...a department of the City Government. Its purpose is to build a state-of-the-art telecommunications system for the citizens and businesses of Burlington. This system will reach every corner of the City; will make available the very latest and best services of all kinds (cable TV, telephone, high speed internet, security, distance medical & education etc). The network will be "open access", i.e. any service provider of any kind who wishes to use BT's network to deliver services to final customers, be they business, non-profit or residential, can lease space on the BT network on a non-discriminatory basis at prices based on Public Utility principles.

Burlington's Center for Media & Democracy had invited him to sit in on a panel discussion (blogged about here) but he was unable to attend, so they did an interview with him and included it in their latest newsletter. I couldn't find a copy of the interview on the Center's website, so I'm reproducing it here (below the fold). If you're at all curious about Burlington Telecom and what it will mean for this community, give it a read. You can hear Friday Coffeeblogging's interview with Mr. Nulty here. (mp3 podcast)

In September we had a great panel discussion on the future of local communications or, how neighbors talk to neighbors. Unfortunately, Tim Nulty of Burlington Telecom was unable to attend as was scheduled. He agreed, however, to answer some questions we might have asked him. Following is our interview with Tim Nulty.

Introduce yourself and how did you get into this business?

I assume by "this business" you mean "Burlington Telecom" per se. In 1999 my wife and I built a house in Jericho with the intention of retiring to the Burlington area. In early 2001, Burlington City asked me to help with the Telecom Project, which they had been working on for some years. Prior to this I have had 30 years of experience in all aspects of telecommunications (among other things!)--From policy, regulation, investment and operations. I have a PhD in Economics from Cambridge Univ. in England and spent the first part of my professional life as a Univ. Prof. (Durham and Oxford, in England) economic advisor for the UN, and Chief Economist for the United Auto workers. My telecom life began in 1975 when I was appointed the Chief Economist of the US Senate Commerce Committee. The Commerce committee's wide jurisdiction included telecom, which was just beginning to heat up as a major issue (after decades as a sleepy backwater). During the next 10 years with the Senate Committee and (after 1981, in the same position with the House Commerce Committee) I was deeply involved with all Congressional activity on Telecom. In 1985 I left Congress to become a senior economist and project manager at the World Bank. For the next 9 years I created and managed projects involving about $1 billion of the Bank's money ($2.5 billion in total) all over the world--but especially in Central & Eastern Europe. In 1994 I left the Bank to head a Venture Capital operating company (25% funded by the Bank and the rest by the private sector) focused on developing new start-up telecom companies in Central & Eastern Europe. During the next 4 years this company created/developed 11 companies including paging, cell phone, cable TV, local telephone and Internet in Poland, Czech, Hungary and Romania. The enterprise was successful but in 1998, due to a difference with the Investors regarding strategy for the next step, I cashed out my piece and came home to retire. Instead, a friend of mine, who had been appointed Chief Financial Officer of the US Dept of Energy, asked me to come be Senior Advisor to him and Bill Richardson, then Secretary of DOE. This I did for one year before being appointed as Deputy Manager and CFO of the DOE's largest, most controversial and complex project--the clean up of the Nuclear Weapons facility at Hanford Washington. I held this position for two years until the "Regime Change" that brought in George W. Concluding that environmental clean up under the new administration would probably not be a very satisfying endeavor; I retired and came to Burlington in February 2001. Shortly thereafter, I was contacted by the City regarding its Telecom Project…and the rest, as they say, is history.

What is Burlington Telecom (BT) and why is it happening?

Burlington Telecom is a department of the City Government. Its purpose is to build a state-of-the-art telecommunications system for the citizens and businesses of Burlington. This system will reach every corner of the City; will make available the very latest and best services of all kinds (cable TV, telephone, high speed internet, security, distance medical & education etc). The network will be "open access", i.e. any service provider of any kind who wishes to use BT's network to deliver services to final customers, be they business, non-profit or residential, can lease space on the BT network on a non-discriminatory basis at prices based on Public Utility principles.

The reasons Burlington City government has taken on this task are three: a) such telecommunications networks are fundamental to the future economic, social and cultural development of our City…any town or locality which does not have such a network will be at an increasing disadvantage in the coming decades; b) the existing carriers have no concrete plans to provide such a network for the foreseeable future; c) the City has strong tradition and experience in providing essential services such as electricity, water, etc and believes that it not only can do the same for telecom but has a duty to do so in order to ensure that Burlington is, and remains, a vibrant community which attracts people, talent and jobs.

Where is BT in the regulatory process?

BT now has all the regulatory approvals it needs to go into business. The last of these, approval for Cable TV, was held up for about 6 months by Adelphia's opposition. But that is now over and approval has been granted.

What is the next step?

