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Waiting Out the Downturn Here;
Expanding Abroad
While many providers in the US seem to be in “wait-and-see” mode, countries
as diverse as Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and China plan major fiber deployments.
By Masha Zager ■ Broadband Properties
The economic downturn is taking its toll on FTTH deployments,
if the number of new announcements coming
our way is any indicator. Until recently, the slowdown
in new housing was counterbalanced by the increase
in MDU and municipal overbuilds. While our monthly fiber
roundup is a decidedly unscientific sample – many projects
are never formally announced and don’t come to our attention
until they’re no longer “news” – it does seem that even
for non-greenfield projects, many would-be fiber deployers
(and their sources of capital) are in wait-and-see mode.
The good news is that planning continues to go forward,
and the availability of economic recovery funds will undoubtedly
spur many new projects, both public and private.
As we report below, the list of “shovel-ready” projects compiled
by the US Conference of Mayors includes a number
of fiber builds. Most are for specialized municipal uses like
public safety, but such networks can serve as the backbones
for later FTTP deployments.
We’re also encouraged to see major commitments to
FTTH taking place in countries as different as Nigeria,
Saudi Arabia and China. Nations that were late adopters
of telecommunications technology often went straight to
mobile communications, bypassing the fixed-network stage
entirely. Now some of them are reconsidering that decision,
recognizing that fiber will be required to deliver the services
of the 21st century.
– MZ
INDEPENDENT
TELCOS
Horizon Chillicothe Uses
USDA Grant to Deploy Fiber
Horizon Chillicothe Telephone
has joined the Corning Connected
Community Program
to support the deployment of Corning
optical fiber in Darbyville, Ohio, a village
of fewer than 300 residents. HCT
is using a USDA Rural Development
grant to build an FTTH network; the
project includes the Darbyville Community
Technology Center, which will
house multiple computer terminals and
videoconferencing equipment, serve as a
wireless Internet access point for the surrounding
park, and include dedicated
space for educational purposes. Rural
Development hosted an open house at
the new center in November.
Corning Cable Systems developed
the program to assist developers in implementing
fiber optic infrastructures
into their building plans. Bill McKell,
Horizon CEO, says, “Working with
Corning through the Corning Connected
Community Program, we can
educate our customers on the benefits of
FTTH and further increase the technology’s
visibility.”
Albany Mutual Telephone, a Minnesota-based
ILEC that is upgrading
its network to FTTH (see our December
report), announced that it is working
with a professional services team
from solution provider ADC to implement
this project. Albany Tel uses ADC
equipment both in the central office
(ADC’s FiberGuide fiber-management
system and OMX splice bays), and in
its outside plant (ADC’s 24-fiber Next
Generation Frame and RiserGuide cable-management
system). Albany Tel is
one of ADC’s first customers to place the
multifiber assemblies and RiserGuide
January/February 2009 | www.broadbandproperties.com | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | 15