| Vermont FiberConnect: What It Will Do for Schools |
| Written by Dave Burstein |
| Monday, 27 June 2011 13:59 |
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The stimulus is paying $33M to run fiber to 340 "community anchor institutions" - schools, libraries, government buildings etc. (I'll just call them schools). Some schools are unhappy, because they feel pressured to spend $100K-$150K and more in addition. The money goes to a private company, Sovernet, working with a quango, the Vermont Telecommunications Authority. The controversy has been reported by Vermont Public Radio, the Boston Globe, Muninetworks, Burlington Free Press, and others.
Whether the deal is good or bad is a separate article. There's so much confusion around I wanted to get into the facts. It would be simpler if things were set up as perhaps $2,000/month for a 100 meg Internet connection but that's not how the NTIA proposal played out. Sovernet has broken the service into two: transport (the fiber itself) and ISP (the connection to the Internet.) A school could buy transport from Sovernet and ISP connections to the net from someone else. I consider that a theoretical sidepoint unless I see many of the schools actually doing that.
Sovernet's offer to the schools Their primary service they describe as "100 megabits burstable to 1 gigabit." "Burstable" means that the service is 100 megabits all the time and can "burst" for limited periods to a gigabit. Usually, that means up to 5% or 10% of the time. It's a good deal because it allows for far more throughput than 100 megabits for occasional peaks. Here's what it costs from Sovernet:
Transport: $1,000/month for "transport" to a "hub"
(Discounted to $700/month to connect an additional location. such as another school in the district.)
ISP services: Price not yet disclosed. Until Sovernet publicly offers a price, I'm going to use a figure of $1,500/month. Depending on volume, location, and services needed, similar in well connected areas can cost from $400 to $2,500. That's a pretty broad range, but Rich Kendell of Sovernet would not provide me a price. I'm not the only one in the dark about Sovernet's actual pricing; there was a complaint at the Readsboro Board of Selectman meeting. The schools need to know that cost to make an intelligent decision, because many will feel they have no choice.
Term: 5 years
Total cost over 5 years: $150,000 if the price of ISP service is $1,500/month, all included. $120,000 if ISP costs are $1,000/month. That's a substantial sum that the school should make a wise decision about, looking at all choices. I can confirm that most schools in the country pay substantially more if they want that level of service.
Fairpoint cost for similar: Fairpoint offers 100 megabits for five years for $135,000, $2261/month. Mike Smith of Fairpoint says they'd like to offer service over the "open access" fiber from Sovernet/VTA, which might be even less expensive. Neither he nor I have been able to determine what's involved in interconnection or even where the network will be going.
Alternate choices:
Rich Kendall of Sovernet points out:
Much of the cost will be covered by the Federal erate program, perhaps half. Sovernet is not asking for a contract of firm committment at this time. A school can say they are interested and then choose not to use the fiber that Sovernet runs.
Mike Smith of Fairpoint points out:
FairPoint has invested more than $71 million in Vermont since 2008 to expand broadband across the state. This is unprecedented, aggressive and one of the largest builds Vermont has seen to date - and it's all self-financed. FairPoint has more than 3,000 miles of fiber in Vermont - almost 1,000 new miles added since December. This current buildout also included adding almost 300 additional new sites. Nearly 90 percent of FairPoint customers across Vermont will now have high-speed access.
Big unknown: What schools and other institutions will be served
Sovernet will not provide a map of the network or a list of the anchor institutions when I or others ask. This pressures the schools to agree to Sovernet's five year request because they fear their entire town, including everyone's homes, will otherwise be excluded from the network. In addition, alternate providers who might offer a better deal combining VTA transport and their ISP services don't have a way to begin.