We are busily building out the first section of the City. The "Initial Service Area (ISA) is bounded by King St, South Willard, Flynn Ave and Pine St and contains approximately 2400 homes and businesses. The first "beta customers" in this area have been connected with all 50 scheduled to be hooked up by mid November. We are currently testing Internet Access with the beta testers. So far this is going well. Starting in November we will begin testing telephone service and in December we will start testing Cable TV. If all goes well, we expect to begin offering all three services as an integrated "triple play" to all customers in the ISA in January. Assuming this goes smoothly, we will begin expanding the ISA to include the entire South End. Assuming this goes smoothly, we plan to begin wiring other parts of the City next summer. Currently our plans are to begin this expansion to the rest of the City with the core of the New North End…. i.e. the area within approximately ½ mile radius of the Ethan Allen Shopping Center. Our plans are to complete the build-out of the entire city by the end of 2007.

Since this is a city project how do citizens participate in the process?

Several ways:

a) As customers. BT is your network…. built by the City, not by a large corporation. Revenues stay here. Any return earned goes to the City--not to corporate owners, executives and headquarters far away--and can be used to help fund City services just like any other City revenues.

b) As citizens. This network belongs the City. The "Board of Directors" is the City Council. Hence, BT's "Board of Directors” is elected by the citizens of Burlington--not by wealthy stockholders in Palm Beach, Florida. This gives Burlington citizens a close, clear and direct mechanism for expressing their views and for influencing BT policies and operations.

c) As Advisors: In addition to the Council, BT has:

1) a "Citizens Advisory Committee” consisting of 7 members who provide advice, feedback and an independent sounding board for BT management. The Citizens' Advisory Council was created by the City Council and is intended to focus on all of BT's activities and to bring both technical and business expertise to the table. The CAC currently has a few vacancies; anyone who feels they can make a contribution should contact the Chief Administrator of the City to see about volunteering.

2) A "Cable Advisory Committee" is mandated by the Public Service Board. It focuses on Cable TV only, has many more members (15 - 20) and is intended to bring community concerns about video services to bear on BT's operations. The Cable Advisory Committee will be formed in the coming two or three months and volunteers for this are also welcome. (Contact: BT via the co-ordinates listed on its website: www.burlingtontelecom.com or via the Burlington City website.

Are there private backers as well?

In a sense, and to a certain degree, yes. While there are no private stockholders, the network is financed by a "capital lease” from Koch Financial Company of Arizona. This lease is backed by "appropriations only" recourse and not by the full faith and credit of the City (as a municipal Bond would be). Thus, Koch does bear some risk. As such, they are, to a certain degree, a "backer"…. and they are certainly private.

What is behind the decision to start beta testing in the South End as opposed to the North End of Burlington?

Pure economics. After extensive search throughout the City, BT purchased the building at 200 Church St to be its main headquarters and the "hub" of its network (i.e. where the switching, electronics and "intelligence" of its network are housed). The area chosen is the easiest and most economical part of the city to reach from the Hub. Had we found a suitable hub site in another part of the City, the area around that site would have been the ISA.

Will BT have a subsidy for low-income users?

BT is required, both by regulation and by City Council policy, to "pay its own way"--i.e. it must be self-supporting and cannot look to the City budget for subsidies. That means it must take a disciplined approach to pricing. On the other hand, the nature of BT's network and the fact that it does not have to send large amounts of profit out of Burlington to stockholders and senior executives in places like Denver means that our costs are less than those of the competition. We plan to use this advantage to make sure that we have attractive, affordable offerings for Burlington citizens at every rung of the income ladder.

At the Sanders Town Meeting on Cable Television Mayor Clavelle mentioned that BT was having difficulties negotiating with the NESN (?) sports channel? Will people get their sports if they choose to hook on to BT?

BT has succeeded in contracting with every one of its desired cable TV channels except NESN. In other similar situations in the past, other small, cable companies have complained that NESN might be influenced by pressure from Comcast not to provide service to Comcast competitors. We do not know if this is the reason for NESN's recalcitrance with us. However, since the Sander's Town Meeting, we have noticed an improvement in the level of co-operation we are receiving from NESN and it is our current expectation that we will be able to conclude a satisfactory agreement with them. Whether there is a causal link I have no idea.

What role will public access play in BT? Will we get our access channels?

At a minimum you will receive the same access that you receive with Adelphia. In fact, both our position as a community network, owned and operated by the City government, and the enormous capabilities of our network mean that we fully expect to greatly increase the degree and variety of public access. Exactly how this will be worked out is yet to be seen--but the potential and the interest in using this tremendous public resource to do creative and exciting things with public access is emphatically there.

Do you have anything else to add?

Nope…. you’ve asked the key questions and covered the waterfront (so to speak) pretty well.

Check out Burlington telecom’s web site there is a nice slide show of their Hub setup.