MCNC aims to spread broadband around state - Technology - NewsObser... http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/03/21/1068347/fiber-optic-vision.html
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MCNC aims to spread broadband around state
PUBLISHED MON, MAR 21, 2011 02:00 AM MODIFIED MON, MAR 21, 2011 06:43 AM
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Chance Murray, left, and Doug Murray work in a trench that will carry the underground conduit through Wilson County. Currently, MCNC's network primarily serves the state's students and researchers. Email
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BY JOHN MURAWSKI - STAFF WRITER Tags: business | technology | broadband expansion | MCNC | North Carolina In the telecom business, the big fear is that Internet servers choke to a standstill on high-definition movies, video conferences and streaming audio. The expectation of broadband congestion is forcing commercial Internet service providers to consider options like tiered pricing or other unpopular approaches that charge heavy users higher rates. For its part, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission is considering diverting some of the $8.7 billion annual Universal Service Fund from subsidizing rural phone service to subsidizing rural broadband in mostly poor, isolated areas where residents still don't have the option of subscribing to even basic high-speed Internet. One local approach to dealing with the problem of broadband capacity shortages is unfolding in Raleigh, where a nonprofit Internet service provider is more than doubling the size of its network to prevent system overloads. MCNC, created by the General Assembly three decades ago, will soon operate one of the state's largest high-speed data networks. Once the organization completes a planned addition of 1,700 miles of fiber-optic cable over the next three years, it will operate nearly 3,000 miles of cable linking most of the state's schools, colleges and universities on its N.C. Research and Education Network. But getting there over the next three years will take more than $100 million in federal stimulus subsidies for broadband expansion. Just a few years ago, MCNC was facing a major capacity crunch as students, researchers and professors put increasing demands on the system. Any laptop or iPad that downloads music or uploads videos from 2,500 schools and campuses in the state does so over MCNC's network. That's on top of the heavy-duty university computing systems, research laboratories and administrative services that depend on the data network. Today MCNC is building out enough capacity for at least 25 years, said MCNC chief executive Joe Freddoso. The total cost of the project will come to $146 million. In addition to the $100 million from the federal stimulus, MCNC will pay for the project with $24 million from the Golden LEAF Foundation in Rocky Mount and its own funds. Much of MCNC's buildout will ring the state, linking the mountains, coastal areas and other remote areas into a wobbly oval. "In many of these areas where we're building, there is no fiber," Freddoso said. MCNC received North Carolina's biggest chunk of a $7.2 billion national stimulus subsidy program designed to improve the nation's broadband reach. In all, last year North Carolina got more than $250 million in broadband subsidies, some going to small rural telecoms and rural electric cooperatives. As a result of its expansion, MCNC is moving from a model where it primarily leases broadband capacity from commercial telecommunications providers to building its own parallel network. In essence, MCNC will go from being a net importer to a net exporter of broadband capacity. MCNC's rapid growth has raised questions about whether the organization is overbuilding its networks and doing so at public expense. Private providers irked Commercial Internet service providers had co-existed peacefully with MCNC as long as the Raleigh organization stuck to its knitting and served its limited base of universities and their specialized research needs. But in the past several years, MCNC has expanded prolifically. It has added 115 school districts and 58 community colleges to its network, and is now adding nonprofit hospitals and public libraries. MCNC's growth has not gone unnoticed by rural telecoms such as Windstream, TDS Telecom, Suddenlink Communications and Charter Communications. These companies notified the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which administered the broadband subsidy grants, that the areas proposed for expansion by MCNC in 2009 and 2010, were already well-served and didn't require subsidization. The areas include Cumberland, Edgecombe, Gaston, Carteret and Harnett counties. Pete Able, spokesman for St. Louis-based Suddenlink, said the federal law authorizing broadband subsidies requires that "no such funds ... be used to construct new broadband facilities in
3/21/2011 8:22 AM