Estate Living September 2016 Digital Issue | Page 58
1. IT companies, open access novices and local internet service providers that want to
reinvent the wheel at your expense. You can expect badly delayed and buggy software
that may add a few customers to a small system but is not scalable,is not robust in the
long term and comes from a supplier with doubtful long-term commitment. You can also
expect to keep paying for even the simplest changes.
2. Hardware vendors that are keen to sell you equipment, but then walk away. They
don’t care that integrating hardware and software and then operating a 24/7 service is
not their business. But by the time you need all that, they’ve got your money, so at least
they are happy!
3. The big established telco operators that claim they can “do everything”. They are
likely to use your infrastructure for their own benefit, not yours, and after signing will
simply not care about you or any awkward details agreed to in a rush of enthusiasm by
their salespeople.
There is only one type of organisation that can actually deliver:
4. A committed, experienced and specialised open access operator that lives and
breathes this business. They will have a proven track record in delivering at scale (so
they can attract brand name service providers) and will have many happy residential
estate fibre owners like you.
Some simple test questions to ask of potential suppliers that will help you make better
choices for an open access partner.
OPEN access
THE SIMPLE QUESTIONS FOR ANY
SERVICE PROVIDER
1. Can multiple different service
providers deliver services at the
same time over the network?
2. Can end users see these services
and select freely from
them?
4.
3. Can service providers create new
services and easily add them to the
offers presented in the online
services supermarket, so that they
are available to end users
themselves without the need for
assistance? (For example, in an
open access network, an ISP should
be able to create a new service,
such as a 100 Mbps package, and
add it to their list of offers to to be
presented to end users automatically,
without software development or
third-party help.)
Can the real estate development
add its own IP-based services to
the system, such as CCTV cameras?
This is important, as some
operators just want to put their
own services on and not help the
developer with security, access
control and other applications.