telx Editorial
Contributed by: Jamie Scotto and Associates
WEB 2.0 – FUELING THE ECONOMIC GROWTH OF NEW JERSEY
WEB 2.0- WHAT IS IT AND WHY NOW?
Web 2.0, the emergence of the next-generation of the Internet, is not only changing the way we get information, it’s changing the way we do business, the way we live, and the very economic landscape of New Jersey.
To nail down what we mean by “Web 2.0”, let’s step back and think about our online evolution. Let’s start with defining “Web 1.0” or rather the Internet as we know it. Original “Web 1.0” websites, developed from roughly right before the IPO of Netscape throughout the Internet boom all the way to many “not-so-modern-day” lackluster sites, can be categorized as “one-dimensional”; content is created and posted by the owner of the site. It is often an e-business card- a webpage or two explaining who you are and how to contact you. End users (that’s us) go to their search engine of choice (Yahoo, Google, etc.), type in a keyword or phrase, and retrieve.
Now with Web 2.0, there is the emergence of the new content generator (that’s us again). We can now generate our own blogs, videos, websites, photos, music, and then share, discuss and track. With the emergence of YouTube, MySpace, and even eHarmony, we have interaction, we have idea generation, we have cultivated, motivated online communities exchanging information 24/7. It’s the ultimate viral marketing campaign. It’s the ultimate monitor. We will be able to track everything from groceries to FedEx pick-ups, to the temperature in our homes, right down to the number of cars in our driveways while we are away on vacation, all over a secure, private Internet line.
Why now? Because it’s an IP World. Internet Protocol (stress on the word “Protocol”) can be private or public. Yes, the word “Internet” (without “Protocol”) means a public, often-bumpy highway that allows anyone the ability to ride. But now we are talking I-P, as in “with Protocol”, where if you pay a toll, you can have access to your own private, secure roads that can carry business-critical information in a trusted, reliable environment.
But perhaps what’s most noteworthy here is that IP has given us (and our communications networks) a common denominator. Applications now have embedded IP, which means the network is common in terms of protocol. So we can roll out next-generation services over the Internet or on our TVs or cell phones. We have now unlocked new features and benefits that will impact our businesses and lifestyles. For example, banks are announcing “mobile banking” where we can log into our bank accounts via our cell phones. And this is happening today.
JERSEY ECONOMICS
But how is this affecting our collective Jersey wallet? “It’s all about access. Fiber-rich communities have the necessary broadband for next-generation services,” states Ralph Cabrera, the CTO of Gold Coast Broadband. “And a few New Jersey communities are already leading the way. For example, there’s 80 acres of waterfront property in New Jersey called Liberty Harbor. The property owner wanted to create a new sense of urbanism. He partnered with Gold Coast Broadband to build an exclusive, fiber-rich ring infrastructure for this community. Every tenant within the 10,000 residential homes, 5 million sq. ft. of commercial space and 2 ½ million sq. ft. of retail space enjoy ‘triple play’ services (phone, cable and high-speed Internet service). They can also manage their home remotely, by logging into their private account on goldcastbroadband.com. They can check who is at their front door, shut off any lights in the house, increase the temperature in a particular room, monitor the TV channels their kids are watching, all with a few clicks of the mouse. The higher the bandwidth, the more possibilities.” Broadband access is and will continue to be a main driver in desirable New Jersey real estate markets, commercial or residential.
Now let’s talk business… and hospitals, universities, local and state governments, or any Jersey organization with a large network that needs security and quality service… all these institutions have one common need: private fiber. Similar to Liberty Harbor, New Jersey institutions like Kean University, Union County College, and Monmouth and Union Counties, are building their own dark fiber networks so they can become their own carrier. These rings all have a similar network point: the meet-me room (MMR). In every major city there’s one building, one suite, one meet-me room, where major carriers have a network presence and can physically interconnect to one another, and exchange services and capacity quickly and cost-effectively (a network supermarket, if you will). So now, as we begin the new frontier of building private fiber-based communities, colleges, governments and other networks “in the know” are building into the MMRs (just as the carriers have previously done) to directly access a variety of service providers who can compete for their business.
How do you get this dark fiber ring with access to a MMR (network supermarket)? Well if you ask Union County College, Kean University, and Monmouth and Union Counties, they called 4Connections, the New Jersey fiber provider responsible for interconnecting them. “By connecting all these networks to the largest New Jersey carrier hotel and MMR, 165 Halsey in Newark,” states Gil Santaliz, President of 4Connections, “all participants were able to gain secure, private and inexpensive Internet access, voice and data services. Kean University and Union County College also have access to video portals and Internet 2, more than 200 other U.S. universities that develop and deploy network applications and technologies for research and higher education.”
And it makes fiscal sense. “By interconnecting our fiber networks to competitive service providers also located within the Newark MMR, we can now purchase voice and data services essentially at wholesale prices, a huge benefit to the University,” states Joe Marinello, Director of IT at Kean Unversity. “We cut our Internet bandwidth costs in half, while increasing our throughput ten-fold.”
