From Inception to Reality PROJECT THOR From Inception to Reality

Genesis of Project THOR Numerous outages across region completely cut off communities Impacted governments, schools, businesses and public safety…… Local efforts and existing providers didn’t deliver reliable, affordable middle mile Frustration with non-competitive pricing compared to front range NCB organizes to get aggregated pricing and redundant connections Rural customer needs not being met by incumbent providers Vail assists CDOT in fiber development to build local wi-fi network Glenwood Springs, Rio Blanco, Vail, and others operate public broadband networks

Speakers Nate Walowitz Evan Biagi Joe Krzizike Dr. Paul Schultz Director of Broadband NWCCOG VP of Business Development Mammoth Networks Sr. Sales Engineer Ciena IT Director City of Aspen

Initial Vision Making it Happen The Process The Network Planned Services The Value of THOR Agenda

Initial Vision & Making it happen Nate Walowitz Director of Broadband NWCCOG

Initial Vision NW Colorado historically underserved by resilient, affordable broadband to connect rural communities Need regional approach to develop critical mass, and attract commercial partners, and physical paths Bring together local alliances to achieve strategic and tactical goals

Who is NWCCOG A Regional entity with 28 members and 4 pay-in partners Members drove a regional approach to broadband in 2012-2013 Hired regional broadband director in 2014 Provide technical assistance for local projects and Project THOR Development NWCCOG’s broadband efforts have benefitted from Colorado Department of Local Affairs Partnerships with CO OIT BB Program Office and CDOT and CO DORA, SIPA Contracted with mammoth networks to operate and administer THOR network with ongoing nwccog oversight on behalf of participants

Broadband Program Approach Strategic Planning and Education Local Team Development, Needs Assessment Local Strategic and Tactical Plans Local and regional plan Technical support and implementation Project THOR Development and Deployment Economic Development, Environment Education impact Evaluate Local and Regional Needs

Concept Internet Traffic The Cloud Fiber Routes Data Center Local ISPs Meet Me Center Anchor Institutions Local Network

What is Project THOR Open access, net neutral, middle mile transport network Government owned and operated buyers co-op Improve quality, affordability and access to robust broadband Connected by a shared middle-mile “backbone network” creating a carrier-grade 100/200-Gigabit 400 MILE Fiber loop 178 mile 200 Gb backbone with CDOT fiber Connecting 12 towns across 9 counties each hosting local Meet Me Centers empowering local broadband improvements tailored by each partner CDOT fiber provides additional opportunities to connect NW Colorado to Front Range, Western Slope…….

Service Area 9 Counties, 12 rural towns and cities Assists economic development regions 9, 11, 12 20% area of state, 23% Non Front Range Population Scalable to serve other communities Can support adjacent regions in future 12 Meet Me Centers Contracted with mammoth networks to operate and administer THOR network with ongoing nwccog oversight on behalf of participants

Making It Happen Local government cooperative Project THOR White Paper RFP For Network Operator Blueprint & Cost Modeling Funding / Enabling DOLA, Local match, CDOT Partner and IRU agreements Hardware and software contracts Governance Implementation This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

Meet Me Center Host Entities

The Process Evan Biagi VP of Business Development Mammoth Networks

Tactical Plan vs Strategic Plan Blueprint Tactical Plan vs Strategic Plan 1. Define Roles 2. Network Design 3. Business Model

CDOT CenturyLink Mammoth School Dist. Hospital Pub. Safety Roles Network Owner Network Providers Network Operator Meet Me Center Hosts ISPs CAI Customers NWCCOG CDOT CenturyLink Mammoth City County Coop Mammoth Networks Fiber ISP WISP School Dist. Hospital Pub. Safety

Network Design Identify communities willing to participate Research Network Routes to create diversity Use existing assets when possible Work with available resources Plan for future growth

Project THOR Elements CDOT fiber Commercial fiber and lit services Meet Me Centers Local connections

Evaluate Technologies Scalable Deployable Supportable Affordable

Cost Model and Business Case Establish Costs Network Establishment Costs Local Fiber Connectivity Costs Local MMC Buildout Costs Monthly Operating Costs Allocate Costs Sustainable Fair among members

Cost Model and Business Case Capital costs for Network Establishment shared among all MMC Hosts Monthly costs for all circuits are shared among all MMC Hosts MMC Classification Capacity Points Class 1 100G x 100G 100 Class 2 100G x 10G 90 Class 3 10G x 10G 80 Class 4 10G x 1G 70 Class 5 1G x 1G 60 Helps offset direct costs for individual communities Provides access to larger circuits Greater good philosophy Future cost reductions as network continues to expand

The Network Joe Krzizike Sr. Sales Engineer Ciena

Network Design – 200G Core

Denver & Glenwood Springs Small Footprint Meet Me Center 3 RU 1 x WS Ai (East) 1 x WS Ai (West) 1 x 5170 Fiber management tray optional (1 RU) Denver & Glenwood Springs 1 x WS Ai (East or West) 2 x 5170 Frisco 4 RU

Simple plug and play. Does not require significant DWDM knowledge. Design Highlights Feature Summary Redundancy Dual chassis and module redundancy on transport core network. 320GB of capacity over 4 redundant paths into Denver. Multiple failover paths with no communities stranded or single threaded. Main hub sites have redundant switches and mesh architecture to prevent outages in the event of a switch failure. Capacity Day 1 configuration provides a 200G core backbone between Glenwood Springs and Denver. Each Meet Me Center supports 2 x 100G (east and west) traffic capacity. Community sites support 2 x 10G (east and west) traffic capacity that can be upgraded to 100G+. Footprint Community sites are 1 RU. Meet Me Centers are 3 RU. Hub sites (Denver, Frisco, and Glenwood Springs) are 3 - 4 RU. Fiber management (optional) is an additional 1 RU. Complexity Simple plug and play. Does not require significant DWDM knowledge. Scalability Provides significant growth potential (up to 4 TB) by utilizing 10 channel filters and up to 400G line connections. Versatility Provides Layer 2 and Layer 3 capabilities over a redundant, high capacity transport network. Will support 100M, 1G, 10G, 40G, and 100G client connections. All core transport is encrypted. Operation Includes 100M to 100G test generations for service turn-up and diagnostic testing. Ciena’s advanced QoS capabilities ensure maximum service uptime. Integrated OTDR function allows the network operator to instantly troubleshoot fiber problems including locating fiber cuts.

Planned Services Evan Biagi VP of Business Development Mammoth Networks

THOR Services Open Access Middle Mile Transport Network Resilient Transport to Denver and beyond Transport between MMCs Bulk Bandwidth purchasing option Direct access to carriers & content providers Collocation at MMCs Open Access for any carriers and ISPs Uses we haven’t contemplated yet

The Value of THOR Dr. Paul Schultz IT Director City of Aspen

Aspen Community Broadband: Paul Schultz

Aspen Fiber Network

City of Aspen Staff Locations

Why Aspen Community Broadband Better, cheaper, faster broadband: Resiliency Serve Community Anchor Institutions Customers can resell broadband Net neutral

THOR: The Reality Nate Walowitz Director of Broadband NWCCOG

Moving Project THOR Forward DOLA Grants awarded local matching fund collected $1M matching grant – Network Development $270k for 3yrs. CDOT Fiber Lease (IRU) NWCCOG is billing partners Rolling deployment – July 1 Fiber connections and Meet Me Center builds underway Steering Committee established with bi-monthly meetings Future expansion and extension planning Formal Launch November 2019

Partnerships = Success