WASHINGTON, DC — (Marketwire) — 01/29/13 — One week after launching its Online Community Toolkit for building ultra high-speed networks, the Fiber to the Home (FTTH) Council Americas has announced it will hold a special conference in Kansas City, May 29-30th to assist local civic and community leaders from across the U.S. pursue their dreams of gigabit connectivity.
The conference, From Gigabit Envy to Gigabit Deployed, will bring the Community Toolkit to life, with working sessions that focus on every aspect of upgrading a network from building the business case and securing community support to navigating the local government and engaging the key stakeholders. Also featured at the conference will be a keynote speech from Lev Gonick, Vice President, Information Technology Services and CIO Case Western Reserve University, who will discuss how gigabit connectivity has changed Case Western and the city of Cleveland.
Partnering with the FTTH Council on this event will be Google Fiber, Gig.U, KC Digital Drive, NATOA, Broadband Communities, and the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association (NTCA) each of whom will contribute their expertise in helping participants plan and deploy ultra high-speed networks in their communities.
“We-re responding to the overwhelming interest in obtaining gigabit connectivity from community and business leaders across the U.S. by giving them the tools they need to make sure their communities stay competitive,” said Heather Burnett Gold, President of the FTTH Council. “Not only is this an opportunity for them to connect with and learn from partners who have gone through the steps of building a fiber network, but more importantly, it is also a chance to craft an action plan that they can take back to their communities and begin implementing.”
The FTTH Council-s announcement comes just days after Federal Communications Commission Chairman, Julius Genachowski, issued a “Gigabit City Challenge” calling for every state to have at least one gigabit community by 2015. More than one thousand communities had expressed interest in hosting Google Fiber-s network that is currently being deployed in Kansas City.
“Our recent Online Community Toolkit was the first step we took to provide resources to community and business leaders that want to upgrade their local networks. We-re looking to build on top of this web-platform and create an interactive space at the conference for folks to really share experience-based knowledge and offer guidance on how to jump-start community-driven gigabit projects. The Chairman-s challenge reinforces the imperative of moving our country to all-fiber connectivity in order to advance our competitiveness and economic security,” said Gold.
“By building on its Online Toolkit, the FTTH conference is setting itself up as an effective incubator for community leaders interested in joining the gigabit revolution. Gig.U is looking forward to partnering with FTTH and sharing its knowledge with city officials, business leaders, and communities,” said Blair Levin, Executive Director of Gig.U and partner at the FTTH conference. “This is a unique opportunity for communities to learn how they can turn the dream of gigabit connectivity in their communities into a reality.”
Now in its 12th year, the Fiber to the Home (FTTH) Council is a non-profit association consisting of companies and organizations that deliver video, Internet and/or voice services over high-bandwidth, next-generation, direct fiber optic connections — as well as those involved in planning and building FTTH networks. Its mission is to accelerate deployment of all-fiber access networks by demonstrating how fiber-enabled applications and solutions create value for service providers and their customers, promote economic development and enhance quality of life. More information about the Council can be found at .
Katie Barr
Glen Echo Group
(202) 525-4343
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