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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000-02-02 Agenda Packet - Board (4) TDPUD STAFF REPORT TO: Board of Directors FROM: Alan Harry, Director of Telecommunication Services SUBJECT: Ashland Fiber Network, a division of Ashland Electric Utilities DATE: January 28, 2000 AGENDA # In late October of this year I had the opportunity to attend American Public Power Association's annual Telecommunications Conference. A highlight of this year's Conference was a session presented by Mr. Peter Lovrovich, Director, Ashland Electric and Telecommunications Utilities. At that time Mr. Lovrovich described the history of the Ashland Fiber Network(AFN), why it was built, and their plans for the future. Attached please find information regarding AFN for your review. Recently, your Board directed staff to contact Mr. Lovrovich requesting that he attend a future meeting and speak on the Ashland"Experience". As such,we have made arrangements with Mr. Lovrovich to speak at your regular meeting of February 2, 2000. As noted on your Agenda,we have scheduled Mr. Lovrovich's presentation to begin at 8:30 PM. This has been done at the request of Board Member Maass,who will be returning from APPA's annual Washington D.C. legislative session that evening. ashland fiber network as t y . i' Television.fifi ' INTERNET welAFN d AFN TELEVISION Ashland Fiber Network (AFN) is AFN DATA changing everything... ' L. NODE MAP The way we do business... MEDIA KIT The way we use our computers... COMMITTEES The way we watch TV... INFO LINKS The way we learn... t it UPDATE The way we communicate with FAQ the world. HISTORY CONTACT US AFN is not just the fastest internet connection around. It's not simply an alternative to click to view THE CITY OF traditional cable TV service. AFN ASHLAND is an exciting opportunity for all of us to go from Ashland to anywhere. i The fiber optic rings that weave through the city's neighborhoods are unlike any other system in Oregon. It's so revolutionary, software companies are scrambling to create state-of-the-art products to make use of our network's capabilities. A network that will provide us with incredible speed, unquestioned reliability, competitive pricing... and unlimited possibilities. AFN is one of a kind... just like the City of Ashland. �� This site was designed by Project A,Inc. If you have questions regarding the site,Please contact the webmaster. http://www.ashlandfiber.net/ 01/28/2000 ashland fiber network Background • AFN was first considered in 1996 because of the possible impact of two pieces of legislation: 1) The Telecommunications Act of 1996, designed to promote competition in the telecommunications industry opened the door for the City to offer telecommunications services to the community. 2) Legislation to deregulate the electric utilities industry, which is likely to pass, means the City needs to be prepared to compete with other utility companies. • In 1997 Council adopted the goal of building a Fiber Optic ring in Ashland with an initial focus on improving utility efficiency, such as automated meter reading, load control, substation management, outage detection and more. • City staff researched other communities that provide telecommunication services including Glasgow, Kentucky and Cedar Falls, Iowa. Most recently staff visited Tacoma WA, which has built a telecommunication utility and is beginning to provide services. • In 1998 the City council approved the telecommunications business plan, prepared by R.W. Beck. • In February of 1999 high-speed data, the first of three AFN consumer services, was made available to those businesses needing large amounts of bandwidth. Cable modem internet access and cable television will be offered within the year. • In April of 1999, city staff began meeting with interested Internet Service Providers (ISP) to determine that best ways to provide open access to the internet using AFN and existing ISP. (Currently five local ISPs have signed contracts with AFN.) The cost of implementing the Ashland Fiber Network is estimated at$5 million. An inter-department loan from electric utility revenues will cover initial costs for the project. Additional costs will be financed through revenue bonds and paid for by the users of AFN. ashland fiber network Contact Sheet Ashland Fiber Network 90 North Mountain Avenue Ashland, OR 97520 (541) 552-2222 Mike Freeman Economic Development 552-0000 Richard Holbo Technology/AFN Data 552-2308 Pete Lovrovich Technology/AFN Infrastructure 552-2306 Ann Seltzer