From a metro fibre provider perspective this is extremely positive for a2b. By utilizing our existing and planned Vancouver infrastructure, new foreign entrants can have a significantly faster speed to market while greatly reducing capital costs. New entrants considering Vancouver will now have reduced barriers to entry without foreign ownership restrictions, as well as available dark fibre to start providing services almost immediately.

If you would like to know more about the Vancouver market or fibre availability please contact us

Facebook announced on Wednesday its plans to build a 30,000 sq m ‘green’ data centre in the small city of Lulea, Sweden. This is a significant move as the facility will be Facebook’s first outside of the US and will handle all data processing for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The city of Lulea won out after a lengthy selection process that saw Facebook engineers visit nearly 40 potential sites in Sweden alone.

There has been a strong trend towards building data centres in colder environments as it can cut costs substantially when natural air can be brought in as opposed to using air conditioners. Combined with an abundant supply of cheap hydro-electric power and a dense fiber network, Sweden is an ideal location for Facebook.

In many respects, Canada is well primed as a location for large data centres. Politically stable, fairly cheap power and, as any Canadian will attest, we certainly have the cold weather. However, one key factor that Canada is lacking compared to Sweden is the dense fiber network to transport data. In Vancouver, for example, moving data south of the border on a dedicated fiber connection is difficult. Unlike Australia’s National Broadband Network, Canada does not have a national broadband strategy which means it will be up to the private sector to sustain Canada’s information and communications technology (ICT) development.

a2b intends to be part of the solution to this problem, starting first with our 206km fiber build in Greater Vancouver. Canada is slipping in overall ICT development, falling ten positions between 2002 and 2007 in global ranking¹. As a2b continues to expand we hope to partner with existing and planned data centres to provide dedicated connectivity. Here at a2b we firmly believe that our investment in ICT infrastructure will help attract new businesses to Canada and make our clients more competitive.

1 – Canada’s Foreign Ownership Rules and Regulations in the Telecommunications Sector, Report of the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, June 2010

In the telecommunications industry people tend to use copious amounts of acronyms. The employees here at a2b Fiber are no exception. It was recently pointed out by a friend of the company that perhaps we need to explain some of the most important terms we use. We thought this was a useful suggestion as we continue to bring on new employees and deal with clients who are less familiar with our industry. Within the company we say that we do short term leases of dark fiber (fairly self-explanatory) as well as long term IRU’s (not so much).  This blog post aims to clear up that ambiguity.

An Indefeasible Right of Use (IRU) is a contractual agreement between a cable operator (ex. A2b Fiber) and a client. For the client it is essentially a long term lease of a portion of the capacity of a cable.  A good example would be a client needing two strands of fiber off of a 144 strand cable owned by a2b. The IRU stipulates that the client has exclusive access to those strands for the length of the agreement, including the right to lease that capacity to another entity. However, the client still has the obligation to pay a portion of the cost of maintaining the cable to the cable owner (a2b Fiber). This is generally a fixed cost and represents a very small yearly fee.

This type of arrangement is advantageous for businesses because IRU’s are essentially granting the rights to a physical portion of fiber optic cable. This is significant because it can then be considered an asset which means the cost doesn’t fall under organizations’ operating costs, but rather under Property, Plant and Equipment (CFO’s love this). At the same time, any organization that manages its own network with fiber will be realizing a great deal of savings from moving away from a managed circuit, which is traditionally offered by the incumbents. Lastly, should a business that has fiber on an IRU move locations or otherwise not need it anymore, they still have the option of leasing this fiber to somebody else so it never becomes a sunk cost. The IRU is essentially a long term lease but it also has a great deal of hidden benefits.

Feel free to post questions/comments below!

Note: We paraphrased a bit from here. A good link for more information as well!

We came across a great video that we wanted to share which explains the benefits of Fiber to the Home (FTTH).

While a2b’s network is local access, we are not a FTTH provider. However, we can assist carriers and service providers to more quickly and cheaply deploy FTTH. Proponents of FTTH would simply have to construct the last piece of the connection to the home from our dark fiber network. Enjoy!

The video was commissioned by the FTTH Council of Europe. Thanks to @communitynets and fiberevolution for originally posting.

The challenge with cloud services is that businesses that transfer a great amount of data need networks capable of supporting this distribution. These networks have to be fast, reliable, scalable and secure. As an industry leader in cloud services, Amazon Web Services (AWS) recently announced a partnership with AboveNet, a provider of bandwidth connectivity solutions. As one of the first AWS Direct Connect Solution Providers, AboveNet will be able to provide customers with high bandwidth access as they move applications to the cloud. AWS Direct Connect will enable customers to establish connectivity between AWS and their data centres, offices, or co-location environments.

