Fwd: Stockholm to build Gigabit Internet to School Network

[Gene Hastings <hastings@info-ren.org>]

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Date: Sun, 12 Sep 1999 08:48:07 -0400 (EDT)
From: CAnet-3-NEWS@canarie.ca
Subject: Stockholm to build Gigabit Internet to School Network

For more information on this item please visit the CANARIE CA*net 3 Optical
Internet program web site at http://www.canet3.net
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STOCKHOLM GETS THE WORLD'S MOST ADVANCED SCHOOL NETWORK
Students at Stockholm's schools will have access to the world's most
advanced school network. Capacity in the schools' network has become 500
times greater during the summer holiday.
"The new network opens the door to completely new teaching methods," says
Bjñrn Roos, project leader for edu.stockholm, the network. Its expansion has
been rapid. The decision was taken as late as this June and during the
summer 53 Stockholm schools have got networks with a capacity of 1
Gigabit/sec, as opposed to 2 Mbit/sec before. When the network is fully
completed in the summer of 2001, 170 state schools and 60 independent
schools will be connected. The network is based on IP technology from Cisco
Systems.
(Source: press release July 20 1999)
http://www.edu.stockholm.se

As a result, Stockholm not only offers one of the world's best-developed
fibreoptic networks. It is also one of the only major cities in the world
with two players offering dark fiber to the telecom operators. One is owned
by Telia, which plans to merge with the Norwegian Telenor in 1999 and become
partially de-privatised no later than in the year 2000. The other one,
Stokab, is owned by the City of Stockholm and by the Stockholm*s County
Council.

Stokab was formed the year competition was opened up. The intention was to
offer all new players access to fibreoptic capacity on the same terms.
Stokab constructs and maintains its own network, but is not an operator.
Under Swedish law, a municipality-owned company must be run for the benefit
of the citizens at large and not to make a profit. So Stokab does not
compete with private business. Instead, it rents out *dark fibre*, to anyone
needing it and leave to the market to offer telecom services. The idea is to
increase competition among operators and thereby benefit business enterprise
in the region.

To date, Stokab has laid over 2,000 km of cable with 140,000 km of fibre,
covering Stockholm and its suburbs as well as several neighbouring
municipalities.

Apart from telecom operators, customers include TV companies, IT companies
and property owners who offer Internet service to tenants



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Bill St. Arnaud
Senior Director Network Projects
CANARIE
bill.st.arnaud@canarie.ca
+1 613 785-0426

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