Sovernet has requested that VTA and NTIA keep secret the list of anchor institutions. They are presumably public record but I don't have the time or money to get them via a freedom of information request. Chris Campbell of VTA provided this general guidance:
We formed our service area out of Census Block Groups, the smallest unit of geography the BTOP application used. (Keep in mind that Block Groups are geographically larger in the towns with the lowest population.) I'll comment that comprehensiveness was our objective, so we were looking to reach all of the public schools, public colleges, public libraries, and state government offices in the funded service area. And as a general matter, our application proposed to do just that within the funded service area. There are a couple of local areas where the proposed funded service area was extended beyond the reach of the fiber itself to include Census Block Groups that wouldn't necessarily have fiber, but could be reached by networks of last mile broadband providers that wrote letters of support and interest in connecting to and using the project if funded. In those cases, the project was planned to reach key interconnection points for those companies. The official description of the project:
Organization: Vermont Telecommunications Authority
Project Name: Vermont Fiber Link Project Type: Comprehensive Community Infrastructure States: Vermont, New Hampshire Federal Award: $33,393,402 ABOUT THE PROJECT As a small, rural state with rugged terrain, Vermont has difficulty attracting broadband Internet providers, who are often unable to build profitable business models for serving the state. Vermont Fiber Link, a public-private partnership between the Vermont Telecommunications Authority (VTA) and Sovernet Fiber Corporation, a regional communications service provider, proposes to address this problem, focusing on Vermont’s key community anchor institutions, such as K-12 schools, that lack affordable high speed Internet access. The project plans to build almost 800 miles of fiber broadband infrastructure and provide direct connections at speeds of up to 1 Gbps to as many as 340 anchor institutions statewide, including nine community colleges, 12 other institutions of higher learning, 30 public safety entities, and 53 libraries. Vermont Fiber Link proposes to: Complement the project of another BTOP-funded entity, Vermont Telephone Company, to provide robust, high speed Internet access across Vermont. Spur affordable broadband access for local consumers and businesses, including as many as 79,000 households and 13,000 businesses, along with an additional 1,400 community anchor institutions by enabling local Internet service providers to utilize the project’s open network. Eight local service providers have already expressed interest in utilizing the new network to expand or enhance local broadband service to households and businesses. Significantly improve cost and quality of broadband service to Vermont’s government agencies statewide. ORGANIZATION’S HISTORY The Vermont Telecommunications Authority was created by the state legislature in 2007 to facilitate the establishment and delivery of mobile phone and Internet access infrastructure and services for residents and businesses throughout Vermont. VTA is focused on unserved and underserved areas and has a long-term goal of ensuring broadband and mobile phone infrastructure exists throughout the state. PROJECT PARTNERS Vermont Department of Libraries Vermont Department of Education Vermont State College System, Community College of Vermont sites, and Vermont Law School Vermont Department of Public Safety Vermont Department of Information and Innovation New England Telehealth Consortium Sovernet Fiber Corporation and this from the company:
About Sovernet Communications: Sovernet Communications provides reliable Internet and telecommunications services to residential and business customers throughout Northern New England. The Vermont company is headquartered in Bellows Falls, with facilities in Burlington, Winooski and Keene, NH. Sovernet is committed to delivering advanced communications services along with superior customer care and total customer satisfaction, while actively supporting its local communities. For more information, please visit www.sovernet.com. About Vermont FiberConnect: Vermont FiberConnect is 770 mile fiber optic network under development by Sovernet Fiber Corp, an affiliate of Vermont-based Sovernet Communications. The network will connect over 340 community anchor institutions such as K-12 schools, colleges, public libraries, healthcare providers, government offices and public safety communications in southern, central, and northeastern Vermont, encompassing seven of Vermont’s fourteen counties. Vermont FiberConnect is also designed to provide wholesale data transport services to broadband and telecommunications service providers such as Internet service providers, telecom companies and cellular companies. The network will interconnect with several new adjoining regional “middle-mile” fiber networks, including Network New Hampshire Now, MassBroadband 123 and the ION network in upstate New York. The project