Marketing/AFN Services 552-2106 Michael Ainsworth/Vince Zauskey Television Programming Committee 552-2312 ashiand fitter network Frequently Asked Questions WHAT IS AFN? AFN is a fiber optic ring that weaves through the city's neighborhoods. The fiber originates from the "HeadEnd"-which is the brains of the system. The HeadEnd receives television signals from our satellite feed, and provides the connection for high speed Internet and data. After traveling through the fiber optic ring, this information and technology will be delivered through a fiber or coaxial cable connected directly to customers' homes or businesses. AFN Internet and AFN Data users will be connected to the world wide web through the region's Point-of-Presence(POP) router-which will allow you to surf the web and use the internet to connect to the local or national ISP (Internet Service Provider) of your choice. WHO CAN USE AFN? AFN is for everybody in Ashland. And you don't have to be a technology expert to benefit from it. AFN will not only provide high speed intemet connections and a real choice in television service — it promises to strengthen our close-knit community even further through added services and the innovative communication it will bring. WHEN CAN I GET IT? Ashland Fiber Network will be tumed-on in phases — from neighborhood to neighborhood — as the system of fiber rings is built. The first neighborhood is to be activated sometime this summer. HOW CAN I SIGN UP? Prior to your neighborhood being "turned on," the City of Ashland will place advertisements as well as send an announcement directly to your home with the details of the service and how you can get hooked up. Or check our website at www.Ashlandfiber.net for further updates. Residents can get their names on an "Early Sign Up List" by contacting Ashland Fiber Network or by visiting our website, or call 552-2222. WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL? The fiber optic ring and series of neighborhood are unlike any other system in Oregon. It's so revolutionary, software companies are scrambling to create state-of-the-art products to make use of our network's capabilities. AFN is a network that will provide Ashland with incredible speed, unquestioned reliability, competitive pricing and unlimited possibilities. In addition to having access to state-of-the-art technology, the other benefit is that AFN provides our community with real choice in internet and television service. WHAT WILL IT DO FOR ASHLAND? It will allow us to compete in the global market place! With AFN, Ashland's growing high-tech community will be able to remain competitive with urban areas like Eugene, Portland, Seattle and San Francisco. Plus, the City will be able to attract high tech businesses not otherwise likely to relocate to Ashland, and allow existing businesses to tap new international markets. WILL WE GET THE COMEDY CHANNEL? Yes! Comedy Central is part of our Tier 3 line-up. SHOULD THE PUBLIC SECTOR COMPETE WITH THE PRIVATE SECTOR? A precedent has already been set in the electric utility industry. Some communities in Oregon provide electric utilities, and rates in those communities are significantly less than areas served by the private utility sector. Ashland's utility rates are less than surrounding communities where electric services are provided by the private sector. Currently, high-speed data services are offered only in metropolitan areas. This puts us at a competitive disadvantage with these areas. AFN brings high speed data services and a choice for cable TV to Ashland. CAN I STILL GET FALCON CABLE? Yes. Ashland Fiber Network offers residents of Ashland a choice in television service. You choose the service that best fits your needs and budget. CAN I KEEP MY E-MAIL ADDRESS? AFN's open network approach will ensure that users of AFN for Internet will be free to use the ISP of their choice and retain their e-mail address as they choose. CAN I STILL USE MY CURRENT ISP? Ashland Fiber Network is currently establishing partnerships with many local ISPs to offer the best service and prices possible to Ashland residents. WHAT EQUIPMENT DO I NEED? Users of AFN Internet will need to rent or purchase a cable modem to take advantage of the high speeds offered through our service. Cable modems are the connection point between your computer and the coaxial cable in your home that supplies the AFN service. AFN Internet users will also need an Ethernet card installed in their computer. This is a simple procedure that can be done by a professional or the computer owner, depending on their