“Union County is a great example of how fiber-rich communities can offer more opportunities for companies to grow,” continues George Devanny, County Manager of Union County. “Because of dark fiber providers like 4Connections, Union County businesses now have the necessary fiber infrastructure to build and grow. Technology is not only adding more jobs to the marketplace, but it’s allowing companies to be more competitive in their respective fields, and to be more capable of producing high-quality work in less time. It now makes business sense to move your corporate offices to communities like Union County.”
“New Jersey is a strategic location for large-network enterprises that require a datacenter backup site in and around the New York City metro area,” states Brent Behrman, Vice President of Sales for Digital Realty Trust, the nation’s largest institutional owner, developer and manager of datacenter and technology-related real estate. “We are also finding that New Jersey governments, universities, health care facilities and other enterprises want to interconnect with one another and privately peer traffic and save on respective Internet, voice and data costs. These institutions are acting like their own carrier, building their own private rings, and considering back-up strategies for their critical communications in the event of an emergency. As they do this, they are literally laying the physical, fiber-driven foundations for a stronger New Jersey. This shared vision of the future of communications and data requirements is consistent with our own at Digital Realty Trust and makes the state of New Jersey an extremely important market for us.”
FLYING HIGH WITH NO (INTER)NET
All sounds good, right? You may invest in your own private network in a year or two? But here’s the catch: the very backbone of the public Internet is about to get overwhelmed with too much video. Today’s e-mails and simple websites are relatively small bandwidth consumers, but make way for video: fathers sharing home videos of their kids’ soccer games, newlyweds posting wedding video, schools streaming online courses, companies playing their latest commercials, news agencies asking for amateur video feeds, TV series showing last night’s episode, and that’s just the beginning. Next add in the video traffic of Europe and Asia, all running on the same tired pipelines.
So just stop posting unnecessary video? Unlikely. Video is highly influential, therefore business-critical. Just like emails and websites in the late nineties were necessary to substantiate your business model, video, commercials, streaming interviews and news coverage, will be the new “must haves” for companies’ marketing strategies.
“Here’s the problem - ISP network upgrade plans (the pipes of the Internet itself) have not been updated since post the Internet bubble burst in 2001. At their best they are OC192, or 10G wavelengths,” states Hunter Newby, the Chief Strategy Officer of telx whose company is one of the major MMR operators in the U.S., including facilities in New York and New Jersey, ”telx manages the physical plumbing. We know what the carriers have in terms of physical capacity and network delivery capability. In the last ten years, there has been a huge transition to new applications and service types; WiFi everywhere, updated feature-based email and VoIP systems and new website functionality, but all of this is relatively low-end in terms of capacity. We are now heading in to the next phase - video on the Internet - and there’s simply no physical infrastructure to support it. Video as an application consumes at least 20 times more bandwidth than other applications and services, yet most carriers do not have the money or support to upgrade their submarine and terrestrial networks, so the utopia can potentially be a mirage. Soon we will be back to the “Internet is slow” days of dial-up, but with the added frustration that we as end users have purchased high-speed cable modem services for Internet access, Ferraris, but can only drive on a dirt road highway in between the on and off ramps. Fixing this predicament will take time.”
So what’s the game plan for Jersey?
THE END RESULT: PLAN FOR PROFIT
Here’s the fallout: New Jersey businesses who still rely on the public Internet for commerce will suffer. There will be a lag time just to log into FedEx and track a package. So those who paid for the private lines, those early adopters, will benefit. And there will be a dramatic shift to follow suit as companies lose millions by every minute of downtime.
Access equals fiber. You need fiber to access the private networks of tomorrow. And if you don’t have a plan yet to get your own private fiber ring, your company’s ability to communicate can be dramatically impacted.
If you are a CIO or COO of a company, a hospital, a government agency, a university, a network operator that needs to transfer, store, rely upon critical information, it’s time to ask. Ask what happens to your network once it leaves the phone closet. Ask if you have fiber or copper throughout your network. Ask how many points of entrances you rely on- both in and out of every building. Ask if you have a network map. Ask if your local access providers (CLECs) are only riding over the incumbent’s fiber (i.e. Verizon). Ask if the fiber gets cut or if the telephone pole goes down, who is responsible for getting your network back online. Ask if you have an agreement with this particular provider. Ask if you are first on the list to get fixed. Ask how much it costs per minute when your company is down. Ask if you have other carrier options. Ask where the nearest carrier hotel and/or MMR are located. Ask if you made the initial investment into building your own fiber ring, how soon thereafter will the ring pay for itself. Ask if you have diverse routers. Ask if you have diverse Internet service providers. Ask if your traffic is routed through Manhattan only. Ask if you have backup routing. Ask how much time will be saved daily when the rest of the country is thrusted back to the days of dial-up and your company has its own private, secure broadband.
Bottom line: As we continue to ask, as we continue to plan for profit, as we continue to build out our private fiber infrastructure, New Jersey positions itself to be an early adopter of high-technology. This technology will usher in a wave of economic expansion for the state, for our neighborhoods, and for the companies who call New Jersey home.
Have more questions? Email pr@jaymiescotto.com
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