Technologies such as high speed fibre optics, video conferencing, email and the Internet are redefining the way people work, play, collaborate and communicate in the new global economy. Traditional business and economic development strategies targeting local job creation must now encompass virtual workplace and an understanding that in today’s world, a home based business may be operated entirely from a portable wireless device in the nearest coffee shop.
Just as road, rail and air transportation changed the way goods and services were delivered in the last century, fibre optic and wireless networks are changing the way goods are procured and services are delivered in this century. Therefore, if a city’s transportation network was a key enabler of economic development in the past, the telecommunications network is a key enabler of economic development in the future.
One of the first cities in Canada to adapt to this new paradigm, the City of Coquitlam in British Columbia is launching a municipal corporation designed to enhance the delivery of high speed telecom services in this thriving metro-Vancouver community of 120,000 residents. Leveraging the City’s existing fifty kilometres of arterial fibre optic cabling with over a thousand strands of available capacity, the Coquitlam Optical Network Corporation (QNet) provides low cost dark fibre connections between telecom service providers and business or residential consumers in the City. Not only does QNet provide the arterial fibre or “middle mile” portion, but it also addresses “first mile” and “last mile” connectivity challenges, both of which are barriers to competition in almost every Canadian City.
To solve the “first mile” challenge, telecom service providers are given free access to state-of-the-art telecom transit exchange facilities where they can co-locate active equipment and patch into the City’s fibre network. The “last mile” challenge is addressed by extending the fibre network into consumer premises (e.g. businesses, business malls and multiple-dwelling residential complexes) on the basis of signed fibre leases with the service providers or consumers. The City also plans to enable a mesh wireless network to be deployed over the supporting fibre optic foundation.
Service providers are keen to sign on to the business model because the City only offers carrier grade, dark fibre connections, allowing the carriers to light up the cable and use it as they wish. And by sticking to a dark fibre only strategy, the City is building on its core competency in deploying and maintaining underground infrastructure in City “rights-of-way”. Because the primary goal is to enable competition in order to enhance economic and community growth, prices are kept simple and low and contract terms are negotiable.
Just as the City’s transportation network allows for the free movement of goods and services in the community, the City’s fibre optic network is designed to enable the unrestricted delivery of high speed telecom services in the community. By attracting more technology based jobs to the City and enabling virtual workplace and home based businesses, the City hopes to improve quality of life for its citizens. Giving its citizens local employment alternatives, not only gives them more quality time to spend with their families, but also reduces automotive use and the resulting pollution. And as a “gateway to Asia” community, QNet positions Coquitlam businesses and residents to take full advantage of the new global economy.
