Tennessee utility bringing fiber to 55,000

Next month, the electric utility in Clarksville, Tenn., hopes to launch the first broadband and video services over what could become one of the largest municipal fiber-to-the-home networks in the United States.

In May the Clarksville Department of Energy began construction of a fiber network to reach all of its electricity customers--about 50,000 residences and 5,000 businesses. The plan was to connect the fiber to existing electric meters, allowing the utility to read meters remotely rather than on foot, and provide triple-play services over the excess bandwidth.

CDE plans to offer 10 Mb/s symmetrical broadband service, IP telephony and video services including 200 channels of television, 16 high-definition channels and video-on-demand. It will charge $89.95 monthly for the full triple-play and $34.95 for broadband alone, competing with Charter Communications and AT&T. CDE said its business plan assumes a 25% penetration of a combination of services.

The first meter was connected in mid-September. One thousand customers are now connected, and CDE is adding about 50 per day. By year’s end, the company hopes to have 7,000 customers connected and available for service. It expects to complete the network, connecting all 55,000 meters, within 18 months.

The planned 865-mile network is based on active Ethernet equipment from WorldWide Packets, which won the contract early this year. CDE evaluated broadband over powerline technologies but considered the independent medium of a separate fiber network to be more reliable. It dismissed passive optical network (PON) technology, the kind deployed by Verizon Communications, on similar grounds, adding that PON would have provided less bandwidth as well. “Active Ethernet, built in redundant rings, creates a reliable system, bar none,” said Stephen Hopkins, the city’s vice president of telecommunications. “It can’t be duplicated in a PON network.”

Clarksville claims to be spending $55 million on the network, or $1000 for each premises it hopes to reach.

Part of that cost is defrayed by the benefits the network serves for the utility’s electricity business. CDE intends to use the network to regularly monitor its customers’ electric meters, which will allow it to rely less on human meter-readers. On any given day, CDE employs 15 people to read meters, a staff the company won’t need with a fiber network in place. “We can read all these meters every 15 minutes, every day,” Hopkins said.

The network will also alert CDE immediately to power outages on a house-by-house basis and allow customers to shift the time of the month when they pay their bills.

However, while CDE will be able to shed its meter-reading staff, it plans to hire about 20 full-time workers to help offer triple-play services.

Clarksville isn’t the only city in the state rolling out fiber. Jackson’s energy utility has done the same, with plans to reach some 35,000 customers, and others are considering similar moves. All were aided by a state law passed in 1999 that allows municipalities to offer retail telecom services.

Clarksville’s project is similar in size to the one pursued by Lafayette Utilities Services in Lafayette, La.