Reducing the Cost of A Gigabit NetworkIn Your Community

FCC Workshop on the Gigabit City ChallengeHeather Burnett GoldPresident, FTTH Council AmericasMarch 27, 2012

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Major Components of Network Costs

• Capital Costs– Construction– Network Equipment– Fees and other (i.e. land and buildings, legal costs)– Funding

• Operating costs– Operating and Maintenance– Acquisition of Video Content– Backhaul – Franchise Fees

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Community Inventory of Assets

• Communities should leverage assets that are readily available, obtainable and valuable, which will reduce the overall costs

• The first step is to create an inventory of such assets, which can include those that belong to the community or that the community can influence

• Count both physical assets and “soft” assets which can reduce development costs and build awareness– Civic groups– Educational institutions– IT/GIS professionals

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Examples of Community Assets• Franchise Agreements/Rights of Way – offer favorable terms and expedite/reduce

cost of conduit placement• Permitting/Construction Rules - provide expedited treatment• Municipally owned utilities – assets, customer base, back office operations can be

leveraged for partnerships• Land/Buildings• Existing mapping (GIS) resources• Ongoing or pending local and or state capital projects – can tie in fiber builds to

water, road construction etc• Existing vendor relationships – leveraged to provide enhanced or expanded

services• Ongoing/planned first responder communications upgrades – for economies of

scale• IT professionals• Educational institutions – sources of student labor and expertise• Civic groups/volunteers – source of support and labor for community oriented

activities

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Examples of How the Federal Government Can Reduce Costs

• Federal Communications Commission – Pole Attachments – Access to Video Programming/Retransmission– Funding in certain situations (USF: CAF, eRate, Rural

Health)– Establish Best Practices

• Other Current/Potential Federal Activities– Access to Rights of Way on Federal lands– Funding in certain situations (RUS, EDA)– Access to Federal buildings (GSA)– Collaboration with communities when Federal bandwidth

upgrades are considered (GSA)6

Examples of State Broadband Leadership: Models for Federal Coordination?• Minnesota– Implement the state’s infrastructure development program– Provide consultation to (local) governments in connection with

broadband projects– Encourage public-private partnerships – Monitor the broadband development efforts of other states and

at the federal level– Serve as the “information clearinghouse” for federal programs– DoT to maintain a “fiber collaboration” database on its website

to provide broadband providers with advance notice of upcoming DoT construction projects.

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Examples of State Broadband Leadership: Models for Federal Coordination?

• Wisconsin – Playbook for Broadband Progress– Purpose is to establish "specific replicable initiatives and actions that:

• (1) are realistic and possible within available resources; • (2) have enough consensus to be successfully implemented; and• (3) are consistent with the needs of Wisconsin.”

– Identify barriers preventing the leasing of available space on government-owned towers and other government-owned facilities to private broadband providers. • Streamline leasing through agency coordination, rule changes, or possibly

through legislation– Creation of a information database to facilitate access to appropriate

government-owned towers and facilities– Suggests that the state "explore" targeted tax incentives to encourage

broadband expansion.

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