level of expertise. AFN is currently testing cable modems to determine which is best for our system. For more details, contact an AFN Certified ISP. HOW WILL THEY HOOK AFN UP TO MY HOUSE? Connecting AFN services to your home is a simple procedure — much like installing traditional cable television. Co-axial cable is connected to the fiber and then brought to your home. DO I NEED TO BUY A NEW COMPUTER? For details, contact an AFN Certified ISP. HOW DOES IT COMPARE TO OTHER INTERNET SERVICES? AFN Internet offers download speeds of 3-5 Mbps — compared with 56,000 bits per second for around $15 a month. CAN I COMMUNICATE WITH PEOPLE WHO AREN'T ON THE ASHLAND FIBER NETWORK? Certainly. You can e-mail friends and visit chat rooms just as ,you did before only at much higher speeds. ashland fiber network Ashland Fiber Network Facts Ashland Fiber Network (AFN), a fiber optic ring that weaves through the city's neighborhoods, is unlike any other system in the country. It's so revolutionary, software companies are scrambling to create state-of-the-art products to make use of our network's capabilities. The AFN network will provide us with incredible speed, unquestioned reliability and competitive pricing for years to come. AFN offers three innovative products: 1. AFN DATA AFN's high speed data service is currently available to businesses and institutions that require a large amount of bandwidth. AFN Data offers high speed data connections at either 10 Mbps or 100 Mbps utilizing a direct fiber link. Customers are connected to the AFN Data network via en Ethernet drop to your business. Our service does not require a router or other expensive data translation device, as would a T-1 or SONET connection. 2. AFN INTERNET Arriving to the first neighborhoods summer 1999, AFN Internet provides high speed connections to the internet — with connection speeds of 3-5 Mbps through a cable modem.This service is available to both residential and businesses customers, who don't need the larger bandwidths available with AFN Data. There is no phone line required with AFN Internet. With AFN Internet,customers are able to download a 3.5MB file in about 1 second, compared with a 56.6K modem that would take nearly 8 minutes. (With a clear connection and computer that can accept data that fast.) 3. AFN TELEVISION With AFN Television, Ashland residents have a choice in television service. Scheduled to arrive simultaneously with AFN Internet, it offers an extensive channel line-up at competitive prices. A committee made-up of local residents determined AFN Televisions channel options and services. Timeline AFN Data is currently available to businesses with larger bandwidth requirements. AFN Internet and AFN Television are scheduled to be offered in the first neighborhoods sometime this summer. AFN Internet and AFN Television will be turned-on simultaneously in phases — from neighborhood to neighborhood — as the system of fiber rings is built. Our goal is to build out multiple neighborhoods (or nodes) at a time. See our zoeb site at mwzo.Ashlandfiber.net for more the latest information about AFN. ashland fiber network Points to Remember Supports State Strategic Plan • AFN meets the intent of the State's strategic plan, Oregon Shines II, which recognizes the benefit to the State of having high technology jobs and a technology based economy. • SB 994 was passed by the State Legislature in 1995 creating the Oregon Telecommunication Forum Council. The Governor appointed members of the Council. Participants in the Council work to ensure affordable access to telecommunications solutions for all Oregon communities and the utilization of telecommunications in the service of economic development, education, health care, government services and civic involvement. • AFN will provide affordable access to Ashland citizens and businesses. Supports Rural Economic Development • AFN provides a means for existing Ashland businesses to compete in the global economy via high-speed data services. • The availability of high-speed data services will allow the City to attract new businesses, which in turn, create new employment opportunities. Advanced telecommunications services are traditionally available only in metropolitan areas and are provided by private companies. These companies have not invested these systems in smaller cities or rural areas. The Need • Ashland's current economy is based on tourism and higher education. These industries will always remain critical to Ashland, however, they provide few new employment opportunities and tourism offers primarily