of your property both
now and for the future.
To learn more, visit att.com/communities
Enhanced Gold Sponsor of the
Broadband Properties Conference.
Booth #400

From concept to completion ...
Corning is with you every step of the way.
Through its Total Access Program sm (TAP), Corning Connected Community (CCC) and FTTxpert Program,
Corning Cable Systems offers seminars, extended warranties, online technical assistance and hands-on
training to support your FTTH deployments. Whether you are a contractor, service provider or consultant,
Corning has a program for you. www.corning.com/cablesystems/ftthprograms
FTTxpert
Program
© 2009 Corning Cable Systems LLC