From an industry perspective this is a big step forward. One of the biggest drawbacks of storing information in the cloud was moving large amounts of data. This quote from Treb Ryan, CEO of OpSource (a cloud service provider) sums it up: “The toughest part of cloud computing is getting large amounts of data in and out of the cloud, [it] is almost impossible no matter how fast your network connection is…the fastest way to transfer 3TB to 5TB of data is still FedEx”. Dedicated fibre connections make the cloud a much more attractive business option as they substantially increase the ability to transfer large amounts of data.  With its high bandwidth capability and low latency, local access fibre will be a catalyst in the growth of cloud services.

Here at a2b Fiber we’re always probing the web for the next cool thing in our industry. That’s how we stumbled upon this interview with Chris Smedley, the CEO of a company called Geo Networks based in London, England. Little did we know that we actually have a clone working across the pond! Smedley explains here how Geo is providing a unique alternative for the big bandwidth market in the UK. Geo is provisioning dark fiber which allows its customers to decouple network growth from their underlying costs. This makes network usage economically scalable as customers require more and more bandwidth.

While Geo represents a more mature network compared to a2b (over 3000km of fibre), the concept is the same. Providing clients with a dedicated, secure and reliable fibre connection allows for a great deal of freedom in managing a network and simultaneously saves money by switching from a traditional managed circuit. As a2b continues to grow its network in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland we’re striving to connect with clients to show them the benefits of a dedicated fibre connection. With hassle free maintenance and a network that can pay for itself within a year, the choice is an easy one. Why not contact us today to learn about the benefits a2b can provide to your organization?

May 10th concluded the two-day 2011 British Columbia Broadband Conference in Vancouver. a2b Fiber’s Scott Jamieson addressed attendees at the convention on the state of fibre markets in Vancouver and BC. After putting the state of Canadian broadband into a global context, Scott narrowed in on fibre development in BC.

Of the 100 fastest cities on our planet, Akamai’s State of the Internet reports that only 15 are found in North America. Aside from 10 European exceptions, the remaining 75 are all in Asia where Japan claims the majority at a total of 60. They are light-years ahead with average connection speeds of 81mbps, four times our own, at a tenth of Canadian rates.

But while North America sits in Asia’s shadow, Canada is spearheading the catch-up game. The fastest North American city is in Vancouver’s backyard, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island: Victoria, British Columbia. Victoria shares Canada’s two spots on the top 100 list with Oakville, Ontario.

There’s one thing you absolutely need to earn a spot on Akamai’s list: fibre. So who’s laying down all the glass? The Broadband Canada Program awarded $11m to projects in BC this year, but that’s pennies. In perspective, Telus is spending $21.5m in Nanaimo alone. The big guys own and operate the fibre in BC – they’re the ones spending all the cash. MTS Allstream, Bell, Eastlink (Persona), Navigata, Rogers, Shaw, CPC, Fortis, CN and CP, Ministry of Transportation, Province and of course Telus, the biggest of the big guys, is investing $670m in infrastructure across BC in 2011.

Across BC fibre infrastructure is being put in place. The Okanagan, the Greater Vancouver Regional District, the Fraser Valley, and especially the Kootenays are all seeing public-sector or small ISP fiber developments in 2011. With Roger’s and Telus’ announcement of LTE this year, ongoing overbuilds by Shaw, and increasing competitive interest by both Canadian new entrants and established US carriers, the number and scope of fibre projects will continue to increase.

Scott Jamieson’s BCBC Presentation and Speaker notes.

Arguing for the latter on broadband.prime, Costas Troulos discussed the broad technological gap between rural residents and city folk as an “issue of mentality.” The people removed from urban life do not care about facebook and twitter or a fiber-enabled economy. Instead of communicating via their smart phones or shopping online, they make friends in town squares and negotiate face to face with merchants. So what does this mean for rural broadband? Can rural communities benefit from bridging the digital gap?

Troulos explains that a different vocabulary has to be used in order to identify the advantages of broadband for rural communities. “What if farmers could monitor their fields and farms from home; or manage their energy at home, or water their plants remotely?” The fact is, before we can remove rural areas from the broadband road-map we have to explore new ways of making it relevant in the countryside.

On the other hand, broadband is already casting an economic shadow on the countryside. The lack of broadband in rural communities is crippling small business economics, reports Public News Service. While Costas Troulos thinks that we have the wrong mentality when it comes to bringing fiber to countryside, new reports insist that broadband is necessary for the simplest commercial tasks. While broadband may not create a sharp increase in employment in rural areas, it boosts the efficiency of existing industries extraordinary amounts. That explains the $40 Million the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is spending on some 880km of fiber in upstate New York. Bringing high speed access to people “off the grid” is vital for commercial success, even if all that means is faster surfing.

The huge outpouring of support serves to exemplify the growing demand for fiber optic networks.  The demand for bandwidth is unquestionable and while wireless technology is becoming more prevalent by the day it cannot continue to grow without a corresponding backbone network.

Update: Benoit at fiberevolution has a great breakdown of Google’s decision – http://bit.ly/ephtkX