Fort Worth Becomes First Texas City to Sign Landmark Agreement for In-Sewer Deployment of Fiber Optic Network - from CityNet Telecommunications - Brief Article

Fiber Optics Business, July 15, 2001

CityNet Telecommunications Inc., a leader in last-mile broadband infrastructure, announced that Fort Worth has become the first city in Texas to approve a license agreement for the in-sewer deployment of an advanced fiber optic network.

Fort Worth is the sixth US city to approve this type of revolutionary deployment, where fiber optic cable is installed through underground sewer pipes without trenching streets, disrupting traffic, or destroying valuable urban infrastructure. Other cities that have signed similar license/access agreements with CityNet include Indianapolis, Albuquerque, Omaha, St. Paul, and Scottsdale. In addition, the company signed an agreement with its first European city last month -- Vienna, Austria. CityNet is currently negotiating with more than 20 other cities, including several in Texas.

"Partnerships that produce results is a Fort Worth trait and a new agreement with CityNet to install fiber optic cable into existing city sewers is another example of partnership," said Fort Worth Mayor Kenneth Barr. "Downtown Fort Worth is crisscrossed with high-tech fiber cable, but getting a connection between the fiber in the street and the businesses in buildings has been a challenge."

"By using existing city sewers that already are connected to every downtown building, the city benefits from not having torn streets and damaged utilities while its businesses obtain affordable access to the high-speed broadband service that will be available on the fiber lines," Mayor Barr said. "And, just as important, a Fort Worth-based company, Carter and Burgress, is providing the technical assistance to bring this new technology to American cities."

CityNet Telecommunications Inc., of Silver Spring, MD, uses state-of-the-art robotic technology to install fiber optic cable through existing sewer lines directly into buildings, bridging the so-called last mile. The last-mile gap separates individual buildings from the larger beltway fiber optic networks that circle around and through cities. By building that last, but most critical piece of fiber optic transmission infrastructure, CityNet helps its carrier and network service provider customers meet the skyrocketing demand for bandwidth and speed in high-density metro areas

"Through the vision of Mayor Barr and other city government officials, the city of Fort Worth is the first city in Texas to approve our revolutionary in-sewer fiber network deployment, and is about to become one of only a handful of cities across the nation that will have true widespread, last-mile broadband access," said Robert G. Berger, CityNet's chairman and CEO. "CityNet is going to help the city solve the problem of delivering high-speed broadband infrastructure without the costly burden of trenching Fort Worth's streets and disrupting traffic. Utilizing an ideal pathway, we have found a smarter solution to deploying fiber optic networks. City sewers are one of the deepest and most protected of all city infrastructures and they connect to every building. In the truest sense, CityNet is pioneering a real solution to a real problem, a problem the telecommunications world has been facing for almost 20 years."

As a wholesale carrier's carrier, CityNet installs its fiber optic networks and then leases them to telecommunications carriers, Internet, and network service providers. For larger man-accessible sewer pipes (36 inches and bigger), CityNet uses a patented in-sewer deployment technology developed by its technology partner, Cable Runner NA. For smaller non-man-accessible pipes, CityNet uses high-tech robots made exclusively for CityNet by its technology partner, Ka-Te Systems AG, a Swiss sewer robotics company.

CityNet's engineering and construction partner is the Fort Worth firm of Carter & Burgess (C&B), a design, engineering, and construction firm with over 33 offices across the US. CityNet choose C&B because of its unrivaled experience, knowledge, and expertise in public works and sewer projects.

"We have been working with CityNet very early on and are extremely excited to be a part of this last-mile revolution," said Jerry Allen, CEO of Carter & Burgess. "Helping to bring CityNet's cutting-edge technology to our hometown of Fort Worth gives us an incredible amount of pride."

The robot, known as Sewer Access Module (S.A.M.), is equipped with cameras to install stainless steel allow rings to support the fiber optic cables inside of the sewer pipes. The conduit that encases the fiber is made of the same stainless steel alloy that protects the fiber from corrosion and cuts. Alcatel, a global leader in fiber optics, telecommunications, and networking, is CityNet's partner, who provides the special conduit, fiber cables, and connectivity solutions for the sewer environment.