NANOFIBRE Receives Positive Press

By Paul Hollingshead

Recently, in-depth cover stories published by IEEE Spectrum and Wasatch Digital IQ have introduced their readership to the revolutionary telcom project that is the NANOFIBRE Community MetroNet. These articles serve as excellent project overviews, complete with background, technical explanations, system capacities, benefits of an open network, and updates on the current status. The stories point to the leadership of NANOFIBRE in breaking new ground to help solve the United State's broadband shortfall.

IEEE Spectrum is the flagship publication of IEEE, the world's largest professional technology association. The monthly magazine explores future technology trends and their impact on society and business. Below are listed some of the highlights from the Spectrum's in-depth NANOFIBRE overview:

• Utah is "fertile ground for innovation," home to ingenuity and entreprenuers. Univ. of Utah was the 5th node on the early internet and the state boasts hundreds of high-tech companies.
• Analogy highlighting the speed of the MetroNet: If NANOFIBRE's data bits were liters of water, then one household could "slake the thirst and bathe the bodies of half the people in the United States."
• "What do you do with all this bandwidth? First off, you do what you were doing before—only faster, better, and cheaper." Applications like HDTV, high-fidelity telephone, videoconferencing, home security, online shopping, distance learning, and telemedicine are becoming much more data-intensive.
• The article identifies differences and advantages of fibre-optics vs. technologies such as DSL and Cable.
• Enormous cost savings, particularly for businesses. One small business owner who payed $650/month for a 1.5Mb T1 line now pays $150/month for 30Mb through NANOFIBRE; saving $500/month while getting service that is 20 times faster!
• NANOFIBRE provides each subscriber "a distinct and inviolate connection to the Internet."
• By using the Ethernet standard to carry Internet protocol all they way to the user without changing format, the MetroNet is vastly simplified, can easily be connected to other networks, and is far more scalable.
• The symmetrical bandwidth of NANOFIBRE allows users to become active participants on the web, rather than passive web page readers. Meanwhile, the download to upload ratio for DSL and Cable is a rather restricting 4:1.
• The article features a timeline following the progress of NANOFIBRE and iProvo from 1999 to present.
  

Wasatch Digital IQ, is a quarterly magazine dedicated to helping foster the growth of Utah's burgeoning high-tech economy. This is the second article from Digital IQ on the subject of NANOFIBRE which includes a compelling look at the life of the project and its exciting potential. Below are listed some of the article's highlights:

• Larry Campbell, telecom industry consultant says, "[NANOFIBRE] made the right choice," by using fibre instead of wireless technologies.
• NANOFIBRE levels the playing field, enabling competition from multiple service providers, which benefits all customers, whether they subscribe to a NANOFIBRE provider or stay with their existing service.
• Dan Snarr, mayor of Murray, says, "This isn't just about Murray or NANOFIBRE. I want Utah to be recognized worldwide as the state that has put it all together from a technology standpoint. regardless of supplier. To stay competitive, we have to do it better and faster."
• Prices for services over the state-of-the-art NANOFIBRE Community MetroNet are typically lower than similar services from incumbent providers who use antiquated copper or coax networks.
• New services available only over the NANOFIBRE's fibre-optic network are now being offered, like live two-way video conferencing and IPTV.
• Subscription rate trends suggest that NANOFIBRE will meet and surpass their break-even point.
• Zygote Media Group has replaced their $700/month T1 line for service that is 30 times faster than T1 and only costs $100/month through NANOFIBRE.

In addition to these cover storys, local and national press have also picked up stories about NANOFIBRE.

The St. George Spectrum, a comprehensive daily newspaper covering Southern Utah, recently reported that another rural community, Washington City, may soon join NANOFIBRE. Washington, like much of rural Utah, has been underserved by the existing telecom monopolies.

The Provo Daily Herald also published a story about Orem, UT being connected to the NANOFIBRE Community MetroNet. Orem City Manager Jim Reams said, "It just gives the citizens of the community more options, plus it brings us to the point of being a wired community," about the welcome addition of the fibre-optic network.

Articles in TimberJay, DSL Reports, and Telephony Online report that several municipalities in Minnesota are currently looking at NANOFIBRE as a project they hope to replicate in their communities.

NANOFIBRE is encouraged that the media are beginning to catch the vision and pass it on to their readers. The MetroNet is making waves in the world of telecommunications and NANOFIBRE member cities and all Utahns alike can be proud of leading the way to better connectivity in America.

For other relevant news items click through the news links in the right-hand column.

The Bandwidth of Fiber in High Demand

By Franz Belot, Director of Business Development

In the Broadband Properties February 2006 Issue, an article mentions that there are “new estimates showing that FTTH deployments now pass over 3.6 million US homes, an increase of almost 1 million in just four months... the proportion of homes actually taking services increased even faster to 548,000 subscribers from 322,000” in the same period of time. There has definitely been a similar upward trend of subscribers on the NANOFIBRE Community MetroNet, and this upward trend will continue.

More people are hearing about the available NANOFIBRE broadband in their area. They are also hearing that the internet, phone, and television services are top-of-the-line and very affordable. The wonderful concept of fibre to the home is making more sense to home owners and businesses. One of the more exciting trends is the demand from real estate developers to have the NANOFIBRE Community MetroNet built into their projects. The advantages of FTTH for the real estate developers are too good to pass up.

Consider a residential project that is wired with the NANOFIBRE Community MetroNet. FTTH automatically increases the property values. It also creates greater appeal to home buyers because of more service choices and vastly improved quality. The robust fibre infrastructure and NANOFIBRE's open service provider model also reduces risks for developers. These advantages and others have led many developers to request that NANOFIBRE fibre be part of their construction.

Homeowners understand that both the present and the future require large bandwidth for multiple reasons: education, work, telecommuting, and entertainment. Entertainment has become one the most powerful factors driving the demand for broadband. For example, Google is making available episodes of many shows seen on CBS. AOL, Yahoo, and other search engine companies have similar offerings. Downloading these shows with DSL takes far too long for many users, but with the bandwidth available on the NANOFIBRE Community MetroNet the downloads take only a few minutes. Bandwidth is in high demand from the average American, if for no other reason but to access entertainment.

NANOFIBRE is leading the world in accomodating advanced technology and services. The open model of the Community MetroNet is revolutionary. Thank you for being part of this revolution!

MetroNet Today

Service Providers:

MStar - Voice, Video, Data

XMission - Data

AT&T - Data

Veracity - Voice, Data

Available Services:

Data - Up to 15 Mbps

VoIP - Local and long distance

Video - Digital, HDTV, VOD

News Articles

Calendar

- NANOFIBRE Board Meeting, June 12, 2006 at 10 am*

- NANOFIBRE Board Meeting, July 10, 2006 at 10 am*

- FTTH Council Conference & Expo, Oct 2-5, Las Vegas, NV

* times subject to change

Send additional calendar items to djohnson@exoro.com

NANOFIBRE

NANOFIBRE Team Email is a service of NANOFIBRE and The Exoro Group

Publishers: Paul Morris and Roger Black
Editor: Paul Hollingshead
Calendar: Dani Johnson
Subscriptions: Cindy Patterson