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THE BUSINESS JOURNAL

Vol. 20, No 27                                             March 27-28, 2002

New network could ring in revenues for CTC

by M. Steele Brown, Staff Writer

An Independence broadband company hopes a new four-state network will become a pipeline to millions of dollars in revenues.

Computers & Tele-Comm Inc. will be the gatekeeper to a 700-mile network that loops through Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma. The Synchronous Optical Network, or SONET ring, offers high-speed data transmission, enhanced security and protection from line cuts. When connected with other SONET rings throughout the country, it can provide near-nationwide broadband service.

CTC is set to profit by overseeing traffic throughout the network, selling wireless access to it and helping set up new wireless networks in cities along the network path. CTC President Graeme Gibson said the network could lead to revenues of $20 million in 2003 and as much as $200 million within five years.

CTC, which made $750,000 from providing wireless services last year, will provide service over lines leased by Oklahoma City-based FirstMile Access Inc.

FirstMile CEO Ron Baker said the plan is to initially connect cities for the purpose of joining emergence-preparedness systems. These cities then could buy access for other types of services, such as digital file transfer.

SONET: Backers say multistate network offers greater security and potential for big revenues

"In small towns, they need broadband." Baker said. "We can give it to them without going through the old copper lines or digging up streets and putting in new wires."

Gibson said that unlike the Internet, the SONET ring network is private and thus less vulnerable to hackers. CTC will use security software to monitor data traffic that goes outside the network to the Internet.

HOW IT WORKS

The SONET network stretches across Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma. The fiber-optic ring, already in the ground, operates like an intraoffice network, securely transferring information to points in and around the ring. The system is designed to provide guaranteed communications during emergencies. It also opens out to the Internet when necessary. Clients pay to connect to the ring using wireless broadband providers. SONET rings exist throughout the country and vary in size. Eventually, one ring will run over SONETs coast to coast.

Gibson said private companies will buy into the technology because it's relatively cheap. The going rate for broadband access is $350 a megabyte. CTC will charge $100 to $250 a megabyte, depending on volume.

T-1 lines, commonly used by smaller and mid-sized businesses, provide 1.5 megabytes of access.

Bill Brunkhardt, chairman and CEO of Overland Park-based e-mail provider Global Messaging Solutions Inc., said SONET technology is solid and reliable. The use of unlicensed wireless spectrum to access the network, however, is the weak link in terms of security, he said.

"It will require extensive ongoing management to ensure that the communications links remain secure," Brunkhardt said.

"Anytime you introduce a wireless medium to a network, you open yourself up to myriad security problems. From Jamming interception and manipulation, the wireless technology will be the most critical component in ensuring the security and reliability of the system."

Gibson said he has addressed security problems. CTC will use more powerful encryption software, which has yet to be hacked, he said. The company also will rotate encryption keys on the fly, a step most wireless networks have yet to adopt.

Among the likely users of SONET ring is the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Officials with FEMA will attend a conference next month in Kansas City at which government officials will learn about the capabilities of the network for emergency communications.

REACH M. STEELE BROWN at 816-421-5900

 
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