lower wage jobs. • With a telecommunication infrastructure, the City will be able to attract high tech businesses not otherwise likely to relocate to Ashland. • Without an advanced telecommunication infrastructure, Ashland's growing high-tech community will be unable to remain competitive with urban areas like Eugene, Portland, Seattle and San Francisco, which will have advanced telecommunication facilities. Should the public sector compete with the private sector? • A precedent has already been set in the electric utility industry. Some communities in Oregon provide electric utilities, and rates in those communities are significantly less than areas served by the private utility sector. Ashland's utility rates are less than surrounding communities where electric services are provided by the private sector. • Other municipalities in the U.S. have successfully entered the telecommunications arena. • High speed data services are offered only in metropolitan areas. This puts us at a competitive disadvantage with these areas. There was no high-speed data service offered in Ashland. (points to remember continued) Summary of Public Process • A Strategic Steering and Technical Advisory Committee of twelve members was formed to assist with the project. After several meetings, the committee recommended that Council proceed with the project. • The committee initiated public notice of its meetings, videotaped guest presentations, designed and wrote an information brochure for the public describing the benefits of AFN. • Two open houses were held for citizens to view the proposed services that AFN will provide: More than 600 people attended. • Numerous public meetings and opportunities were held so community members could give input. Telecommunications infrastructure has been described as one of the defining elements that will determine the future economic success of our nation. t,. ashland fiber network Certified AFN Internet Service Providers Computer Country Internet Service Phone: 772-2170 1930 Table Rock Road Fax: 772-5926 Medford, OR 97501 Email: support@country.net InfoStructure Phone:488-1962 611 Siskiyou Blvd. Suite 2 Fax: 488-7599 Ashland, OR 97520 Email: afn@mind.net JEFFNET Phone: 552-8215 1250 Siskiyou Blvd. Fax: 552-8565 Ashland, OR 97520 Email: accounts@jeffnet.org Open Door Networks Inc. Phone:488-4127 110 South Laurel Street Fax: 488-1708 Ashland, OR 97520 Email: info@opendoor.com Project A Phone:488-1702 340 A Street Fax: 488-1851 Ashland, OR 97520 Email: jim@projecta.com The above Internet Service Providers(ISPs)are certified to provide AFN high-speed Internet access to the citizens of Ashland.They have all agreed to meet the requirements established by Ashland Fiber Network,including but not limited to supplying the cable modem and Ethernet card necessary to connect the customer to the network.They may supply the modem through leasing, direct sale or third part vendors at their discretion.Customers must meet the hardware and credit/payment requirements of the ISP. ISPs will publish their rates for Internet connection in a manner that allows accurate comparisons for like services from different ISPs. ashlandfiber network Pricing Information AFN Internet With AFN Internet, customers can connect at speeds that before now were on1_v available to businesses at thousands of dollars a month. Residents of Ashland will save even more because they won't have to pay for a second phone line for intemet connections. Two levels of service are available with AFN Internet. Business service includes a number of fixed IP addresses and a preferred level of service. Residential service offers dynamically assigned IP addresses. AFN Certified ISPs have more details on which service is best for each customer and associated costs. AFN Television AFN Television offers more channels for less money. With a combined total of 64 channels and 45 music channels on Tiers 1-3, AFN Television offers exactly what Ashland has been looking for—choice! Premium Service packages offer more entertainment . Tier I $6.90 per month Tier II $10.65 per month Tier 111 $26.15 per month Tier IV $34.52 per month STARZ Package $8.37 extra per month HBO/Showtime Package $11.53 extra per month Call 552-2222 for details on Pay-Per-View pricing. Rates, as shown for each level of service, approved by the Ashland City Council on June 15, 1999, include franchise fees and any additional fees. Channel line-up and tiering of services subject to change. AFN Data Pricing for AFN Data is as follows, depending on the routeable IP address space provided. Prices are listed on a per month basis. 