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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<h1><b><font size=6 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN style='font-size:24.0pt'>Muni
fiber networks bounce back<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<p class=byline><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Aug 25, 2008<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=byline><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=byline><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>By Carol Wilson<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=byline><b><i><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;font-style:italic'>Telephony Online <o:p></o:p></span></font></i></b></p>
<p class=deck><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Despite some high-profile failures, the deep-seated
need for broadband keeps municipalities on the fiber-to-the-home-track.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>The headlines surrounding</span></font></b><span lang=EN>
municipally funded telecom networks have been dominated by bad news this year. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt'>In
addition to the outright collapse of muni Wi-Fi networks, there have been
notable failures in the muni fiber market as well, namely the iProvo network,
sold to Broadweave earlier this year, and Utopia, a network linking multiple
municipalities that has struggled to sign up customers. A multicity fiber
network in northeastern <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">Minnesota</st1:State></st1:place>
that had been under study for years also was scrapped recently. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt'>Anyone
who thinks the municipal broadband market is headed south, however, needs to
take a closer look. For every visible failure, there are multiple other cities,
towns and villages either building or looking to build their own fiber-to-the-home
(FTTH) networks, for the simple reason that they want broadband facilities they
can't convince their local telco and cable incumbents to build. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><a href="http://telephonyonline.com/issue_20080901/">http://telephonyonline.com/issue_20080901/</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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