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The Fiber Broadband Association’s annual conference, Fiber Connect, held in Nashville in June, highlighted many fiber community success stories and innovations that promise to expand fiber deployment. In addition to highlighting fiber’s role in delivering symmetrical broadband speeds to residents, the show considered the growing role of municipalities, electric cooperatives and vendors. It also looked at the ways alternative providers build middle-mile networks to connect the dots of last-mile networks throughout states and communities.
Speakers at the Broadband Communities 2022 Summit, held in Houston in May, agreed that every community wants – and needs – great broadband. How best to deliver it to MDUs, master-planned communities, underserved towns and rural areas is still debatable. Following are some highlights of speaker presentations.
Baltimore’s Hollins House is working with nonprofit organization Project Waves to close the digital divide, which has disproportionately disadvantaged seniors and low-income residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Broadband Communities thanks Samantha Musgraves, director of Project Waves; Devin Weaver, director of engineering for Project Waves; and Jason D. Hardebeck, director of broadband and digital equity for the city of Baltimore, for helping complete this profile.
Innovation Square, a new multiple-dwelling-unit (MDU) property in a revitalized area of downtown Rochester, is set on attracting local college students and businesses. Broadband Communities thanks Robert Gallina, senior project manager for Gallina Development; Lauren Gallina, marketing director for Gallina Development; Ben Garvey, CEO, president and founder of Great Lakes Gaming; and Andre Green, director of sales and strategic growth at Greenlight Networks for helping gather information for this profile.
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It is a transformational time for broadband in the U.S. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will dole out $42.2 billion to states to provide funding for new projects. During the INCOMPAS Policy Summit in Washington, D.C., a group of Congressional leaders, service providers and public advocacy groups discussed the impact of federal funding and how to drive new competition in the multiple-dwelling-unit market.
The Houston property plays to renters’ desire for high-speed, instant-on, affordable broadband. Broadband Communities thanks Kate Good, partner and senior vice president of multifamily development at Hunington Residential; Stephanie Burriss, director of multifamily operations at Hunington Residential; and DISH Fiber for helping develop this profile.
In the last issue, I concentrated on the regulatory and technical issues embedded in the evolving rules for handing out $42.5 billion in new federal broadband infrastructure funds. Before that, I talked about labor and materials shortages. In this issue, I discuss the financial planning issues for prospective deployers.
A regional planning board syncs up with local providers to bring fiber-based broadband to the state’s hardest-to-reach communities.
The Tappan, a new multifamily development in the Cleveland, Ohio, historic Tremont neighborhood, draws new residents with instant-on gigabit broadband from Snip Internet. Broadband Communities thanks Robin Doerschuk, vice president and general manager of Snip Internet, and Josh Rosen, co-founder of Sustainable Community Associates, for helping develop this profile.
At the Broadband Communities Summit 2021, participants shared stories and expertise about new methods to build broadband to rural markets, new trends in broadband for MDUs and new applications for broadband, such as precision agriculture. Following are some highlights of conference sessions.
In a franchise model, regional service providers purchase brand rights from more prominent IT providers. This model provides a host of benefits for local carriers, large deployers and customers, and helps drive regional economic development. It may also be useful for MDU owners financing their own broadband.
Reflection St. Pete, a new condominium community that’s part of a downtown renaissance in St. Petersburg, Florida, will offer residents a high-speed, instant-on broadband experience. Broadband Communities thanks Rachael Manzanares, sales associate with Keller Williams Developer Services; Amber Bennett, Reflection St. Pete sales associate; Nick Hansen, CEO and managing member, Poli Solutions Consulting; Angelo Cappelli, CFO, Poli Solutions Consulting and Quantum Fiber for helping develop this profile.
The Fiber Broadband Association’s annual conference, Fiber Connect, held in Nashville in July, showcased many fiber community success stories and a variety of innovations that promise to expand fiber deployment. As one of the telecom industry’s first in-person trade shows since the pandemic began, it highlighted fiber’s role as the preferred way of delivering symmetrical broadband speeds, state and federal funding mechanisms, open-access, fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) networks and pricing. It also brought to light how broadband newcomers, particularly municipal broadband providers, need to overcome political and lobbying challenges from incumbents and think tanks, and the significance of public-private partnerships.
Offering homeowners instant-on, 10 Gbps, fiber-based gigabit service, Sunbridge, a master-planned community, stands out from other developments in Florida’s competitive real estate market. Our thanks to Alex Figuero, vice president of operations at Tavistock; Karlee Kunkle, senior communications manager at Tavistock; and Matt Hirsch, sales account manager at ADTRAN for helping compile this profile.
Beckert’s Park is taking a big shot at making managed Wi-Fi a key amenity for multifamily properties. Our thanks to Judd Ullom, director of development for Foulger-Pratt; Herb Sharpe, vice president of multifamily sales for Boingo; and Chris Cauthen, director of multifamily sales for Boingo.
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Main Street Connect is a new apartment complex in Montgomery County, Maryland, that offers symmetrical 50 Mbps internet services and digital training for low-income and special-needs residents via a partnership with the county government’s Department of Technology Services. Broadband Communities thanks Joseph Webster, the department’s chief broadband officer in the Office of Broadband Programs; Marjorie Williams, the department’s broadband, cable and franchise division manager; and Pierre Trudeau, CTO of Positron, for helping compile this profile.
The first virtual edition of the Fiber Broadband Association’s annual conference, Fiber Connect, held in December, showcased many fiber community success stories and a variety of innovations that promise to expand fiber deployment. The show highlighted how communities are banding together and working with state and federal agencies to build out broadband in underserved communities. It also brought to light the need to increase bandwidth and provide flexible service during the pandemic, along with the problem of permitting obstacles and other challenges.
The Reef at Winkler, a new luxury multifamily community owned by MJ Development Southeast and managed by Greystar in Fort Myers, Florida, leverages Boingo Wireless managed Wi-Fi services to deliver consumer broadband and smart-community applications. Our thanks to Matt Valentine, a partner at MJ Development Southeast; Ben Vander Velden, senior channel manager at Boingo Wireless; and Layne Spencer, vice president of sales and marketing for IOTAS, for helping assemble this profile.
The emerging model presents a scalable option for communities that lack the expertise or interest to operate networks or act as ISPs themselves but want to own and control the core communications assets in their communities as a means of securing the benefits of broadband internet. Here’s a look at the model’s business case, technical elements and risks.
Windham Woods School employs FirstLight Fiber’s fiber-based internet and unified communications services to increase reliability and responsiveness for its growing student body. Broadband Communities thanks Matt Taffel, assistant head of school and middle/upper school director for Windham Woods School, and Chris Canney, enterprise account executive at FirstLight Fiber, for helping assemble this profile.
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