Question Coaching for Harry Homemaker, Enterprise CIOs, and Financiers
February 6, 2009
To sum up the last week and a half of network infrastructure discussion, I’d like to speak directly to Harry Homemaker, Enterprise CIOs and Financiers:
The next time telecom infrastructure comes up, just ask a few questions:
1. If the network is an IRU, who owns it?
2. If the network is an IRU, how many strands are left in the sheath? Will you, Mr. Carrier, be able to get to them if need be? Can you prove it? Can you post a bond?
3. If the network gets cut, who fixes it? Where are you in the queue?
4. What is your fiber count in the local network? When will you exhaust your fiber count due to add/drops, splices and db loss budgets? Do you have extra fiber strand when this occurs? Is your local metropolitan fiber point-to-point, or a ring?
5. When you say you are in hundreds of markets, does this mean you pass through it with a long haul network, or IRU? Or do you actually have an appreciable metropolitan footprint outside of the carrier hotel you pass through in each market?
6. Is your network open or closed to competition? If it’s closed, why? Competition is good isn’t it? What are my options?
7. How diverse is your network route? Can you show me your route compared to other carriers or options? I would not want all my traffic running on the same fiber sheath from multiple IRU’d or resale “carriers” thinking that it’s diverse, would I? We need at least two physically different carriers, don’t we?
8. How many buildings or residents do you pass, per route mile, that are within 1,000 feet of all your fiber routes? Metropolitan routes?
9. How many fiber route miles do you own, or is it an IRU? Are they oceanic? Long haul/ regional long haul? Metropolitan back bone? Access? Please break this out-a pie chart would be nice.
10. Do you consider a town, hamlet, or village a “market”? Isn’t wireless more appropriate in these settings with terrestrial fiber backhaul?
And one last comment for America: All carriers “infrastructure” are not created equal, caveat emptor. Do your homework.
Unless you have a fiber pipe in your building or home already, the next time the subject of telecom infrastructure comes up, make sure your politician understands what and where real telecom infrastructure is and where it is needed.
All communications infrastructure is local. That’s the focus.
Written by Dave Rusin - Telecom Executive
Posted by wbrache | Filed Under Fiber bandwidth, Infrastructure and Bandwidth, Long-Haul Networks, Telecommunications industry
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...Comments
Got something to say?
Feeds
