Month: April 2008

WBS: “Why Lafayette Can Be That Shining City on the Hill”

What’s Being Said Department

Geoff Daily over at AppRising has posted a remarkable article, “Lafayette Can Be That Shining City on the Hill.” It’s remarkable for the sympathy and insight that he shows. Enough so that you really ought to go read the whole piece. Go on, I meant it…

But I do want to preserve here the opening and closing bits of the post and briefly comment.

Opening ‘graph:

During my week in Lafayette a message I attempted to leave behind is that building a full fiber network isn’t enough; it’s as, if not more, important to focus on getting the community engaged with the use of broadband.

Closing:

Lafayette is a unique and special community that I can’t wait to continue exploring, but for now I’ll end this coverage with the following charge to the people of Lafayette:

Your community is poised to take a bold step into the 21st century.

But your investment in a new network means nothing if no one uses it.

Your community can become that shining city on the hill for fiber and the use of broadband.

But only if you leverage the strength of your history, culture, and people to make the most of what’s possible.

If done right, Lafayette can guarantee its economic prosperity for the next 100 years.

But it’s going to take hard work to do so, not just building the network but getting the community ready to use it.

Cajuns know that through hard work great things can be achieved.

So set the goal to be great, make the commitment to do what it takes, and anything is possible.

Geoff is exactly right on these points and we’d do well to heed his call.

My small quibble is that by characterizing our place as Cajun he misses the parallel histories of the French, Creoles and Americains in this small area and the role of that admixture in building the unique place for which he clearly holds affection. A trip to some Zydeco haunts and more thorough introduction to the flavors and implications of gumbo can await a return visit.

Cable Vs Fiber

It’s the same all over department…

Cable companies across the country are having to deal with Verizon’s FTTH network and are coming up short. In response to a real fiber network they are trotting out an advertising blitz claiming that they have a fiber network too. This is, of course, a blatant attempt to mislead. Verizon’s advantage lies in the fact that it carries the fiber that every (every) carrier has in the backbone all the way, all the way to the home.

According to multichannel news the strategy is widespread:

[Verizon exec] Walls said cable providers confuse consumers with their claims to fiber architecture. As examples, he cited commercials from Cox Communications (an animated spot that asserts the phone companies are a decade behind Cox as far as fiber investment) and Cablevision Systems (the voiceover states that “they’re” talking about fiber but “a lot of their network isn’t”).

Cable’s claims to a fiber network on par with that being built by Verizon is “like saying a Volkswagen and a [Rolls-Royce] are the same because they both have tires,” he said.”

Now Verizon is suing…

Verizon Communications filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against Time Warner Cable, alleging the cable operator’s TV ads make “blatantly false” statements about its FiOS services in an attempt to dissuade customers from switching.

It would be good if the courts would find that such advertising is an attempt to deceive the consumer and hence illegal. It is certainly nice that Verizon, with legions of legal staff to rival AT&T’s, were to establish this for all the EATels and LUSs of the country.

Without such a finding expect the same sort of advertising here…in about 9 months.

Humor: Cox, Eatel, & LUS

Kevin Blanchard does his usual exemplary job of capturing the little ironies and quirks that make following the news so interesting.

In this morning’s story on yesterday’s big TechSouth Governor’s award luncheon he covers the highlights of the event. If you’d like to find out more about the technology behind LITE and how BP uses in oil exploration the story is a great starting point. Our own Ramesh Kolluru comes in for well-deserved praise as well.

But if, like me, you’re starved for a little knowing smile skip down to the end and read the bit about EATEL winning its Governor’s award for best “Technology Company of the Year.”

And just so you don’t have to even click for your smile:

Gonzales-based EATEL was presented the Technology Company of the Year for its phone, cable and high-speed Internet service delivered over an entirely fiber-optic network.

EATEL President Robert Burgess thanked Cox Communications — a major sponsor of TechSouth — for its “formidable” competition.

“Because of (Cox’s) size, capability and market strength they force us to be at the top of our game every day,” Burgess said.

That competition has “helped” EATEL succeed, Burgess said.

Burgess than made a joking reference to Lafayette Utilities System’s fiber-optic based telecommunications service, expected to start up early next year — also in competition with Cox — saying he’s sure LUS would appreciate some help.

