The first goal of CBN Connect Inc is to construct a fiber optic ring throughout the three counties. CBN Connect will be an open access, wholesale provider of bandwidth to retail Internet and telecom companies. CBN Connect will thus be a “carrier’s carrier”, enabling service providers to reach unserved and underserved end users that they cannot afford to build to today due to the high capital cost of broadband networks. CBN Connect seeks to use dedicated public funding to step in where the private sector has not. This is similar to how electricity was brought to rural areas 100 years ago.
The system will connect to the Development Authority of the North Country (DANC) fiber network to the west in St Lawrence, Jefferson, and Lewis counties, which also operates an open access fiber network.
CBN Connect will ultimately address broader community-related issues such as economic development and tourism, public safety, government services, tele-health and tele-education, and culture promotion. The result is the creation of a "smart community"; one which allows organizations to carry out activities through virtual alliances and partnerships, sharing skills, costs, and network access with one another.
The real long term return from CBN Connect to the Adirondack Champlain region will be the infrastructure provided to enable regional collaboration and regional solutions to shared problems.
The CBN Connect approach is a relatively inexpensive way to accumulate and distribute locally generated content that would attract visitors and business to the region.
The main objectives of CBN Connect are:
- Expand abundant, affordable wired and wireless broadband coverage
- Enable telecom providers to deliver more cost-effective services within the telecom market, helping them lower the cost of service delivery while increasing revenue by reaching new markets
- Enable better regional collaboration and cooperation for public safety, medical care, and education
- Improve social, cultural, and economic development within the Tri-county region
- Help the region better capitalize on its unique character, creating competitive differentiation and a tool for prosperity
