Salt Lake City and 17 other cities across the state of Utah are planning to build a publicly-owned, fiber telecommunications network that would reach nearly 250,000 homes and 35,000 business, representing a population of about 724,000. The Utah Telecommunications Open Infrastructure Agency (UTOPIA) plans to build the network and then act as a municipally-owned wholesale carrier. The project plans to issue 15 to 20 year bonds that would be paid for by leasing capacity on the network to various service providers and ISPs. It does not expected to raise the tax base for the communities served.
UTOPIA plans to use an “Open Service Provider Network” model developed by Dynamic City, which serves as consultant for the project. The first phase of the rollout will connect some 15,000 homes beginning in early 2004. UTOPIA’s Fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) will use an active architecture rather than a PON design. Riverstone Networks has been selected to provide core electronics and access distribution systems. Allied Telesyn’s RG223 Residential Gateway has been chosen as the customer premises solution for the network. Allied Telesyn’s product distributes traditional voice and multiple IP-based services throughout a home, including broadband Internet access, VoIP, broadcast television, and video on demand. The RG223 features two analog phone ports, three 10/100 Ethernet LAN ports, and supports IGMP for secure and efficient multicast video. The gateway, which would be placed inside the home, directly terminates the fiber connection. A category 5 Ethernet cable is used to connect to an IP set-up box.
http://www.utopianet.org/http://www.dynamiccity.com