“We’ve had more than enough assistance,” Burgess said, drawing laughter from the audience, which included LUS and Cox officials.

“Please, any attention you give to us, please give it to (LUS),” Burgess said.

What Kevin does not have to say out loud is that lead sponsor Cox (with its name on every piece of promotion and occupying the suite of booths spanning the entrance to the affair) has recently been locked in an unusually public and expensive battle with EATEL. Cox is offering a super special that amounts to a 12 month 50% discount on its triple play package (with HBO!) but is only advertising it in the small area south of Baton Rouge where local telco EATEL is eating market share with the same FTTH technology for which they were receiving the technology award.

That’s rich.

EATEL, as faithful readers of this blog will know, responded by taking out a series of full-page ads in the Lafayette Daily Advertiser which promoted, in vivid red and black, the deal in Lafayette as well. Louisiana law forces Cox to make the deal available throughout its service area but does not force it to promote it as evenly. So EATEL stepped up to “help” Cox out. So, on EATEL’s account the two companies are engaged in an exchange of “favors.” (That’s rich, too.) After an initial confusion among Cox’s operators, who initially denied the price reduction was available in Lafayette, the company trimmed its sails and made the best of a bad matter by allowing Lafayette residents in on the deal. Lafayette is a much larger market than East Ascension parish and extending the deal to Lafayette surely makes the attempt quash little EATEL with long-term price specials MUCH more expensive.

(Wanna know how you can get in on the deal? As a little fillup you’ll be using a unified technology whose protocols will be similar to LUS’ even if the capacity of LUS underlying infrastructure is vastly larger. After you get used to an all-IP household you can flip over to LUS’ faster, locally-owned version. The Cox deal does not require a contract but is guaranteed for 12 months.)

/irk on/
As a little added fillip: Cox is sensitive on this matter—I wandered by the Cox booth at TechSouth (they give great floor prizes) and one of their booth guys struck up a conversation trying to encourage me to try Cox. I told him I already had cable and internet from them. He switched to urging me to try their VOIP. I couldn’t resist at that point. I told him I was considering the “half-off” deal advertised in paper. 😉 He paled a little (though that might be my imagination) and said it was a good deal. As it is. But he then overreached by claiming that Cox had always intended to offer it to everyone. That it was only being “test-marketed” over there. Now that is just plain silly—and insulting. It was no accident that it was being offered in the only place in this market that Cox currently faces a local, FTTH-based competition. By all accounts EATEL is gaing substantial market share. I tried to point that out and that offering that large a reduction for 12 months had to be a bit more than a casual promotion. He countered by saying that Cox had done it elsewhere. I scoffed. He said he’d been working for Cox in Northern Virginia where they did the same. I doubt he expected anyone in little ole Lafayette to smile and point out that this proved my point about fiber competition—that is where Verizon’s Fios FTTH network is going head to head with cablecos and is producing some of the highest speeds in the country. It’s fiber taking market share, I said, that caused the long-term “specials” in both places. He wouldn’t back off the company talking point that it was all just normal marketing and that it was just a coincidence that his company offered a 50% reduction in the one small place where they had fiber competition—and, oh yes, where they compete with fiber in Virginia. By the end I actually was insulted…Cox is, as EATEL says, a formidable competitor. They are shaping up to be the Verizon of cablecos—willing to really invest in the future of their network even at the cost of today’s profits. That’s both impressive and worthy. But their Achilles heal is their contempt for their communities, their customers, and even for individuals who walk up and talk to a representative at a trade fair. They need to learn how to be honest with folks. It’ll go much further than hype, FUD and self-serving dishonesty.
/irk off/

Post Scriptum:
Blanchard is setting down his pen soon to go back to school and change professions. I, for one, will miss him and gently intelligent toss-off articles like this one.

The Bile Rises

Astonishing, Abusive — and in the cable industry they give prizes in “internal communications” (!) for this:

I Can Make a Difference!

Cox Communications, Inc.

