This is the transcript for episode 259 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast. Christopher Mitchell discusses Ammon, Idaho, with Ammon Technology Director Bruce Patterson and Strategic Networks Group's Michael Curri. Listen to this episode here. 

Christopher Mitchell: As they understand the model, and that's the key. As they understand the model, they start to understand how to leverage the infrastructure in a way that works for them and their business model.

Lisa Gonzalez: This is episode 259 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, I'm Lisa Gonzales. We've been following Ammon, Idaho for some time now, having written numerous stories and producing a video about the Ammon Model. The community is continuing to grow their open access network and also reap the benefits of the public investment. This week, Christopher talks with Bruce Patterson from Ammon and Michael Curri from Strategic Networks Group to offer more details about Ammon's network. In addition to sharing details about community savings and benefits to both residents and businesses, we learn more about the Ammon Model and how it works for subscribers. Before we get started, we want to remind you that this commercial free podcast isn't free to produce. Take a minute to contribute at ilsr.org. If you're already a contributor, thanks. Now, here's Christopher, Bruce, and Michael with more information on the Ammon Model.

Christopher Mitchell: Welcome to another addition of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast. I'm Chris Mitchell, and I'm back with two well known guests to long time listeners of our show. We're going to start with Bruce Patterson, the technology director for the city of Ammon in Idaho. Welcome back.

Bruce Patterson: Thank you, Chris. Happy to be here.

Christopher Mitchell: And we also have Michael Curri, the president of the Strategic Networks Group with just a lot of analysis of various broadband networks. Welcome back.

Michael Curri: Hi, Chris. Thanks. Great to be here.

Ammon’s fiber optic utility is opening up competition for residents and businesses in the Idaho community of about 15,000 people. Their software defined network (SDN) allows users on the network to increase efficiencies and explore all sorts of creative visions that require high-quality connectivity.

Innovation Just Keeps On Keepin' On

Now, Ammon is partnering with one of the providers on its infrastructure to launch the Ammon Tech Hub & Research Infrastructure Virtual Ecosystem (THRIVE). The project is available at no cost to researchers and developers and supports: 

1. Research requiring cloud functionality, high bandwidth, low latency network connectivity and a ‘living lab.’ 

2. Developers working on next generation networking services, products or Internet of Things (IoT) hardware in need of cloud functionality, high bandwidth, low latency network connectivity and a community of willing Beta testers. 

THRIVE is designed to allow Ammon premises that are connected to the Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) network participate in projects so locals can contribute to research and development. In its press release, the city described research on aging and “smart” smoke detectors in its press release. The project will allow researchers and developer from all over the world to access Ammon’s network for collaborative projects.

Read the press release here.

For more on Ammon’s ground-breaking approach, check out the video we produced with Next Century Cities:

Folks in Ammon, Idaho, are now getting choice, speed, and affordability from their new municipal Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) network. Home owners are making the switch and waving "bye-bye" to the burdens of a broken market for the benefits of publicly owned infrastructure.

High Demand

Out of 369 homes in the first district, 239 have signed up to be connected to the open access network; 22 installations are complete. Installations are on hold until winter is over, but the city’s Technology Director Bruce Patterson expects to add more as people experience their neighbors’ fiber service. 

In order to connect to the network, homeowners pay for the cost of the installation themselves either with a $3,000 direct payment when the project is completed or through a special property assessment over a 20-year period. Property owners who don’t want to be connected aren’t obligated to pay. Residents or businesses connected to the network then choose an Internet Service Provider (ISP) from those offering services over the network infrastructure. The network’s technology makes switching providers a simple task that can be done online. 

ISP Like It, Too

Ammon makes it easy and inexpensive for new providers to offer services on their fiber as a way to encourage competition. Ammon told the Post Register:

“We tried to make sure the barriers to entry were as low as possible to encourage competition,” Patterson said. “There’s the potential for market disruption. If somebody else can get to you cheaper and present a better economic number, they have the potential to disrupt the marketplace, which is better for all of us.”

Voters in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, will get the chance in December to decide if they wish to invest in a fiber-optic network, reports the Advocate.

Louisiana Looks At Idaho

This past summer, Parish President Kevin Couhig presented the plan to create a new parish fiber optic utility. His plan includes an open access network to draw competition that will be based on the Software-Defined Network (SDN) of the Ammon model:

Couhig’s plan would get away from single Internet service providers, which control speed, innovation, bandwidth, data limits and price. Instead, the ISPs would compete through the parishwide network. Each consumer could control what they would have available through the open access such as internet, phone, video and interactive gaming.

Parish staff worked with a consulting firm for several months to develop a feasibility study, define costs, and draft a network design. They estimate the network would cost a little over $5.7 million and would require about 107 fiber miles. In December voters will decide whether or not to accept a plan to fund the network with a 4-mill property tax levy for five years, beginning in 2017. On September 14th, the Parish Council voted to allow the question to be placed on the December ballot.

Redefining Infrastructure In The Bayou

The city will still need to determine how the state's barriers will affect their plans. West Feliciana Parish is 30 miles north of Baton Rouge and home to approximately 16,500 people. There are about 426 square miles in the parish, which is located along the Mississippi River. In July, when Couhig presented the detailed study to the Parish Council, he expressed his motivation for the project: