Coquitlam Optical Network Corporation.
The Municipal Optical Network Corporation (QNet) is the owner and operator of a high-count dark fibre optic network infrastructure, centrally located in downtown corridors of the City of Coquitlam. QNet was created to help telecom carriers expand service to the community and provide residents and businesses with Canada’s best broadband service.
By leveraging its investment and expertise in fibre optic infrastructure, the City of Coquitlam's QNet is one of the first municipal corporations in North America to provide access to high-speed services by leasing unlit fibre optic cable. As a carrier neutral, third-party fibre optic network operator, QNet delivers FTTP (fibre to the premises) dedicated dark fibre strands for lease to telecom service providers, government affiliates, and large enterprise customers.
community foresight
In the late 1990s, the City of Coquitlam ordered the construction of a fibre network to manage the flow of vehicle traffic through our community for improved safety and efficiency, and to reduce environmental and financial costs associated with slow and idling vehicles. At the time, the city ordered the laying of additional fibre capacity in anticipation of possible future needs. The future is now.
Next, the City of Coquitlam extended its fibre optic network to link city facilities. Since 2003 the City has “lit” fibre to 15 government buildings to improve the flow of information, ideas, and commerce while further reducing both our annual telecommunications costs and our carbon footprint. This prudent investment is now helping people live, work, and play closer to home. As the first city in North America to launch a dark fibre commercial enterprise, Coquitlam Optical Network Corporation (QNet) will enable knowledge industries to create more jobs, more home-based employment, and more opportunity in our community.
QNet: returning value to the community
The City of Coquitlam created QNet to support local businesses and residents and to offer individuals and companies who locate here a broader choice of telecommunications services. Coquitlam will be able to offer the greatest choice for advanced telecom services of any municipality in Canada via QNet’s affiliated service providers.
QNet’s business model projects profitability as early as 2013 and a significant financial return to the community over the next 30 years. In addition to offering economic return to taxpayers, QNet enhances the quality of life in our community by facilitating telecommuting, telemedicine, distance education, security monitoring, and entertainment options, and by attracting knowledge based, bandwidth intensive industry to Coquitlam.
advantage: QNet
> carrier grade infrastructure—underground,
concrete protected and ringed
> exceptional service level agreement (SLA) for all
clients
> fully serviced, equipped, earthquake proof, and
secure colocation facilities
> transit exchange—access to global peering
networks
> fibre backhaul support structures for wireless
network
> unmatched, flat rate, dark fibre pricing
> leases discounted by 50% for wireless
operators and governmental affiliates
> 3 to 25 year leases
> construction cost waived for 3+ more year
leases
> minimizes upfront capital investment
> a trusted, stable, municipal partner
> QNet service providers are preferred
suppliers for the city’s telecom services
> prime test market for new high-bandwidth
services
> fibre connections directly into commercial and
multi-dwelling unit (MDU) premises
QNet enables telecom service providers the ability to offer new services to more customers with greater speed and less investment and less operational cost.