16 IP Addresses —$651 for 10 Mbps or$1,364 for 100 Mbps 32 IP Addresses —$682 for 10 Mbps or$1,488 for 100 Mbps 64 IP Addresses —$713 for 10 Mbps or$1,612 for 100 Mbps 128 IP Addresses—$744 for 10 Mbps or$1_736 for 100 Mbps 256 IP Addresses—$806 for 10 Mbps or$1,984 for 100 Mbps Installation charges for 10 Mbps links are$750. Installation charges for 100 Mbps links are$1,250. For other configurations, costs will be determined on a case by case basis. AV W ashia d fiber network For more information, contact: Ann Seltzer/Marketing/AFN Services (541) 552-2106 For immediate release July 1, 1999 Small Western Town Invests in Fiber Future Ashland, OR-In the American West, public investment has always preceded private investment. It's the way the west was won. First came the federal gift of land to the railroads, then came the industries that could transport their products on the rails. First came the interstate highway system, then came the cars and trucks that brought people and commerce to once rural areas. New transportation systems are still being built in the west. But this time the superhighway carries digitized information not cars. And this time the investment is being made by local government, not Uncle Sam. The city of Ashland, Oregon, population 19,000, nestled in the Siskiyou Mountains along the Oregon-California border, is investing$5 million to build its own fiber optic telecommunications network. The Ashland Fiber Network will provide Ashland businesses and residents with large-bandwidth data service, high-speed Internet service as well as cable television service. "Our goal was to make Ashland an even better place to live and work,by offering superior technology and more choices," says Cathy Shaw, Ashland's mayor. "AFN will touch every aspect of our community - healthcare, education, tourism- as well as provide a means for existing Ashland businesses to compete in the global economy. Plus it allows us to attract new businesses and create new employment opportunities. It's a lot of fun to think of all the possibilities it opens up for us." (MORE) Small Town's Fiber Future -page two Ashland's current economy is based on tourism and higher education. These industries will always remain critical to Ashland -home of the world-renowned Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Southern Oregon University - however, they provide few new employment opportunities. With AFN, the city will be able to attract higher-paying, high-tech businesses not otherwise likely to relocate in Ashland, according to Mike Freeman, Ashland's City ( " Administrator. "Without our advanced telecommunications infrastructure," Freeman says, "our growing high-tech community would be unable to remain competitive with urban areas like Portland,Seattle and San Francisco. Now with AFN, I think we're ahead of the game." AFN offers services that most cities in America, large or small, are still dreaming about- 10-100 Mbps connections for business and 3-5 Mbps service to private residences. That kind of bandwidth will enable Ashland residents and businesses the opportunity to videoconference instead of telephone and to download in seconds files that used to take hours to receive. It's so revolutionary, software companies have approached Ashland to be the beta test sight for the latest state-of-the-art products they're developing that make use of the AFN's capabilities. AFN Data, the large bandwidth data service, has been available to Ashland businesses since earlier this year. Already 20 businesses have signed up as customers, twice what the city expected. AFN Intemet and AFN Television are scheduled to offer service to the first Ashland neighborhoods in September of this year. { ZDNet: PC Week: Fiber comes to Silicon Forest Page 1 of 4 ZDNet Reviews Shopping',Business',Help News'.Investing Ga61eSDOt Tech Lire',Downloads'..Developer et PCWEEKONLINEE UNH EPPftI E -_--BULy s.' ZDNet > Business&Tech > PC Week > Fiber comes to Silicon Forest �IIIYY New& Improved Download Now! Search For: r- PC Week GO •Search ros •Power Search Home NEWS TOP STORIES News Intel's chin News archive shortages persist Reviews Fiber comes to Silicon Spencer F. Katt Can IBM's PC group Special reports Forest be saved? Columnists Ashland invests in high-speed Downloads network for telemedicine, Mobile Linux delay webcasts distance learning nips Transmeta By Paula Musich,PC Week Online April 26,1999 7:42 AM ET Topics DOJ: Microsoft, •Desktops The Telecommunications Act of 1996 you're still guilty •Enterprise cops•lava