Heather Burnett Gold, President Fiber to the Home Council Americas

2. Heather Burnett Gold, President Fiber to the Home Council Americas Montana Telecom Association Annual Meeting August 5, 2014

3. Fiber to the Home Council Americas, est. 2001 Mission To accelerate the deployment of all-fiber access networks by demonstrating how fiber-enabled applications and solutions create value for network operators and their customers, promote economic development and enhance quality of life.

4. About the FTTH Council 328 Members 70% ILECs 81 Vendors Munis, utilities, elec. Co-ops, ISPs 25% 200 Operators 47 5% Professionals Competitors The Council is agnostic as to ownership type; we support all entries into the FTTH market

5. What the Council does • Provides resources for existing and potential network operators • Educational tracks at conferences • Webinars • Publications • Offers essential networking opportunities • Meetings and conferences • Supports all regulatory efforts to expand fiber to the home

6. Council regulatory positions • Open Internet • Bandwidth abundance through all fiber networks is a solution to net neutrality • IP Transition and copper decommissioning • Fiber is better, faster and stronger—running two networks doesn’t make sense • Barriers to broadband deployment • We advocate for the removal of ownership and building restrictions at state level • Statewide cable franchising • Simplified franchising applications promote network deployments • Rural broadband experiments • Let communities work together to build networks that work for them

7. 2014: FCC seeking proposals for rural broadband experiments • In 2013, FTTH Council petitioned the Federal Communications Commission with an idea: incentivize ways to build ultra-high bandwidth to rural communities • Commission will provide up to $100 million to eligible areas

8. Fiber is strong in rural areas: over 500 FTTH providers in Tier 2 / 3 markets Tier 3s Verizon Munis

9. ~28,900 homes connected to FTTH OR 7% of all households in Montana • Who is providing FTTH? • 9 smaller ILECs • 1 small CLEC • 1 real estate development • Fairly low percentage of households with speeds above 50 Mbps

10. The market in rural areas is ripe • According to RVA, LLC 73.7 million homes in suburban and rural areas are not yet passed by FTTH • But people like fiber: take rates in Tier 2 and 3 markets are around 50 percent • And FTTH results in higher ARPU over other types of broadband builds

11. FTTH take rates reach 45.8% Verizon Build Starts Source: RVA annual Provider & Consumer Studies

12. FTTH take-rates vary from 25% to 81% Source: RVA 2013 Provider Study 12

13. U.S. FTTH connections by provider type Source: RVA 2013 Provider & Consumer Studies 13

14. There are 3 typical FTTH drivers

15. Rural areas are often far from the resources available in urban areas, so FTTH drivers are actually more manifold

16. What drives FTTH in rural areas?

17. Fiber enables world-class education, regardless of the distance • A network in northwest Minnesota connects 126 schools and 43 libraries in the state • Connects learners to courses otherwise unavailable

18. Fiber drives agricultural production and increases efficiencies • Swanberg Farms in Lyford, Texas uses fiber broadband to monitor commodity prices and weather forecasts • John Deere’s line of connected equipment combined with robust broadband infrastructure makes precision agriculture possible

19. FTTH networks enable economic development Survey says… Broadband is essential to remaining in a community 55% Would relocate if broadband were not available 38% Operate a home-based business 32%

20. FTTH improves home values between $5-6k.

21. FTTH communities confront health care challenges head on • Smith County Memorial Hospital in Smith Center, KS uses fiber to consult with specialists at large hospitals • In Minnesota, Hiawatha Broadband is participating in a project that uses fiber as a platform for home monitoring of patients with dementia

22. Fiber can improve civic engagement, administration and public safety • Montana lets livestock owners record branding information online – more than 60% of owners are taking advantage of it • Using remote monitoring sensors and increased computing power public safety officers can deploy personnel and resources more effectively.

23. Becoming fiber friendly Population is lower, density is lower and risk may be greater Challenge • FTTH Council Community Toolkit • Get Started • Organizing Your Community • Creating the Business Case • Building a Network Solution

25. Getting Started: Why does FTTH matter for rural residents? • Make clear the value of fiber for a community: • Can erase educational inequities • Reduce health care challenges like declining physician numbers, access problems • Can turn rural America into a “middle shore” for high-tech job opportunities • Research success stories like Wilson, NC, GVTC, Co-Mo Electric • Check out the information the federal government and states have ready to hep

26. Organizing your community • Identify champions • Forming partnerships • Building consensus

27. Creating the business case • Identifying assets • Estimating demand • Building the financial model • Funding

28. Building a network • Developing a Request for Proposals • Finding a provider • Managing the deployment