Title
Fiber Acquisition
Proposed Motion
That administration be directed to investigate and acquire two strands of existing dark fiber extending from Edmonton to the intersection at Hwys 16 and 779, using up to $50,000 capital infrastructure funding from the 2012 Capital Budget.
Body
Administration Recommendation
Administration supports the proposed motion. Investigations will continue to confirm the benefits of the strand purchase, and compare the costs/benefits with other and possibly additional options prior to purchase.
Purpose
This is an opportunity to provide existing and future County rural communications network tenants with access to more internet carriers and more competitive pricing. It also enhance the network's reliability, flexibility and scalability.
Summary
In the west region, the County installed fiber to connect its Tier 1 towers to the nearest SuperNet Points of Presence for backhaul purposes. Our smaller Tier 2 towers backhaul wirelessly to the Tier 1 towers. In the east region there are other options and constraints. There is an opportunity to acquire two strands of dark, or unused fiber, located in conduit extending Edmonton through the County to NW Alberta. This fiber is similar to the SuperNet but is owned by other entities. Purchase of the unused fiber strands will allow the County to install fiber backhaul links from our Acheson and Meridian towers to the trunk fiber. Both these towers are expected to host numerous high capacity broadband, mobility and other collocation tenants such as utilities and other high volume businesses. It will extend the opportunity for tower tenants and fiber customers to have access to a choice of multiple carriers and more competitive pricing. It will also enhance County's east region network redundancy, flexibility and scalability, and in the future these benefits can be extended to the west region, thereby strengthening the overall network.
Strategic Plan/Policy/Legal/Staff Impli...
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