iFiber closes shop

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   iFiber had a good run but just couldn't compete without capital. It's a shame.

iFiber did more than serve high speed internet to under-served areas where TimeWarner and AT&T DSL don't reach (like Madison Twp); it offered a distinct alternative.

iFiber also played a key role installing Middletown's municipal automated water meter reading system. Middletown has a very unique wireless data infrastructure like few other municipalities in the US.

iFiber has been a thorn in the side of Cincinnati Bell for a long time. With CB's purchase of the Butler County fiber loop that iFiber used for high speed internet connectivity, competition is diminished and Middletown loses a valuable asset.

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squeemy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MUSA Resident Joined: Dec 23 2009 Location: Middletown Status: Offline Points: 125	Post Options Post Reply Quote squeemy Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: iFiber closes shop Posted: Nov 30 2010 at 9:55am
	iFiber had a good run but just couldn't compete without capital. It's a shame. iFiber did more than serve high speed internet to under-served areas where TimeWarner and AT&T DSL don't reach (like Madison Twp); it offered a distinct alternative. iFiber also played a key role installing Middletown's municipal automated water meter reading system. Middletown has a very unique wireless data infrastructure like few other municipalities in the US. iFiber has been a thorn in the side of Cincinnati Bell for a long time. With CB's purchase of the Butler County fiber loop that iFiber used for high speed internet connectivity, competition is diminished and Middletown loses a valuable asset.

spiderjohn Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Prominent MUSA Citizen Joined: Jul 01 2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2749	Post Options Post Reply Quote spiderjohn Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Nov 30 2010 at 11:36am
	agree squeem ya would think that C St would need this, though they are a long way down the road from usage. Another unfortunate turn from the continuing Thatcher dispersal. I hope many understand how much everyone will miss Perry in some way. I have missed him for the last few years. He was always open and receptive. Never closed out like those currently "in charge"(lol) have done. Many ideas and alternative thinking-he seldom blew off any concept. He did what he could to revive a terminally ill area--more than he had to do. Council was a bad fit for him, especially the Council on which he served. His open thinking was a tremendous asset. IMO Thatcher in his prime is exactly what that area needs the most at this time.

squeemy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MUSA Resident Joined: Dec 23 2009 Location: Middletown Status: Offline Points: 125	Post Options Post Reply Quote squeemy Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Nov 30 2010 at 3:14pm
	I can echo the PT comments, Spider. he truly had a commitment to, as you would say, "the terminally ill area" known as downtown. as it all gets unwound, folks can get a sense of where he had his hands. CinState will benefit from a fiber connection between their campuses. In fact, the Butler County Fiber Ring was justified to connect the campuses of Miami U. The CinState buildings at 1 & 2 N. Main and the Bank One site are all connected via fiber into a network operating center at 2 N. Main old vaults. This NOC is connected to the Butler Ring that goes into Cincinnati. CinState might be buying into a museum but thanks to PT a few of it's main buildings can be connected to the internet and its main campus via the fastest possible mode.

acclaro Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Prominent MUSA Citizen Joined: Jul 01 2009 Status: Offline Points: 1878	Post Options Post Reply Quote acclaro Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Nov 30 2010 at 4:19pm
	As a point of cuiousity, did that fiber ring extend, or could it have relatively easily, I assume, dug, and then spliced, as it was a fiber optic connection, to AK? And if so, was that not one of the compelling reasons AK said they were leaving their corporate location for West Chester, for the added and faster bandwidth? I realize the real reason was taxes and the old infrastructure (and strike repair of image), but there is another lost opportunity to have been exploited to have kept AK in town. Or at least, to have said, AK, that's not the reason you left, because you had a 300 Mb/ sec pipe or faster, available. Secondarily, Middletown could have really harnessed that backbone, set up it as a service for all residents very inexpensively, with free wifi routers all over the city. Another lack of forward thinking to an asset which was quite valuable. Just think what leverage that backbone could have provided Middletown residents, and a distinction, like Raleigh, NC, and other cities are wired for speed and free wifi. Recall with amusement, the city making a feable plea for Google, when they had the iFiber resource under their nose. Not certain they ever knew what they had, or for that matter, if iFiber ever knew how to market their capabilities. Finally, thinkig of Butler Cty deals, why is Kay Rogers not sentenced after now 3 or 4 years? This discussion made me think of Mike Fox, and the deal with the county.

