Telecom Infrastructure: The New Facility Backbone

In the “Information Age,” telecommunications is as much a part
of a community?s backbone as is its highways, railways and waterways. Now,
businesses study not only an area?s physical and human infrastructure when
locating a facility, but its telecom capabilities as well. And as telecommunications
activities increase in the fast-paced global economy, the need for high-speed
Internet access, video teleconferencing, telephony and 24/7 availability will grow
as well.

Many agree that telecom infrastructure falls within the top five — if not the top
three — criteria for locating a facility. “Now if you don?t meet certain
telecommunications criteria, you?re not getting on the ?sure list? at all,” says John
King, market development manager, regional operations at GTE.

Fortunately, many communities have recognized this and have begun promoting
and upgrading their telecom capabilities. “I?m very pleased that many economic
developers have responded to this challenge,” says Jim Beatty, president of NCS
International, an Omaha, Neb.-based consulting firm. “Back maybe five years ago,
the typical community profile would list suppliers of power and water, but
increasingly you see a community profile inclusive of telecommunications.
They?ll talk about who the local carriers are and where the fiber optics are in
place.”

Communities Wire Up

Although metro areas are most recognized for being up-to-date
with their telecommunication services, many smaller, more rural areas are
investing in the necessary infrastructure as well. “Obviously if you have a large
business base, you can afford to bring your services out quicker,” Beatty says.
“However, I?ve seen very clearly that ?Rural America? [population 50,000 or less]
has done an excellent job of keeping up with demand and, in many cases, they are
ahead of demand.”

For example, Rapid City, S.D.-based Black Hills FiberCom, the communications
subsidiary of Black Hills Corp., currently has seven mini-hub signal
regeneration substations under way in Rapid City and the Northern Black Hills.
The “mini-hubs” will house telephone, cable television and computer network signal
regeneration equipment. Upon completion, customers will be able to receive
telephone services, expanded cable television, video conferencing, and high-speed
Internet access and data services through a single cable.

“Black Hills FiberCom is being extremely well-received by our potential customers,” says Dan Landguth, president and CEO of Black Hills Corp. “This is one of the most significant development activities our corporation has undertaken, and we are very
optimistic about this technology and its impact on our growth.”

Of course, the metropolitan areas continue to grow their infostructure as well. As
an example, Columbia Transmission Communications, a wholly owned subsidiary
of Columbia Energy Group, plans to build a telecommunications network from
Washington, D.C., to New York City. With completion scheduled by year?s end,
the new fiber network will cover 260 miles (418 km.) and provide access to 16
million people in the one of the busiest telecommunications corridors in the United
States. Columbia Transmission Communications? future plans include extending
the network to 2,500 route miles (4,023 km.) with direct access to 35 million
people throughout the eastern United States.

“One of Columbia?s greatest competitive advantages is its vast network of
pipeline corridors linking some of our nation?s most populous regions,” says
Oliver G. Richard III, chairman, president and CEO of Columbia Energy Group.
“Now, the same corridors Columbia uses to efficiently transport energy will
become much-needed pathways for carrying voice, data and video signals.

In an effort to wire much of the Southwest, El Paso Energy Communications
Co., a subsidiary of El Paso Energy Corp.; Touch America, a subsidiary of The
Montana Power Co.; and PF.Net LLC of Vancouver plan to launch an
approximately US$150 million project to create a long-haul, fiber-optic network
linking Los Angeles and Houston. The route, which will span 1,500 miles (2,414
km.), will provide new connectivity and advanced telecommunications services to
several growing Southwestern metropolitan areas.

PF.Net, which will build one half of the route, plans to build an Internet
Protocol-based fiber network based on a fundamental shift that is occurring in the
communications industry — a switch from the traditional circuit-switched
networks used primarily for voice communications to packet-switched networks
using Internet Protocol.

In the past year, for the first time ever, there was more data passed along
telecommunications networks than there was voice, says Michael Harbin, director
of economic development with BellSouth. Although voice continues to grow at
about an 8 percent clip, data is growing at approximately 30 percent, he adds.

“So you?ve got a network out there being used more and more to transmit data
information, be it the Internet or just from computer to computer, he continues.”
?As a matter of fact, we are trying to build a data network that accommodates
voice as opposed to a voice network that accommodates data, because that is what
our economy has changed to — a data economy, not a voice economy.”

Call Centers Bolster Telecom?s Importance

Call centers have, in fact, begun to integrate e-mail and Web
capabilities into their interaction systems with customer service, which is
traditionally managed by phone. Moreover, a recent survey conducted by Quintus
Corp. of Fremont, Calif., shows that companies are rushing to adopt technologies
that provide customer service through any electronic medium. Of the 250 call
center professionals Quintus surveyed at the CTI Expo, which was held in May in
Washington, D.C., 68 percent said that their company provided service over the
Web, and 86 percent saw Web-based sales and service as a competitive advantage.

With customers demanding better, faster service, it is crucial for
the site selector of a call center project to find the proper location. Of course labor
is and will always be the main concern when locating a call center, but telecom
infrastructure immediately follows.

Included in the key telecom elements that are needed for call centers is route
diversity, or disaster recovery. Route diversity means that if the cable coming into
the building is cut, there is an alternate route in place for calls to enter and exit the
system. King of GTE adds that there also needs to be diversity in switching, so
that if one switch fails, the business traffic can be routed to another switch.

Many call centers are also requiring an Integrated Services Digital Network
(ISDN), says Beatty. ISDN provides lines capable of handling both voice and data,
so a call center agent can talk to a customer on the phone and be with him on the
computer at the same time.

Call centers also need access to both fiber and copper lines. Although fiber is not
necessary, says Harbin, “most call centers want T-1s, and if you have six to eight
T-1s, then it needs to be on fiber, because it?s more cost-effective for us and more
cost-effective for their company.”

And, depending on volume, says Harbin, call centers may ask for a POP, or
point of presence. “That is another way of saying the long-distance carrier?s
computer, its switch, which gets the call center out on the network across the
nation and the world,” he adds.

More and more what is near the facility is becoming as important as what is
inside the facility. It is important to have both technicians and vendors nearby,
says Beatty. “Things are going to go wrong, and how close the vendor is, or how
close the telephone company is, is important, he adds. The demand for 24-hour
access to support, be it over the phone or nearby personnel, will increase.”

But whether a site selector is looking to site a call center or a manufacturing
plant, the same basic requirements must be met — redundancy, diversity and
reliability are key to selecting the proper site for any facility. A site selector needs
to asks the basic questions, King explains, and “if they go down that checklist and
get yes?s to all of those questions, then they?re going to be in good shape as far as
communications is concerned, no matter where they go.” SS