Muni fiber networks bounce back

The Burlington Telecom network is similarly disposed to providing open access, Nulty said, but he doesn't believe there will be takers. “Open access is a philosophical or policy matter which I happen to believe in,” he said. “But open access is a bit of a red herring. If you are a municipality and you are providing services directly to the customer — triple-play services — no major provider of triple play is going to try to come in and beat you for your citizens. I couldn't pay Time Warner enough to use our network. Unless you are so awful that people are itching to get away from your services, the idea that major providers are going to use your network doesn't make sense.”

The wholesale model is working in Europe, Scott said. The Swedish city of Vasteras, for example, teamed up with Malar Energy to build an FTTH network that was intended to be open-access from the outset. “They realized they hadn't done all that early marketing to make this work, so they decided to be an ISP for the first year,” he said. “Once they were able to show them the benefits of being on fiber, of a 100-megabit connection, they could encourage private companies to come on board, and today it is a perfect success, with 22 service providers.”

PacketFront also encourages municipalities to consider public/private partnerships and options such as working with a local service provider to build or operate a network, Scott said.

“In the old days, the city was taking all the capital risk, doing the bonding, and we firmly believe there are a lot more different choices, from municipal leases to public/private partnerships to 100% privately funded,” Scott said. “It is not necessary that the city has to take the full risk.”

Berkshire Connect is a volunteer group that initially worked to bring affordable connections to businesses in western Massachusetts by aggregating demand to make it more appealing to private service providers, said Dan Dubendorf, a local attorney who heads the group.

“I have never wanted to fight with the provider community; I have always said we need to find ways to alter the capital equation — if they can earn a return, then they'll invest,” he said.

After months of “going to a lot of meetings, eating a lot of bad chicken dinners,” Dubendorf and Berkshire Connect were able to pull together local hospitals, colleges, businesses and other institutions into a buying group that lured Global Crossing into the area with a broadband wireless solution.

Finding a residential option for an area that includes 32 towns with nothing but dial-up access proved thornier, which is why even a public funding skeptic such as Dubendorf welcomed the $40 million the state of Massachusetts is now willing to pay.