squeemy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MUSA Resident Joined: Dec 23 2009 Location: Middletown Status: Offline Points: 125	Post Options Post Reply Quote squeemy Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Nov 30 2010 at 5:25pm
	AK never entertained an extension of fiber to it's Curtis St or Eastside locations with iFiber. service provider network connectivity had nothing to do with their re-location. iFiber specialized in operating Ethernet protocols over fiber and data rates of 1Gb/s were available at a decent cost. Middletown harness the backbone? That was iFiber's purpose. Ironic to hear that proposal here. But to be fair, iFiber was also a very poorly marketed company. iFiber provided WiMax-like services - wireless internet access in excess of 20Mb/s for under $100/mo. The city helped a lot as iFiber leased space on city water towers for their transceivers. That's why it was such a good fit for iFiber to deploy the automated water meter reading system. Middletown has a distributed wireless data network in place to collect water usage data for billing. A tiny fraction of this capacity is in use for this purpose. Some of iFiber's problems were not of their making as the Dynus deal smeared everyone associated with the Butler County Ring. A bundle of 96 pairs of fiber are still in place with a lot of spurs and equipment in Middletown. iFiber's problem is that the ownership for about a third of this bundle is no longer controlled by an owner friendly to them.

acclaro Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Prominent MUSA Citizen Joined: Jul 01 2009 Status: Offline Points: 1878	Post Options Post Reply Quote acclaro Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Nov 30 2010 at 8:57pm
	Paragraph 4 above squeemy caught my eye With the excess capacity, I am certain Middletown has this password encrpted, why don't they open that up as an unsecure portion of tye wifi network and let its citizens tap into it? I think that would be an awesome benefit. I'd love to be able to use it, instead of my Blackberry using Tether for 4G when I can't tap a hotspot. I agree iFiber was a terribly marketed company. They had some fantastic technology, many elements patented if I recall correctly, but had no slaes force, and no strategy. I recall no one ever mentioning nor marketing any of their services to residents other than innuendo as to what might occur. Would love to be chatting on Skype with that fast pipe. If you know someone in the city IT department, maybe we can rally to get part of that wifi opened without encryption, although I assume they pick up those meter readings confidentially each month, and it takes a password to use it, if you can find it in town. Their coverage should be extensive if they collect the water readings throughout town on the network. Really too bad about iFiber, good technology, no marketing, limited direction, and got eaten by Cincinnati Bell. While I realize connectivity had nothing to do with AK's move, is that not the rationale they used---they needed the faster network and infrastructure? I know of course, IBM and ACS does the datacenter and outsourcing and have for many years..

squeemy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MUSA Resident Joined: Dec 23 2009 Location: Middletown Status: Offline Points: 125	Post Options Post Reply Quote squeemy Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Dec 01 2010 at 8:51am
	regarding excess wireless network capacity: the wireless network is not Wi-Fi; it's much closer to Wi-Max. There is a wireless data transceiver within every square mile of Middletown tied back to the city building. don't be paranoid tho - it's all there just to listen to the radio connected to your water meter. the commercialization of the city's wireless data infrastructure is very limited. it's hard to find the technical and legal boundaries necessary to operate a business over this dedicated system. However I think this wireless data infrastructure offers an opportunity for Middletown because it's NOT a commercial entity. Middletown's somewhat unique water meter reading system is basically a wireless sensor network capable of capturing more than subscribers' flowrates. There is a lot of public and private research going on that wants to measure a variety of data over urban and suburban areas. Finding the technical and legal boundaries for a research project is easier over a municipally owned network is an easier fit than supporting an ongoing commercial entity with city property. A Middletown company just sold dozens of wireless sensors to the University of Birmingham UK for just such a project. If it proves successful, BOAA (UK version of NOAA) plans to extend it over several more urban areas.