Stockholm // 2003-01-29
PacketFront’s technology and "community initiatives" bring true broadband to Piteå and surroundings
Utility company PiteEnergi is extending their areas of business and becomes a communication operator for true broadband services. With the help of PacketFront’s intelligent broadband solution and local "community initiatives", home owners – even in the far outskirts of the area - will be given access to very cost effective telephony, TV and Internet services.
The network that PiteEnergi is building consists primarily of singlemode fibre to family home areas. The plan is to connect 4000 customers in four years. The network will also include the rural areas surrounding the city of Piteå – areas formerly considered non-lucrative in fibre broadband networks contexts. The secret of success contains of new and innovative business models and so called "community initiatives". The model builds on PacketFront’s solution, that enables an operator independent network, and on the agreement that PiteEnergi will dig and blow fibre to the villages’ boarders, and the villages themselves will bring the fibre the last mile out to the homes.
- We chose PacketFront’s solution since their technology is purpose-built for true broadband networks and therefore gives us the ability to effectively handle many and differentiated services on a single infrastructure, says Sune Berg, Net Manager for PiteEnergi.
PiteEnergi will not develop any services themselves. Instead, they will allow and encourage established servcie providers to deliver their services in the network.
- The fact that PiteEnergi is establishing themselves as a broadband communication operator is very exciting, and also important for the the region, says Martin Thunman, CEO of PacketFront.
- Our products enable an open and controllable network with extremely low barriers and costs for service providers to offer their services in the netowork. This, in turn, will lead to freedom of choice and a wide service selection for the end users of the area. Simultaneously, PiteEnergi will leverage from a business model that truly has the potential to become lucrative. PiteEnergi’s initiative for open networks definitely places them in the forefront of the Swedish and international broadband market, concludes Thunman.
About PiteEnergiAB PiteEnergi is a Swedish utility company, partly owned by the municipality of Piteå and partly by Vattenfall AB. Their areas of business are: delivery of electricity, heat, broadband (and other) services, mainly within the municipality of Piteå. Their electricity comes from the water power stations in the North of Sweden. The production of heat is based mainly on excess energy from Kappa Kraftliner’s factory in Piteå. PiteEnergi builds their broadband networks on fibre and deliver Internet and other IP-based services to the inhabitants of Piteå.
More information about PiteEnergi:
www.piteenergi.se
