The Smart Township: High Speed Comes to South Dundas
Anne Marie Waddell
ENTREPRENEUR ROY BRISTER moved from Toronto to the Township of South Dundas to build and grow a financial services and insurance business. In just a few years, The Brister Group built its own high-speed communications system, an initiative that led to a larger network being constructed with the participation of local government and area businesses. Today, the Township of South Dundas owns its own Communications Utility and is enjoying the benefits of a renewed prosperity and a new positive attitude throughout the community.
South Dundas is a rural community of 10,000 people located in Eastern Ontario, about 45 miles south of Ottawa. Since the late 1980s, the area had been losing businesses to large Canadian cities and the United States, with a net loss of jobs and commercial tax base. The Economic Development Office has been struggling to get a share of the new prosperity being enjoyed by most urban areas, but while cities have been growing and prospering, rural Canada has been shrinking.
Now, for the first time in 50 years, South Dundas has a competitive advantage it can market a low-cost centre with high speed communications, plus an attractive rural quality of life.
THE BRISTER CONNECTION
By 1998, Roy Brister had established six offices in Eastern Ontario, each a long distance telephone call from the other and each operating as a stand alone business. He realized it was time to move to the next level of his business plan and secure the benefits of high speed communications.
Brister knew his communication costs were exceptionally high when compared to an urban business. He approached a large Telco but found their solution completely off the affordability scale. The Telco offered to connect his six offices with a series of dedicated 56 kbps lines. Line rental was $10,000 per month, after purchasing $150,000 worth of Telco electronics!
I was disadvantaged because of my rural location, Brister says. If I had offices in Toronto or Ottawa I would be offered a simple and affordable solution.
After some research, Brister discovered that many urban areas did not yet have a high speed communications infrastructure. Brister knew these areas would get connected first due to their population density and the possibility of getting a rural area such as South Dundas connected was probably very remote over the next ten years. Geography had become a discriminating factor.
It was then that I decided that no Telco or communication body would disadvantage me, my business or my community, if I was able to do something about it; and I did.
Bristers background was not technical, but he researched and studied all the possible solutions from satellite to fibre and decided on wireless. He would build his own high speed communications system.
Brister purchased Wi-Lan microwave radios from Calgary and Til-Tek antennas of Kempville, Ontario. He was referred to a contractor from the Toronto area and they began digging tower footings in 1998.
Unfortunately , the system did not work well and had more down time than up. Undaunted, Brister decided to buy his own climbing gear. With the help of partner Bill Barclay, he began climbing towers and inspecting the installations himself.
The original contractor was off the job and Brister contacted Prophet Technologies Inc. of Kanata, Ontario to help get the system up and running properly. Climbing together and working hand-in-hand, they re-engineered and rebuilt the entire system of 12 microwave hops, 24 radios on seven municipal water towers and five freestanding communication towers.
The Brister Group now has one central database instead of six, and is enjoying the new efficiencies of scale and increased profitability.
As for system costs, Brister explains: It essentially cost nothing. We are making more net bottom line now than ever before because of the efficiencies that the system allows us to implement. Amortized capital costs plus ongoing maintenance, less attributable savings, is a positive figure.
THE FIBRE CONNECTION
Roy Brister and his wireless system was a topic often discussed at the local coffee shop.
For months, Brister had been telling anyone who would listen about the merits and benefits of high speed communications. A local politician, Cam Martel, was interested and getting fairly comfortable with the benefits of high speed connectivity for businesses and the community. Martel also had been to several municipal meetings where he heard of the interest of other communites in getting connected.
Brister then decided to approach three local councils and ask for permission to run fibre from his offices directly to the municipal water towers where he had installed communications antenna. His theory was that latency would be less with fibre and he could redeploy his radios elsewhere to a higher advantage.
After several communities agreed to allow him to run the fibre, Brister then asked the Councils: Who should own the fibre, the municipality or the Brister Group?