Baton Rouge, LA

In launching the Cox Advocacy Network (CAN), Cox Greater Louisiana saw a unique opportunity to motivate and educate employees about how elected officials affect their business on a personal level by using three tools ” All-Employee Meetings, Voter Registration Drive and Email Campaign. Through the All-Employee Meetings, a huge audience learned about what CAN is, how it works and heard first-hand from legislators how effective it can be. Many employees were able to vote in 2007 elections that otherwise would not have been able to. Employees were kept well informed of legislative activity and election information. Lawmakers want to hear from their constituents, and employees learned “I CAN make a difference!”

So they line everybody up in a room an feed ’em the company line and try and turn citizens into Cox lobbyists.

They pay their real lobbyists much better.

They tried this silliness in Lafayette (both Cox and BS) and it didn’t work — BellSouth’s (now AT&T) compulsory meetings of Cingular employees were regarded with particular contempt by the “participants.”

There is no such thing as a corporate citizen. And stuff like this makes it clear.

Geoff Daily Itinerary

I talked with Geoff Daily, of killerapp.com and forthright fiber advocate, and have secured his Lafayette speaking itinerary for the next couple of days. (His social itinerary included a trip to the Blue Moon, as he details on his most recent Lafayette-centric blog post.)

Tuesday @ 9:00 @ techSouth booth 49 — “Ask the Experts” Booth – A discussion of apps for business that utilize broadband; will tailor content for audience.

Tuesday @ aprox. 5:30 @ City-Parish Council – On the significance of our new fiber network, charge to embrace the possibilities it introduces

Wednesday @ 10:30 @ techSouth booth 49 — “Ask the Experts” Booth – A discussion of apps for business that utilize broadband; will tailor content for audience.

Wednesday @ 2:30 @ techSouth’s Sesame booth – Will discuss Fiber around the world; an appropriate topic for that group. (Sesame is a world-wide consortium of “mid-size” cities (cough) that is meeting this year in Lafayette and focusing on IT issues and development.) I attended a Sesame session at the University this morning that featured all of UL’s hotest tech projects. Amazing how impressive UL and Lafayette sounds when you line it up from Cajunbot, to LITE affiliated 3-D projects, to “serious gaming.” And nobody even talked about the new energy efficient residential home project the architecture folks are undertaking much less a little FTTH project.

And there may be one more…stay tuned.

TechSouth 2008

TechSouth starts up tomorrow and is Lafayette’s premier tech event. If the intersection of new technology and Lafayette interests you, you really should attend.

The usually interesting seminars appear to have been dropped this year in favor of visiting with experts at two “ask the experts” booths on the floor of the exhibition area. Of particular interest will be Geoff Daily of killerapp.com who’ll be available to talk about how to “use our new high bandwidth broadband service.” Go talk fiber with a national advocate. (He’s shown a lot of interest in Lafayette.)

The local players are out in force as exhibitors–you can talk to folks from the three major telecom companies serving up retail in Lafayette (Cox, AT&T & LUS–Cox is the prime sponsor). Other local media (a bit of a surprise) and local tech companies (from Abacus to WOW) will also be in attendance. With LUS having already committed its construction monies the flock of national companies we had been seeing are not in attendance this year.

The website is classy but thin….the floor is where the interest will be. Wander around. Talk to folks.

It is worth your while.

LUS Fiber Construction Map

Latest: aerial fiber 1/3/08 at South Magnolia & 12th st.


View Larger Map

Pins on this map locate sightings of construction on the Lafayette community’s new fiber-optic system.

This is a publicly editable, collaborative map. You are encouraged to add your own sightings to the map. Please!

Click on “View Larger Map” to go to a page that will allow you to put your own pin on the map.

(You can bookmark this map using this post’s permanent URL or Googles’ map URL)

—The obvious disclaimer: this publicly editable map is neither official nor complete nor guaranteed to be accurate 🙂 (It is only as accurate as its users. If you want to “fix” it you can; that’s the idea.)

HISTORY: Originally posted: 1/18/08, Updates: 1/24/08, 2/08/08, 2/28/08, 3/14/08, 4/3/08….

Aerial Fiber Being Installed

Aerial Fiber is now being installed in the McComb neighborhood! My neighborhood! If your electricity is on poles you should start looking for a boom truck and a truck pulling a large spool of fiber.

