Toronto’s telecom committee submitting proposal in June for mega-city fibre build

The City of Toronto could soon be the first Canadian municipality to have its own fibre-optic network running through its communities, if a recommendation by a council committee is accepted. The telecommunications steering committee is advocating running the network through the city's subway tunnels, sewers and hydro rights of way. The municipality owns so much real estate that the network could reach virtually every part of Canada's largest city. Even fibre-to-the-home is being considered as part of a second phase expansion. "I think the fibre-building telecommunications companies have done a reasonable job of starting to wire the big shiny buildings," John Adams told Network Letter. "But they're cherry picking. I think the build of fibre optics is going to be as significant in this century as the generation and distribution of electricity was 100 years ago." Major cities in other countries are embracing that same notion. Networks are underway or being planned in Canberra (Australia), Berlin (Germany) Stockholm (Sweden) and Palo Alto (California). In Toronto, the city is developing its network with help from CANARIE, which is in the process of connecting its national CA*net 3 optical network to provincial and municipal fibre networks across Canada (NL, Dec. 13/99). Adams says the telecom committee's report will be tabled with city council in June. A final decision on the plan isn't expected before the fall, after councillors and staff have had a chance to review the idea in more detail. If accepted, Adams predicts the fibre build would be a cooperative effort between the public and private sectors. "We don't have the skill set in house in the city to design the network," he says. "We would have to buy a lot of outside services." The city would lease the cable to outside entities on a cost-recovery basis. The city councillor wants to move the network into all facets of the city. Adams says the fibre can be installed in businesses, hospitals, schools, and municipal offices initially. He predicts further expansion after that. "We're designing the network with the idea that as the second phase we're going to roll it out to every home," he explains. "But I don't think we'd make the decision on fibre-to-the-home until we are well through the first build." The rollout would also permit the advancement of high-speed Internet access to areas of the city passed over by private contractors. Adams expects development of fibre will increase telecommuting and decrease traffic jams. Toronto already has a backbone network for emergency services such as 911, police dispatch and transportation operations. It extends from city hall to Metro hall up to a server farm in the Don Mills district. Adams hopes the first phase of the fibre build would link existing services with the new fire dispatch centre, which is being co-located with the ambulance dispatch centre already in place. Adams may leave local politics Adams has chosen June as a self-imposed deadline to decide his political future. Recent changes to the municipal act in Ontario reduced the number of city councillors. The nine-year veteran of local politics had registered under the old boundaries, and must decide if he wants to continue serving in a new ward. "Maybe I'll just privatize myself and encourage the city to do the right thing from a private sector perspective," he offers. Published reports have speculated Adams may parlay his tenure as telecommunications committee chair into a job in the telecom field. Others suggest he may run for mayor if incumbent Mel Lastman decides to retire.

Toronto’s telecom committee submitting proposal in June for mega-city fibre build

News | May 23, 2000

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