Former BT manager Nulty defends own tenure

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Burlington, Vermont

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The financial and legal woes with Burlington Telecom’s municipal fiber deployment is typical when only one individual is holding the plan together.  Municipal broadband deployments have many working parts that require support from several individuals throughout the city government and community to make them successful.  In the case of BT, one man was driving the project and support:  Dr. Timothy Nulty.  When Dr. Nulty left to head up ECFiber, the city of Burlington failed failed to provide the long-term support to BT required to make the project successful.

Burlington Telecom under the direction of Dr. Nulty thoroughly planned and implemented their business plan, and by all indications they were on track compared to other successful deployments.  As Dr. Nulty indicated in his open letter, municipal FTTH networks typically take approximately 5 years before reaching a positive ROI.  BT was a bit more conservative in their estimates to account for any potential cost increases that BT may incur. Under his leadership, they were well on their way to meeting their business case objectives.

When Dr. Nulty left to take his current position heading up ECFiber, most of the experience, leadership, and drive left with him. Support in City Hall was weak which left no champion of the project to hold it all together.  It is this lack of leadership and support that drove the Marketing Director to resign.  Without a strong sales and marketing drive to keep signing up new customers, the network was is doomed because it could not keep up with its debt payments and operating expenses.

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FCC Issues Open Internet Rules

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Jonathan Charnitski, Reporter, BroadbandBreakfast.com

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WASHINGTON, December 22, 2010 – In an uncommon split vote on Tuesday, the FCC handed down an order requiring network providers to abide by certain rules intended to maintain network neutrality.

The order provided three guidelines by which internet service providers must abide in their offerings to consumers. First, the commission said, ISPs must provide services in a transparent manner by disclosing their network management practices and performance characteristics. Second, network providers must not block lawful content from their customers, and third, providers may not unreasonably discriminate by prioritizing certain network traffic without sufficient reason.

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Qwest revisits video franchising with lawmakers

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The proposal by Qwest for statewide franchising for video services is not necessarily a good move for consumers unless communities have options to ensure their broadband future.  By simplifying the franchising process, Qwest/CenturyLink and others can easily re-enter the video market in Colorado without negotiating with every city they want to provide service; thereby, allowing competitors to satellite and cable TV companies.  I personally welcome Qwest’s re-entrance into the market.  Local franchise negotiations are often fraught with requests for community TV stations and equipment, free or reduced charges to schools and other institutions, municipal network access, and that pesky universal service requirement.

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Vermont Villages To Develop Rural Fiber Network

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Claiming LTE wireless can’t deliver broadband as robust, the East Central Vermont Community Fiber Network is planning a pilot project to serve the sparsely populated 23-town region.

By W. David Gardner ,  InformationWeek

Frustrated by the lack of broadband service, citizens in a group of towns in rural Vermont are developing a plan to build their own fiber-based broadband service.

It’s called the East Central Vermont Community (ECVC) Fiber Network and, although it is facing tough odds, the group believes it can succeed where big cash-laden carriers have failed to deliver the service in the 23-town region.

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AP Takes Annoyingly Narrow View Of Muni-Fiber Focuses on debt-riddled Burlington Telecom as ‘cautionary tale’

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Church Street, Burlington, Vermont

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Dave Gram of the Associated Press takes a rather myopic look at municipal fiber operations, noting that the now 70 such operations now make up about 3% of the U.S. fiber to the home business — the remaining majority of course owned by Verizon’s FiOS service. Like any business, some of these operations succeed and some fail — some are based on sound financial logic and some aren’t. The AP decides to specifically focus on the failures of Burlington, Vermont‘s Burlington Telecom — whose $50 million in debt and looming Federal investigation the AP declares is a “cautionary tale” for cities interested in wiring themselves for broadband:

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5 Ways to Avoid Muni Market Mayhem

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A little more than a year after the first signs of mayhem in the municipal bond markets, issuers are still defaulting, and investors are still worried. And while investing professionals would say that in this climate, it’s best to leave your bond research to the experts, that’s not the only way: A little diligence, a free afternoon and an Internet connection is enough to start separating the risky munis from the stable ones.

The goal – to build a portfolio of municipal bonds that reduces risk and supplies steady tax-exempt income – is still possible, says financial advisor Dennis Gibb, president of Sweetwater Investments, an investment advisory firm in Redmond, Wash. By picking issuers whose finances and politics you can track thoroughly, like your local or state government, and investing in bonds backed by recession-proof, essential services, it’s possible to avoid potential blow-ups and ride out the current muni mess. It’s far from easy, says Matt Fabian, research director of Municipal Market Advisors, “but in some cases you can figure things out.”

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