OpenPlanet has recently been established as an international developer of Open Public Local Access Networks (OPLANs?) - a ‘next generation’ communications infrastructure company. This note presents a short introduction to OpenPlanet.
OpenPlanet Limited will work with local communities, towns and cities around the world to help them develop such future-proof networks.
An O-PLAN: • is truly ‘broadband’ in capacity - way beyond anything provided by existing local telecoms networks • provides abundant low cost connectivity on an ‘end-to-end’ and symmetrical basis, charging for access not bandwidth • serves a geographic community ranging from a street or business park to an entire city • is ‘open’ for access and use by any party located within the community it serves: public and private, business and residential • provides infrastructure which is owned and controlled independently of any service or content which uses it • is structured so as to serve the ’common good’ as well as the interests of its owners
How does OpenPlanet define it’s rôle? The role is summarised as a ‘development company’. Whilst acknowledging differences between sectors, the model bears close comparison with the familiar model of a real estate/property development company. Its purpose is to appraise, initiate, plan, fund and create next generation broadband public local access networks. In a mature phase, OpenPlanet envisages the potential to transfer ownership of O-PLANs? to long term institutional investors who have an appetite for low-risk, asset backed revenue streams. This model will only exist after the successful creation and operation of early O-PLANs?.
Why? OpenPlanet’s mission is to provide the means by which communities, households and businesses can discover and fully exploit - both as consumers and creators of - the next generation of broadband content and services which are already emerging and will mushroom once O-PLANs? are developed. This combination of ‘open’ and passive local infrastructure, coupled with content and applications generated and consumed at the periphery, has tremendous potential to promote: • wealth creation and economic development • digital inclusion • environmental and social sustainability • the empowerment of households, businesses, communities and regions • public sector savings and enhancement of customer-centric service delivery
Telecoms II Central to the above is a shift in mindset in the management of connectivity infrastructure from managing ‘scarcity’ to accessing ‘abundance’ (what The Economist calls Telecoms II). This shift in philosophy is enabled by a set of building blocks to Open Planet's business model which include: • viewing the funding of infrastructure on a long term basis, comparable to the funding of real estate and without assuming any risk relating to the demand for any specific service or application • exploiting the latest developments in wired and wireless telecoms infrastructure technologies (in particular ‘loose lay fibre in existing utility pipes’) and architecture which fundamentally lowers the build costs for local next generation networks • exploiting the capabilities, assets and demand of publicly-minded agencies such as municipalities and certain utilities • recognising the current capabilities and long term limitations of existing copper local access networks: supporting and stimulating demand for services which are beyond the capabilities of such networks
Who is OpenPlanet? The OpenPlanet proposition is being developed by National TeleCable? Ltd, formed and owned by Malcolm J. Matson, founder of COLT, in collaboration with Scottish Water, a publicly-owned utility and one of the UK’s four largest water services. Malcolm Matson, is a successful serial entrepreneur in the IT and Telecoms sector. Scottish Water has pioneered the application of loose-lay fibre in pipes methodologies which have demonstrated the ability to transform the economics of new fibre infrastructure. OpenPlanet is also working in association with a leading telecoms and water consultancy, facilities management organisation and with a number of investors sympathetic to the O-PLAN model. OpenPlanet is also in dialogue with trunk fibre owners who already have the massive capacity in their existing fibre assets to enable any service or content provider to gain global connectivity to and from any O-PLAN.
How? OpenPlanet intends to build upon existing demand or ‘clusters of local connectivity’, creating anchor partnerships in the public, private and community sectors from which an O-PLAN can be created. Each O-PLAN will be funded as a discrete venture and is likely to have the following characteristics, complementing the benefits set out above: • maintenance, planning and marketing of the O-PLAN will be contracted out to qualified third parties • the pricing model will be reflective of costs and will relate primarily to connection to the O-PLAN rather than bandwidth. The OPLAN will not revenue share with service or content providers • all traffic which originates and terminates within the O-PLAN does so at no further charge to the parties involved • ‘service and content providers’ are not differentiated from any other party connected to the O-PLAN • the O-PLAN is likely to be owned, long term, by passive portfolio investors (analogous to a real estate investment). It may even be owned by its users but it will not be owned by a telecommunications operator
Where and When? OpenPlanet has an international focus and will seek opportunities in any territories where favourable market and regulatory conditions for its business model prevail or where there is a desire to create them. Early projects are likely to be located in Scotland, and certain other UK locations, reflecting the assets and relationships of the founders. OpenPlanet Limited has being formed and expects to commence definition of its initial projects in the third quarter 2004 with a view to implementation early in 2005.
More information? Jonathan Cape (Director): mail@joncape.plus.com +44 (0)7775-665561
Malcolm Matson (Director): cityman@city.co.uk +44 (0)7977-407845 londoncityman