[1st-mile-nm] CityLink Fiber in Albuquerque

[Richard Lowenberg]

Following an initial posting on this list, the following article is in the
current issue of Broadband Properties Magazine <www.broadbandproperties.com>.
rl
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New Open Access Network in New Mexico

CityLink Telecommunications emerged from stealth mode last month to host a
?sneak peek? at its new fiber-to-the-home services.  The services were
displayed during the grand opening of Albuquerque?s new Emerald Building, a
commercial site to which CityLink supplies dark fiber.

CityLink?s new residential service will start out providing Internet access at
50 Mbps symmetrical for about $70 per month plus installation, or 100 Mbps
symmetrical for about $130 per month plus installation.  Voice services will
also be available, and the company is testing video services.

Working with developers, CityLink has already connected more than 150 new condos
and loft apartments in downtown Albuquerque, and expects to expand the
deployment throughout much of the downtown area, potentially to tens of
thousands of residents.

In a conversation with Broadband Properties, CityLink president John Brown
explained that his company bought a metro fiber network out of bankruptcy in
2005 and has been working since then to upgrade it, including installing Active
Ethernet equipment from Occam Networks.   It is now deploying residential and
commercial services as a competitive provider.  The number of commercial
buildings connected to the network has been increased from 19 when the network
was purchased to more than 50 today.

Two noteworthy aspects of the CityLink fiber network:

? The network is completely open access.  Although City-Link is providing
services, other carriers are welcome tolease the fiber access to homes (Active
Ethernet technology makes open access easier to manage) and also dark fiber to
enterprises.

? The carrier whose assets CityLink purchased had deployed fiber optics
through the sewer system using robotic technology, and CityLink is continuing
to use this approach, which Brown says is faster than traditional trenching and
boring.  Part of the assets purchase includes right-of-way agreements in 50
markets across the US, and CityLink is now actively pursuing deployments in
several markets in New Mexico and other southwestern states.


-- 
Richard Lowenberg
1st-Mile Institute
P.O. Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504
505-989-9110;   505-603-5200 cell
rl at 1st-mile.com  www.1st-mile.com


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