has been funded by a combination of public and private capital, including a $33.4 million grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP), a $2 million grant from the State of Vermont via Vermont Telecommunication Authority, a $400,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and over $12 million of private capital committed by Sovernet. The VTA is the recipient of and conduit for the federal, state and foundation grants. Sovernet Fiber Corp. will build, own, operate and provide services over the Vermont FiberConnect network. NTIA funding of the project, through its BTOP “Comprehensive Community Infrastructure” program, is intended to help ensure sustainable community growth, and to provide the foundation for enhanced household and business broadband Internet services by deploying new or improved broadband Internet facilities and connecting “community anchor institutions.” For further information, please visit www.vermontfiberconnect.com. What about Vermont Telephone? Vermont Tel also is getting money from the Feds for similar projects and other areas of the state. They haven't asked for the schools to respond in the way Sovernet has and so far I haven't seen similar controversy. There may be a story there, but I'm not the person to write it. I have a huge conflict of interest. About seven years back, I did a modest consulting job for VTEL on their DSL network, which they built to almost 100% of their territory. A few years later, I worked on a proposal to the state for a wireless network and I also did a very short bit last year. The total is four figures. There are good reporters in Vermont if there's a story about VTEL to write. Here are the summaries from their two stimulus proposals. Vermont Broadband Enhanced Learning Link (VT BELL) New Hampshire, New York, Vermont Project Type: Comprehensive Community Infrastructure Federal Award: $12,256,492 July 2010 ABOUT THE PROJECT The VT BELL project is VTEL’s plan to address a bandwidth and transport capacity shortage in the state’s existing middle mile infrastructure in areas including Essex, Stowe, New Haven, and Berlin. Because this shortage has slowed the deployment of crucial resources necessary to promote long term educational and economic initiatives, such as distance learning networks, access to Internet2, and remote access to large databases and libraries, VT BELL proposes expanding VTel's existing fiber network to deliver up to 10 Gbps Ethernet broadband to more than 200 high schools; hospitals; colleges; universities; community colleges; rural, independent and large telephone companies; and public safety entities, including police barracks, statewide. The project also proposes to build the high speed network to Vermont's three highest peaks to enhance the Department of Public Safety's statewide microwave network for improved emergency communications in mountainous areas. VT BELL proposes to: Deploy 257 new miles of fiber to its existing network and complement the project of another BTOP- funded entity, Vermont Telecommunications Authority, to provide a robust, high speed network statewide and create new interconnection points in Plattsburgh, NY and Hanover, NH. Spur affordable broadband access for local consumers and businesses, including as many as 64,000 households and 13,000 businesses, by enabling local Internet service providers to connect to the project’s open network. Expand services to schools participating in the Vermont Virtual Learning Cooperative, a program that allows students across the state to participate in classes not offered in their geographic area. ORGANIZATION’S HISTORY Vermont Telephone Company, which does business as VTel, is one of the largest family-owned telephone companies in America, with a traditional service area that covers southern Vermont and parts of three other states, serving approximately 50,000 Vermonters with 19,000 telephone lines. PROJECT PARTNERS CBN Connect New England Telehealth Consortium (NETC)
VTEL WIRELESS, INC. 7555 MICHEL GUITE (802) 8857000 mguite@vermontel.com Wireless Open World (WOW) by VTel Wireless, Inc. Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) Hampshire, New York, Vermont Last Mile Winter 2010 Broadband Initiatives Program $81,664,754.00 $35,166,081.00 $30,000,000.00 Application Received Proposed Project Area: New Grant Request: Loan Request: Other Funding: Status: Description: Wireless Open World (WOW) by VTel Wireless, Inc., commits to bring TriBand 4G LTE wireless broadband to virtually every unserved anchor institution, unserved home, and unserved business throughout Vermont, and parts of NY and NH near VT. We commit, at our cost, to use a model that proved effective in rural America during the Great Depression, called Rural Radio Farm Forum. We will send out teams of Rural Broadband Farm Forum field workers, to organize several thousand neighbortoneighbor smallgroup meetings to discuss and show how Broadband can help find jobs, improve schools, start businesses, access federal and state assistance, and enhance rural life. We also propose to extend our use of GigE over active fiber to some regions and institutions.
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