This article was first published in Benton Institute for Broadband & Society.
Cities across the U.S. need all of the following: ultra-fast and affordable internet for residents and small businesses; modern connectivity solutions for enterprises, hospitals, and schools; “smart” transit and mobility solutions; responsible energy creation and power grid optimization; and sustainable water systems.
Looking at this list, we are forced to reckon with the role of critical infrastructure in the fabric of communities, and driven to think differently about what we must build. This is about more than just internet access; we must challenge ourselves to create a new solution that serves the holistic connectivity needs of cities—now and into the future.
Moving past the prevailing understanding of “open-access” with its exclusive focus on “internet”, we can deliver true competition and equal access to all kinds of services to every end connectivity “consumer”—residents to utilities—in a flourishing city.
The goal: Serve every consumer of connectivity with neutral fiber, and bring the vision to life with software and cloud technology.
A new, capital-efficient solution must serve every need in a city: residents, small businesses, key anchor institutions like schools, libraries, and universities, enterprise-size organizations, government institutions, and utilities.
This can be accomplished by expanding our understanding of open-access networks.
Open-access is most commonly understood as a system where neutral middle-mile fiber is leased to multiple last-mile service providers who then build exclusive networks to a specific segment of the market in the neighborhoods they want to serve.
We seek to recast the model as fully neutral, multi-tenant fiber to the community. Instead of an arrangement between wholesale lessors of fiber and exclusive last-mile providers, neutral network operators can be the full fiber network and the service delivery, all the way to every end consumer.
Neutral networks— from data center to in-premise equipment—together with a unique software layer and cloud technology, ensure that every end-point is served and has a choice of multiple service providers.
This arrangement also transforms a single fiber network into powerful, multi-use infrastructure because services to various end points are not limited to the “internet” and other ISP offerings. This model is the solution to address the entire problem set that cities face.
For consumers: a new kind of open-access network delivers true competition and choice all the way to the desktop.
Competition and choice—as a relief from the incumbent internet monopolies— are often cited as the headline benefits of open-access networks.
To date, most of these networks fall short. Under the wholesale model, subscribers do not have a choice of providers from day one—if at all. And, when there is a choice, consumers cannot switch between providers instantaneously without another truck roll and new equipment.
In order to deliver the full benefits of competition with multiple service providers at each endpoint, a consumer-facing software marketplace, atop an end-to-end neutral network, is essential.
First, it fosters competition directly by hosting multiple service providers. Second, it empowers true consumer choice through immediate provisioning and re-provisioning with the click of a button. Third, it transforms fiber into a delivery mechanism for new kinds of products and services.
This platform to manage service delivery also results in a more seamless experience for the consumer who only ever has to interact with one party—the neutral network operator—for ordering, support, and billing.
For cities: a new kind of open-access network powers more than “internet” and becomes a multi-use network that serves holistic needs.
Delivering internet access and the ability to change between ISPs is just one capability of the marketplace platform; the same "digital experience" applies to any kind of service on that marketplace, for any end consumer of connectivity.
The same technology that delivers true competition and choice for consumers also makes multi-purpose infrastructure possible—transforming “dumb” fiber to power new wireless solutions, cyber-secure connected utilities, new energy creation, and resilient water systems.
Thinking holistically about city connectivity needs—from universal internet access to the secure fiber and technology foundation for other critical infrastructure—demands this new solution.
If we solve only for “internet” access today, the challenge won’t stop at a debilitating digital divide, it will grow to steadily failing critical infrastructure, and eventually to failing communities.
This is our new vision for “Open-Access” networks.
Technology-driven, multi-purpose, “fiber-to-the-community” (FTTC) networks are the new gold standard.
When these networks are deployed to serve residents, businesses, institutions, and modernize other critical infrastructure, they become a unified solution for managing community-wide connectivity. In other words, an Operating System for cities.