Toronto council moves closer to fibre build; establishes rights of way committee

The city of Toronto has approved a new telecommunications strategy that will reduce disruption on the streets while providing increased revenues to the municipality. In mid-June, city council approved a draft telecommunications policy with amendments that deals with issues like rights of way and a municipal fibre build (NL, May 23/00). One of the key recommendations involves minimizing the digging up of roads to install fibre. To that end, any company putting ducts into city streets will be required to install spare ducts for future use. City councillors believe this is essential to prevent disruption to commuter traffic. "We’ve got so many people wanting into our streets that our streets are going to end up chopped up and they’ll end up being a war zone like Washington and we don’t want that to happen," Toronto councilor Howard Moscoe told Network Letter. His fellow telecom committee John Adams concurs, saying "If the streets are going to be cut up, we only want it done once." The initial report, drafted by chief administrative officer Michael Garrett and James Ridge, the executive lead on telecommunications, suggested the city should issue an EOI/RFP to asses the feasibility of permanent ducts for high demand rights of way. The duct network would have enough surplus capacity to permit reasonable future growth. Moscoe reports work is already being done on some major subdivisions within the city. One pilot project is a 71-acre parcel of land in the North York district. "We’ve required as a condition of development that everyone provide three four inch ducts to the ownership of the city," the city councillor says. "And we’ve also required that all buildings on those lots have duct work added to the building and that the ownership of the duct work on the public property accrues to the city." Similar actions are taking place on smaller parcels of land throughout Toronto. Of paramount importance is an agreement with Toronto Hydro on rights of way. Council has agreed to establish a rights of way coordinating group with Toronto Hydro, Hydro One, rail companies, telcos, and the Toronto Transit Commission. Moscoe notes that lawyers for the city are drafting an access agreement with Toronto Hydro, which he hopes will be presented at the next council meeting. The council is enthusiastic in its support for a new fibre build, which both Moscoe and Adams believe could be extended to businesses and residences. "We want live telecom access for virtually all our citizens," Moscoe says, "not just the big shiny buildings but to the kid up on Jane/Finch struggling to do his schoolwork. In other words, every citizen should have access to at least a couple of gigabits and cheaply. That’s our objective." To that end, the fibre build should be a joint effort of the municipal government and the private sector, although Adams is wary of relying exclusively on business to provide service. "The owners of the access ramps are fussy about who gets access," he points out.The move could also boost Toronto’s stock as a player in North American telecom. "I would like to see Toronto becoming a primary telecom hub for Internet traffic in North America, just as Pearson is a major transportation hub for North America," Adams states. "Toronto is in competition with Chicago to be a tier one telecom hub for North America." The Toronto Star recently reported the city has a plan to establish a wired city hall, which would permit residents to access all services over the Internet. The $20-million project would allow citizens to get building permits, pay parking tickets and reserve baseball diamonds. The plan is expected to be announced in early August. Moscoe suggests a fibre build could bring the city upwards of $80 million in revenues. "I’m stressing that’s not our prime objective. Our prime objective is to bring the price of access down in Toronto, create a level playing field and ensure that every one of our citizens has access to low cost telecommunications."

Toronto council moves closer to fibre build; establishes rights of way committee

News | July 31, 2000

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