DO-IT-YOURSELF BROADBAND

The people of Asheville, N.C. — population 66,700 — understood that they needed a robust broadband infrastructure that would attract business. Tobacco farming has become less viable and once-plentiful factory jobs have moved overseas. And companies won't move to a place where they can't get the services they need.

So a coalition of universities and community activist groups identified what they say is a missing piece of their financial puzzle: affordable broadband. And not just consumer-grade DSL or cable modems, but business-class offerings like T-1s and OC-3s.

The people of Asheville envision a select group choosing to live and work in their region because of the pleasant setting (and because of broadband). “We don't see it attracting a large number of industries,” said Cecil Groves, president of Southwestern Community College. “We see a selective group — more back-office service or multimedia-oriented — who choose to live in this setting yet have business contacts worldwide.”

Given the region's size, a network would have to be installed in order for business-grade offerings to be affordable, said Sherri McCuller, executive director of The Institute at Biltmore, one of the groups working on the initiative. The problem is attracting a service provider, especially given the terrain of the Appalachians and a population density of about 45 people per square mile.

Because building a new network is expensive, the coalition opted to subsidize a carrier offering by building a virtual network access point and dark fiber ring. While maintaining ownership of the network, the group hopes to lease out the fiber to a service provider, allowing the carrier to provide business-class services at roughly the same price as what's available in urban areas.

While attracting businesses would bolster the economy, much of the improvement would come from outsiders moving in. Broadband alone won't improve the lives or employability of those laid off from factory jobs.

Local colleges are offering programs that they hope will endow area residents with the skills needed to participate in a knowledge-based economy. Groves' institution, for example, has established IT and e-commerce programs, while another has created a two-year cybercrime program.

“As you might expect, we're doing a lot of training of the existing work force who have been laid off,” Groves said. “The next stage is the bandwidth capacity that would attract employers to the region who would make use of that work force.”