spawned dozens of high-speed • inux metropolitan area network projects in small Microsoft BizTalk: •Management and medium-size cities across the country. Is it all talk? •Mobile But few communities, if any, have set out Net{ Secuorkina rity to offer as broad an array of services as a m.a ml�l Servers this southern Oregon town. s•,,.Wb e. Storage •Telecom •windows 2000 With a 12-mile high-capacity fiber Peat tlea, •Year 2000 backbone already installed, this outpost of the"Silicon Rain Forest"has set out to Also on Sizrech: create a networking system that will •E-Business provide businesses and residents with local •Enterprise high-speed data connections, Internet Company Info •Small Business access and cable TV. Applications •Free newsletters Cisco systems Ct SCOI envisioned to exploit these services range from telemedicine and distance learning to compaa (CPO V CBck twKe V interactive cable TV and even home General (GIC) security. Instrument Packet Engines Q alcx r�nefpe Already,three local businesses are using Owest O( WST,! pe�kmp, the 100M-bps Ethernet connections linked Communications a� to the Gigabit Ethernet backbone,which Enter company L loops through the city. Local schools are r— Adv°rtisama set to connect to the backbone at 100M )0.GE7INF0 bps in the fall,with testing planned for this summer. Enter ticker(s) But the city's department of electric utilities, F — which is responsible for the Ashland Fiber ).GEiovUTc Network, plans to aggressively build out the network over the next year to provide lower-speed links to customers throughout the city. Its plan is to act as a city-owned competitor to local cable provider Falcon RELATED LINKS Cable Systems Inc. by offering its own Fiber Creeps Back package of digital programming and acting Into The Loop as a transport provider for ISPs (Internet http://www.zdnet.conVpcweek/stories/news/0,4153,400542,00.html 0 1/271/2 00 0 ZDNet: PC Week: Fiber comes to Silicon Forest Page 2 of 4 service providers)to offer cable modem- based Internet access to customers. The battle for fiber connectors Ashland's electric utilities department, which acts as the local power company, Network initially investigated building the fiber Technologies network as a means to support its own operations. But the project's scope quickly expanded as deregulation of the electric industry loomed and the rush to improve ELSEWHERE the telecommunications infrastructure ON ZONET across the country threatened to leave smaller communities in the dust. PC WEEK ZNBOX Get the top PC "Existing [telecom] infrastructures aren't Week headlines by adequate,"said Peter Lovrovich,Ashland's e-mail every day. director of electric utilities. "[Regional Bell It's free! Operating Company] US West[Corp.] and others said they would improve[those Text HTML infrastructures]for the top 100 cities. enter your e Ashland was not on that list." The complete network will use a hybrid fiber/coaxial cable design.Although the department considered creating an end-to- end fiber network that would bring Ethernet cable to some 8,900 customers, it stepped back due to the high cost, Lovrovich said. With the hybrid fiber/coaxial design,the total cost to build the network is about$5 million, which the city plans to fund through - a commercial loan. Ethernet set-top boxes for cable television cost about$700 to $800 each, and the cost to terminate the fiber connection at the home would add another$400 to$600, according to Richard Holbo, telecommunications engineer for the Ashland Fiber Network. Such cost increases are hard for a city-owned facility to swallow."[I didn't want to]get on TV with the city council and talk about why I want to add $2 million to the cost of this project," Lovrovich said. Ashland's three-tiered network includes the existing 172-strand fiber backbone,which is driven by two Packet Engines Inc. PowerRail 5200 Gigabit Ethernet switches with an aggregate switching capacity of 52G bps. A second-tier network with 48 strands of fiber will cover another 20 miles in redundant configurations out to neighborhood nodes, or neighborhood area networks.Those nodes will comprise a mix of Packet Engines' PowerRail 1000 routing switches and General Instruments Corp. equipment that converts analog coaxial signals into optical-fiber signals. The PowerRail 1000s will be used for the high-speed connection service, and the General Instruments devices will be used http://www.zdnet.com/pcweek/stories/news/'0,4153,400542,00.html 01/27/2000 ZDNet: PC Week: Fiber comes to Silicon Forest Page 3 of 4 for cable modem access. The