[1st-mile-nm] Broadband Strategy: Conduit

[Harris, Brian, WEU NMAGO]

Have you looked at any of the cost models developed to price UNEs?
There are various flavors of the Hatfield Model and the HAI that you may
find interesting.  

Brian Harris



-----Original Message-----
From: 1st-mile-nm-bounces at mailman.dcn.org
[mailto:1st-mile-nm-bounces at mailman.dcn.org] On Behalf Of Gary Gomes
Sent: Friday, July 25, 2008 3:44 PM
To: 'Richard Lowenberg'; 1st-mile-nm at mailman.dcn.org
Subject: Re: [1st-mile-nm] Broadband Strategy: Conduit

This is precisely the approach which the Broadband Technology Advisory
Committee recently recommended to the Las Cruces; we'll keep the list
advised of our progress.

I do think that it is important to refine our numbers, in order to
present
an accurate picture to the municipalities.

I have generally seen numbers for installed FTTH (including electronics)
in
the range of $30per foot, with about half the cost associated with
opening
and closing the street.

In a recent roadway project, the City got a price of $5 per foot to
install
conduit in parallel with road work.

I would appreciate any better (more accurate and granular) network
deployment cost models that readers could provide.

Gary
-----Original Message-----
From: 1st-mile-nm-bounces at mailman.dcn.org
[mailto:1st-mile-nm-bounces at mailman.dcn.org] On Behalf Of Richard
Lowenberg
Sent: Friday, July 25, 2008 1:42 PM
To: 1st-mile-nm at mailman.dcn.org
Subject: [1st-mile-nm] Broadband Strategy: Conduit

The Best Municipal Broadband Strategy - Just Lay Conduit

July 24, 2008 4:18 PM

http://app-rising.com/2008/07/the_best_municipal_broadband_s.html

In Portland on Monday after my panel I was chatting with fellow panelist
Jim
Stegeman, president of CostQuest Associates.

While his presentation dealt with the cost of deploying wireless 3G
nationwide,
during our follow-up conversation we got into the topic of how much it
costs
to
deploy fiber. That's when Jim shared a stunning number with me: fiber
only
costs
$1 a foot while putting in the underground conduit that it needs to run
through
can cost $13-14 a foot, with that number varying based on the
characteristics
of the areas in which it's being deployed.

The reason laying conduit's so expensive is because of the labor it
takes to
dig
up the streets, put in the conduit, and then cover it back up again. The
actual
cost of the conduit itself isn't all that high.

What that also means is that once the conduit's in the ground, the cost
of
laying fiber can be reduced dramatically, orders of magnitude cheaper.

So imagine this: what could happen if we started having cities lay
conduit
whenever they're ripping up roads for other reasons, like upgrading the
sewer
system?

There are many reasons why cities have to rip up roads, and once they're
ripped
up there isn't all that much additional cost that would be needed to put
in
conduit.

And once that conduit's in place, it would dramatically reduce the cost,
time,
and complexity of deploying fiber.

Plus, if cities needed to recoup their investment in conduit, they could
likely
charge whoever comes in to lay fiber for access to it. Of course they
wouldn't
want to charge too much lest they dissuade private investment, but I'd
think
there'd certainly be enough there to have the deployment of conduit pay
for
itself.

By doing this, cities can improve the economics of any public or private
deployment of full fiber networks. So much so, in fact, that I'd bet at
least
in some communities it would shift the balance sheet so dramatically
that it
might cause incumbents who are currently sitting on the sidelines when
it
comes
to deploying fiber all the way to the home to get up off the bench since
now
the
economics of these endeavors become much more feasible.

So if you ask me what's the best broadband strategy for any
municipality,
I'll
say that it starts with making sure you don't miss the opportunity to
lay
conduit whenever possible, thereby setting the stage for improving your
chances
of getting wired with fiber in the future.


-- 
Richard Lowenberg
1st-Mile Institute
P.O. Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504
505-989-9110;   505-603-5200 cell
rl at 1st-mile.com  www.1st-mile.com

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