April 4th FTTH Trial Meeting

Contributed by Bob Harrington

Palo Alto's Fiber to the Home (FTTH) Trial is moving toward installation and activation, with the date the system will "go live" still expected to be "June". The Utilities Department is adding entrepreneurial staff to the project. They have done a tremendous amount of preparation and research behind the scenes separating the wheat from the chaff regarding proposed equipment and services.

It was exciting to hear their presentation and answers to questions. I think it will surprise a lot of nay-sayers just what this FTTH test may accomplish, and how this fiber network strategy may prove more cost-effective than any combination of alternatives. The key over the next few months will be the development of a viable business plan with a reasonable view of the future.

Here are the highlights from this well-attended FTTH Participants meeting:

A. This is a test system which reasonably may be out of service for brief periods of time for equipment modifications and/or maintenance. Scheduled outages will generally be during slow periods and advanced warnings will normally be provided.

B. This FTTH system is now expected to have more features and programming sources than was envisioned when the project was first proposed. Besides high speed Internet service (4.5 MB/sec uplink and 7 MB/sec downlink), other services are now anticipated when the system is first installed or soon thereafter. These services (probably for additional monthly fees) may include 1) even higher speed Internet access, 2) DishTV, or similar service (without the dish), 3) Premium TV channels requiring a set-top box, 4) telephone service, 5) video-on-demand, and 6) High Definition TV (HDTV).

C. Quite a few manufacturers and suppliers are offering their products and services at very low cost or free for the duration of the trial, with Marconi now favored to provide some infrastructure equipment and Stanford University as a possible ISP.


(CONTINUED AT TOP OF NEXT COLUMN)

These decisions imply a network design that have some knowledgeable observers concerned about bandwidth limitations long-term, but we'll see what happens as this test progresses and fiber network strategies continue to rapidly evolve.

D. A City Utilities staff member will be contacting participants to arrange a visit to their homes at some convenient time between April 21 and May 14. The purpose of the visit will be to answer any questions participants may have about FTTH and to identify the 2' x 2' location where your the fiber optic modem (about the dimensions of a thin notebook computer) will be installed. Ideally, it will be located on a wall in the garage, attic or basement; someplace out of the weather and near 110V power.

From this modem, each participant will be responsible for running 1) CAT5e wire to your computer (or computer network), and/or 2) cable to their TV or TV's, and/or 3) cable to their set-top box for premium TV programming, and/or 4) telephone wire to their phones if voice-over-IP service is desired, possibly with regular telephone numbers supplied by Pac Bell. Participants may do this internal wiring themselves, or it may be done by home-wiring contractors we are beginning to identify.

E. Major utilities who previously wanted to own all the wiring and infrastructure themselves are just now beginning to indicate a willingness to consider being service providers to open systems. It may be that the cost or availability of capital is playing a role in this change of attitude, or their thinking that part of a pie is better than no pie at all.

Remember, RCN pulled their proposal in December to provide high-speed Internet service in a few high-density locations in town, and AT&T Broadband paid $70 million for Cable Co-op plus committed to improving their cable infrastructure in their service area within three years. Nearly a year has gone by with little evidence that anything is yet happening regarding AT&T's new plant commitment. It may prove much more cost-effective if the CPAU installed optical fiber to each home and business in Palo Alto, then AT&T provided their cable services over it.

Palo Alto is in the enviable position of beginning a FTTH test at a most propitious moment in history, and participants are in on it. [END]