Cable modem based internet

[bhorne.nouce at banet.net (Bill Horne)]

Randall Hofland wrote:

>     I am providing input on the contract my local town in central New
> Hampshire and adjacent communities is negotiating with the local cable
> franchise, I desperately need some thoughtful input on specific
> parameters that should be required regarding internet services.

1. Get a professional negotiator with a track record in the industry.  If
you're going up against a multi-million dollar corporation that conducts
thousands of these negotiations every year, you'll need all the help you can
get.

2.  Talk to as many of your peers in other municipalities as you can,
especially those whom have dealt with the cable firm(s) that is/are bidding.
You'll find at least a couple of people who got burned and are eager to help
you avoid the same traps.

>     My first ideas are to require that the primary backbone is a
> landline rather than satellite system, that there be redundancy in
> backbone carriers provided withing a reasonable time period but not
> necessarily upon initial ISP services, and that the useage of any single
> trunk line not exceed reasonable limits of the total bandwidth so that
> additional competitive carriers are encouraged to provide services which
> I envision to be DSL over the existing telephone lines and possibly
> other systems such as wireless.

These are valuable negotiating points, but the cable company is going to
want a lot in return, and your negotiator will be able to advise you on the
weight you can assign to each item.  Considerations about DSL or wireless
will usually be outside the scope of a contract with a cable provider.

>    I would greatly appreciate some commentary on those ideas and other
> suggestions as we are in the process of rewriting the contract to
> include a number of other communities and address their interests as
> well. My goal is to encourage not only the rapid implementation of a
> cable modem service here in central NH but to encourage the rapid
> expansion of broadband telecommunications capacity here and throughout
> the rest of northern New England.

Here are a couple of points to keep in mind if you don't have access to a
professional negotiator:

1. Don't try to limit data-corals, peering fees, or port restrictions:  make
them part of the rate base instead.  That way, the municipality gets a cut
and it's illegal for the cable company to implement them without notice.
They'll want to protect all their options "behind the firewall", but be sure
to have it spelled out in the contract which services (ports) people can
run, and the costs they'll incur if they do.  This benefits the rate-payers
as much as the town, since EVERYBODY will agree that those whom use more
bandwidth should pay more.

2. Consider carefully any provisions that leverage the cable company's
expertise while still costing them very little:

  A.  Distance learning setups for sick children. (Sounds good, doesn't
work).
  B.  Inter-building WANs for the municipal system. (How often do YOU print
things in another building?)
  C.  Local access channels for town meetings or whatever. (Subject to FCC
rules)

  The cable company is going to try and make a big deal out of these, and
distract you from the real money they'll get by selling HBO along with net
access.  Don't let them do it:  just make it clear up front that marginal
items like these aren't even on the table.

Good luck.

Bill

--
Bill Horne
(Remove '.nouce', if present, for direct replies.)



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