RFP Staff
♦ In another “report” out of city hall, a regular fount of fantasy about the city’s Fibrant debacle, claimed they have the infrastructure to deliver a gigabit like Google Fiber. The possess the fiber optic, but lack many key components required to transport gigabit speeds. The current Fibrant modems are incapable of handling gigabit speeds. So too are other key parts of the Fibrant’s aging system built with recycled equipment during the 2010-2011 soft rollout according an anonymous Fibrant employee a week ago. As for all the alleged 250 miles of fiber optic wire in Salisbury many sectors of the city fiber optic infrastructure are not operating in some of Salisbury’s poorer neighborhoods where service was never provided. It’s also doubted Fibrant’s skeleton staff (3 claimed employees so their salaries can play peek-a-boo) could handle making major upgrades to the network.
Fibrant bringing gigabit speeds to Salisbury is a lark when you consider the following:
• TWC and AT&T U-Verse have more serviceable fiber optic throughout the Salisbury than Fibrant. They are far and away the largest high-speed internet providers in Salisbury with deep pockets and savvy tech crews not charged with changing traffic lights or plowing snow.
• Fibrant is stone broke after June 2011 when they burned up their certificates of participation $33 million and now owe somewhere in the vicinity of 70 plus million. Not to mention $7 million owed to the general fund.
• Fibrant simply lacks the money to purchase the millions of dollars in equipment it would take to build the current system up to gigabit speeds.
• In reality there is no call here whatsoever for gigabit speeds and if there were, Time Warner Cable or AT&T U-Verse could more capably handle it. Fibrant has trouble enough trying to hustle 100 Mbps to a few buyers. Time Warner Cable will likely be putting out 100 Mbps toward the end of 2014. Salisbury simply is not a technological hub and because of its reputation for crime, poor public schools, and soaring 28% poverty is a non factor in the gigabit race. Since Winston, Carey, Chapel Hill, and Raleigh will soon have a gigabit fiber optic networks and are far more livable urban areas, they would be far superior draws for technological businesses and entrapaneurs.
http://rowanfreepress.com/2014/02/19/charlotte-in-the-running-for-gigabit-google-fiber-network/