General Instruments devices will connect to Cisco Systems Inc. Universal Broadband Routers at the network's head end, which will convert analog signals into digital data. The Cisco routers will also connect in the head end into the Packet Engines PowerRail 5200s, interconnecting the high- speed Ethernet network with the hybrid fiber/coaxial backbone. Brian MacLeod, Packet Engines' vice president of business development, in Spokane, Wash., said Ashland's network is just one of at least 80 similar projects in the United States. Other communities building metropolitan area networks include Glasgow, Ky.; Cedar Falls, Iowa; Palo Alto, Calif.; and Braintree, Mass. In Ashland,the network design goal is to avoid the congestion problems that have plagued other cable modem services. Rather than the typical 1,000 users per node design, each node will support a maximum of 300 homes or users. Lovrovich hopes to begin offering services based on the coaxial links next month,with the build-out taking just over a year if all goes as planned. Keeping the noise down "We're transmitting analog signals with digital data encoded in ft. If you have a high node count, every time a user sends a signal out, the amplifiers amplify everything—including the noise—which increases congestion,"Holbo explained. The hybrid fiber/coaxial design minimizes that effect by keeping the node counts low and by reserving more frequencies for the return transmission, he said. On the backbone itself, high-speed connectivity services using a basic Ethernet connection are being offered to local schools—particularly Southern Oregon University--as well as municipal offices; the public library; and a handful of businesses, including Project A Inc., a software developer. Rates range from$651 per month for a 10M-bps link to $1,364 per month for a 100M-bps link. For Internet access, the plan is to make the network available as a basic transport to ISPs,which could, in turn, offer a variety of Web services.The city early this year invited about 18 ISPs to examine the network. The enticement: a cheap, high- speed transport available for consumer accounts, Web hosting and whatever services they dream up that could take http://ww-vv.zdnet.com/pcweek/stories(news/0,4153,400542,OO.html 01/27/2000 ZDNet: PC Week: Fiber comes to Silicon Forest Page 4 of 4 advantage of a high-speed IDS-3 link from Qwest Communications International Inc. to the rest of the connected world. Ashland will charge ISPs $15 a month per customer for the transport, with the ISPs free to set their own rates for services. Three ISPs have expressed interest, but none has yet signed on. This type of high-speed Internet access could really open some doors, said local telecommuter Todd Steele, senior advisory analyst at Compaq Computer Corp. "High- speed access is pretty hard to come by; it really breaks down a lot of barriers-- especially for commercial applications," Steele said. Cable services are also scheduled for rollout this year. Those services will be owned by the city,which plans to offer a more flexible rate structure and package options. 'The rate approved in the business plan is$24 per month, and that's about 24 percent less [than the existing local provider];'Lovrovich said. These services are just the start. Because the network is scalable, the range of new services that can be added is limited only by imagination and capital.With fast, cheap connectivity, city planners hope to increase the number of new jobs and business opportunities at a faster rate than a small community such as Ashland otherwise could. Sponsored Links Shopping Get FREE DealPilot Express-find the best deals online Need RAM?The RAM Profiler can tell if your computer has enough! 800.COM Digital cameras Priced from$99.94 News Flash Tiny video Camera Color&sound Only 79.99 X10.com! Books Buy bargain computer books at barnesandnoble come Great PCs Buy Your Dream PC at Micronoc.com. Click here! ZDNet Featured Links Freebies 50 FREE downloads--this week's top free files! Shop Smart Compare prices on over 7,000 compute products&save Downloads Enhance Your Web browsing with these FREE Plun-ins! Magazine Offers Free CDs Subscribe to PC Magazine now and get 3 FREE CD-ROMs! Tech)obs I Digital Coupons I Free E-mail I Newsletters I Updates I MyZDNet I Alerts I Rewards I loin ZDNet I Members I �t ZDNet eCircles \ Feedback I Your Privacy I Service Terms I Ad Info Copynght©2000 ZD Inc.All rights reserved.ZDNet and the ZDNet logo are trademarks of ZD Inc. http://www.zdnet.com/pcweek/stories/news/0,4153,400542,00.html 01/27/2000