Lafayette’s fiber is being installed both aerially (on poles) and underground—depending on how your electricity is delivered. This is the first aerial fiber to go up. Unlike the underground installation, aerial fiber moves along pretty quick and leaves little sign of its installation. So if the truck comes through while you are away or at work you may not immediately realize it.

If, like me, you are eager to confirm the presence of fiber along your street, there are some things to look for.

The first sign will be a door-hanger on your front door. In my case a nice guy from Electric.com came by last week and generously agreed to chat for awhile. The fiber in our neighborhood will be the first aerial fiber in the city. They’ve apparently had some problems getting the materials together to start hanging the fiber but are now starting to ramp up with one crew at first to get the technique down and work out kinks. Next week another crew will come online.

A boom truck (This one was at the corner of 12th and Magnolia.)

A huge spool of Fiber

The LUS Fiber logo will be on the trucks, along with “Electric.com” (the subcontractors) or “Atlantic Engineering” (the engineers).

But if you miss them—or want to go cruising around looking for the nearest fiber—the thing to look for is is the unique fiber attaching devices on the poles. While the fiber itself is just another black wire the attachments look like nothing else. There are two styles: running pieces and pieces that turn a curve, usually at a corner. Both are designed as they are, I presume, to make sure that the fiber isn’t allowed to bend sharply enough to damage the glass fibers inside.


Here’s what’ll happen when the crews show up: They’ll run down the street putting the hardware in place, come back and run the fiber through the connectors and tighten up the line, and, finally, make another run and push the rubber cushions into the connectors.

Then its time for you to wait, impatiently, until they come by your house to drop a line to the side of your home and install the electronics box on the wall.

It’s coming…

AT&T to Deploy FTTH

This is a slightly edited version of the story from Benoit Felten’s inestimateable fiberevolution blog; it is worth reproducing in full. Don’t stop before you get to the phrase “a little known city in South Louisiana that has shown a lot of interest Fiber To The Home.” Say what?

You’ve probably read the news already, it’s all over the place, but in a surprise move, AT&T the largest telecom company in the US has announced a 6-year FTTH deployment plan with the aim to cover 95 to 99% of its customer base by 2014.

This is all the more surprising because, so far, AT&T appeared very reluctant to move into that space. I [Felten] was lucky enough to be able to speak with a top executive at AT&T which I am unfortunately not allowed to name. Here’s a short transcript of the interview. There may be inaccuracies due to my difficulty in understanding Texas accents. I have also edited strong language to avoid shocking any readers:

Benoit: X, this is a surprising move. AT&T had previously announced that they were waiting for the regulatory environment artound FTTH to be clarified before they would invest. What made you change your mind ?
X: Well, first of all, everybody’s doing it, right? We’re looking like a right bunch of sh*theads, with the US falling behind and all those Frenchies and [Japanese].
Benoit: Surely that’s not enough to convince the investors though…
X: F*ck the investors! The tyranny of investors is over. We have an old, and frankly decrepit access network, it needs upgrading, we might as well do it with a future proof technology, right? The investors will be grateful someday, until then..F*ck ’em.
Benoit: Uh, That is very bold indeed. So, in your business model, how long does it take to pay back?
X: Well, depending on the hypothesis, between 3 and 25 years. But who cares ? If we go bust the government will buy us out, just like they did with Bear Stearns!
Benoit: Which network architecture will you be deploying?
X: Well, they’re all going for PON these days, so we have had long and intense internal debate, but ultimately we chose to deploy Point to Point Ethernet.
Benoit: Why ?
X: The name sounds cooler. “PON” sounds naff, like an 80s video game. PtoP sounds modern, more 2.0, you know! And besides if we want to please the geeks this is what they are all mumbling about over their granola.
Benoit: Last question, which areas will be the first to see this deployment happen and when?
Mr. X: Well, after a lot of collective soul searching, we’ve decided to focus our early deployment efforts on a little known city in South Louisiana that has shown a lot of interest Fiber To The Home. I really can’t say any more at this stage.
Benoit: X, thank you very much!

I will be posting updates as more about this groundbreaking announcement unfolds.

I don’t know what this means……but it sure sounds suspicious.