March/April - Broadband Communities Magazine

DEPARTMENTS
editor’s Note . . . . . . . 2
Bandwidth Hawk . . . . 6
Marketplace ads . . . . 75
HOT PRODUCTS
Table of Contents
advertiser Index . . . . 76
Calendar . . . . . . . . . 76
Broadband Communities’
11th annual list of leading
Broadband Technologies and services | 32
Learn about this year’s latest and greatest broadband products …
and then see them at the BBC Summit.
Independent Telcos
More Than 600
Independent Telcos Deploy FTTH | 48
By Masha Zager ■ Broadband Communities
A technology once on the bleeding edge is now thoroughly
mainstream for small telephone companies – but will it stay that way?
lessons From the Field
Tales From the Fiber Frontier | 54
How to power a mountain, mix and match different flavors of fiber,
beta-test new gear and market services for a network that hasn’t
been built.
Middle-Mile Networks
Unique partnership Key To
rural Nebraska Healthcare Network | 56
By Joan Engebretson
A creative collaboration leads to better health care for residents of the
Nebraska panhandle and better broadband for the area’s businesses.
Technology
passive optical laN For smart Businesses | 60
By Rob Narzisi ■ Advanced Media Technologies
Fiber-to-the-desk solutions are catching on. Their lower capex and
opex, combined with environmental benefits and future-proofing,
have caught the attention of IT departments.
The Case for Vectoring | 64
By Ariel Caner ■ ECI Telecom
A new technology that lets telcos deliver more advanced services
over copper eases the transition to fiber.
economic Development
proving the link Between Broadband
and economic Development | 68
By Ken Demlow ■ NewCom Technologies
To demonstrate that broadband sparks economic development,
communities need to pool their information.
Broadband apps
Getting started With Video advertising | 72
By Jack Olson ■ Viamedia
Video is a big part of the FTTH equation, and local advertising is
a big part of video. It’s daunting, but third-party partners can help.
Visit www.bbcmag.com for up-to-the-minute news
of broadband trends, technologies and deployments.
Follow BroadBand Communities on Twitter at www.twitter.com/
bbcmag for alerts about breaking news items.
IN THIS ISSUE
4 | BROADBAND COMMUNITIES | www.broadbandcommunities.com | March/april 2012
provider perspective
Hungry for a New approach? | 8
By Bryan J. Rader ■ Bandwidth Consulting LLC
A reality show about restaurant makeovers inspires new ideas for
private cable operators.
owners Corner
Cottage-style Broadband | 10
By Henry Pye ■ RealPage Inc.
The newest student-housing communities may look like singlefamily
developments, but using Ethernet to manage their Internet
services still makes sense.
Fiber Deployments
Highlights From the Fiber
Deployment roundup Blog | 12
Special report on responses to the Gig.U RFI, plus: Google starts
its FTTH deployment in Kansas City; DISH Network launches
a video offering on the UTOPIA open-access network; a publicprivate
partnership in California turns up its first fiber-fed building.
property of the Month
rio Vista apartments, los angeles | 14
By Joe Bousquin ■ Broadband Communities
This affordable housing community in Los Angeles uses state-ofthe-art
broadband infrastructure, free basic Internet service for
residents and a computer lab to help bridge the digital divide.
MDU showcase
Fiber pathways preserve
The View in Upscale High-rise | 18
By Linnea Wilkes ■ 3M Communication Markets Division
The views from Seattle’s Grandview tower are indeed grand – both
outside and inside. When the homeowners association upgraded to
FTTH, it managed to keep the views intact with some help from
3M.
MDU Technology
MDU solutions for electric Vehicle Charging | 20
By Bryan J. Rader ■ Bandwidth Consulting LLC
Get ready for the next technology amenity on MDU residents’
must-have list.
FTTH Industry leaders
Q&a With pedro Correa, Vice president,
Verizon enhanced Communities | 22
Verizon’s new MDU chief aims to win the hearts and minds of
multifamily residents – and of property owners, too.
Q&a With Heather Gold, president,
FTTH Council North america | 26
The Council’s new leader, a telecom industry veteran, will reach
out to communities to help them channel their “gig envy” into
action plans.
FTTH Conference Munich
Is europe ready For the Zettabyte era? | 28
By Olaf Storaasli ■ DSM Functional Materials
Experts convened at a roundtable at the European FTTH
Conference agreed that the mainstream telecom industry in
Europe is finally embracing fiber to the home.