From Andrew Cohill, President of Design Nine, Inc., Broadband Communities Summit Co-Chairman:

The Broadband Communities Summit is going to be a must-attend event for communities with broadband stimulus awards and for communities with active broadband projects. A wide range of experts on community broadband will be presenting solid, experience-tested information on financing, operations, marketing, and network design - all with a special focus on community and open access networks.

The Open Access Network Sessions features 20 speakers and leaders in government and industry.

Highlights of the Open Access sessions include:

Business Planning and Open Access Networks
Open-access networks are built to support multiple providers that offer dozens or even hundreds of services.

Modern Right of Way Management
A community’s rights of way constitute a valuable asset that it can use for economic development and revenue enhancement.

Case Studies: Success Stories for Open Access
The first open-access networks in the U.S. were launched into uncharted waters – no one knew whether or how they would work from a business or technical standpoint.

Technology for Open Access
Though most fiber-to-the-premises networks can be configured to support multiple service providers, there are preferred ways to design networks specifically for open access.

Open Access Fiber and Economic Development
Many of the middle-mile fiber networks being constructed today are open to multiple providers - some of them, though by no means all, because of requirements imposed by government funding.

Do it Yourself Fiber – Creative Approaches to Organizing, Financing and Building FTTH Networks in Rural Areas
Rural communities that have been bypassed by both private and public broadband programs are left to their own devices when it comes to obtaining broadband. Some are now proving adept at what might be termed do-it-yourself or “crowd-sourced” broadband strategies.

The BroadBand Communities Summit 12 will be held Tuesday, April 24, 2012 - Thursday, April 26, 2101 at the InterContinental Hotel - Dallas. Register here.

To learn more about Design Nine, you're invited to read the Design Nine blog, Design Nine Technology Futures, follow Design Nine on Twitter @DesignNine, and read about Design Nine's founder, Andrew Cohill, on Handshake 2.0 in Clicking Back Over the Years - Most Wired Town in America, Most Wired Town: Building Community One Click at a Time, and Design Nine on Handshake 2.0. Design Nine announced The Wired Road - Integrated Fiber and Wireless Municipal Network and FastRoads - New Hampshire.

A free copy of Andrew Cohill's white paper, Broadband For America: The Third Way, is available for download here.

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