Perhaps you should consider this as only the first of many requests for communication infrastructure. If its good business for the Brister Group, it may be good for many others in your business community.
Councilors already familiar with the Brister story supported the notion and expressed their interest.
The first off the mark was South Dundas as Mayor Johnny Whitteker and his Council recognized the potential benefits of high speed communications. They asked Roy Brister to form and chair a new Committee of Council called the South Dundas Communication Action Committee.
Roy accepted and the rest is history.
Committee members represented various sectors of the greater community. Fact finding and strategic planning meetings were held. Vision statements, goals, and plans were struck. It was decided to build a municipally-owned single mode dark fibre system.
A multi-phase project beginning with service to the built-up commercial and industrial areas of the small towns and villages was launched in August, 2000.
Once this commercial phase is secure and healthy, the next phases will be wireless to the Agri community, then a combination of wireless and fibre to residential areas.
To-date, a central office has been built, web access secured , electronics purchased, fibre hung, junction boxes installed and fusion splicing performed in Iroquois and Morrisburg.
The two communities were connected with a 45 Meg wireless and the system went live in June, 2000, less than 12 months after the Committees formation.
Proudly, South Dundas had Dr. David Johnson, chairman of the national broadband taskforce, virtually throw the switch to light up the township via the use of a new video conference facility. Many came from far and wide to see the launch including the Ottawa high tech community, business and utility reps, newspapers and television stations.
One of the unique decisions made was to provide every commercial and industrial taxpayer and landowner with their own pair of dedicated fibre at their curb.
Brister said: If you pay business taxes in the built-up areas of South Dundas you will have your own pair of single mode fibre, whether you need it or not. We believe that if the existing operation doesnt use the fibre, the next occupant will likely move in because of the high speed communications availability.
The primary reason the community built this new utility is to help retain jobs and attract new jobs and employers. By creating an environment supportive of innovation and entrepreneurship, it will eventually translate into jobs.
Simply put its really all about jobs, jobs and jobs. What is so surprising about a community spending money trying to attract jobs? I specifically asked our municipal council: What is the value of a job to South Dundas?
The result was much discussion and research but we ended up using a simple formula of annual salary times a factor of three. Now we had something real to measure our results against.
Attract ten permanent jobs at $40,000 per year, times a factor of three, to deliver $1.2 million in benefits to the community.
PROMOTING THE PROJECT
The next step sounded simple. Get to work, attract jobs and promote our unique communication advantage.
To keep it simple, the large task of promotion was divided into smaller units.
Inward:
- Promotion through education and community learning initiatives.
- Sell benefits to the critical community silos of education, health and municipal government and business.
Outward:
- Economic Development information distribution by all means available.
- Develop Centers of Business Influence to reach outside the community.
- Press release management.
TRACKING RESULTS
The established goal of the project was a three-year payback to the community in terms of benefits through new job creation. Annual reports would be submitted to Council on the progress of the project.
If one million dollars is spent in the build, this should result in 35 new full time jobs at $30,000 per year or 25 jobs at $40,000 per year over three years to break even in terms of community benefits.
At the time of the projects launch, Brister predicted: We are convinced we are going to outperform our stated goal by a huge margin.
Events have proven him right. During the first 12-month period (since the lighting of the system in June, 2001 to June 30, 2002) more than 500 new jobs have been created in South Dundas, of which 260 are full-time manufacturing.
There has been more economic activity in last year than in the previous ten years. Another 125 new jobs are slated to land in South Dundas in next 12 months.
In addition, high speed communications were established in The Village of Williamsburg in May, 2002 via a 45 meg wireless system backhauled to the POP in Morrisburg.
High speed Internet has been delivered to businesses outside the wired villages either by extending the fibre optic footprint or by wireless.
Connecting the Agri community is the next major challenge. The requirement is an Internet hook-up to the commodity exchanges to help the industry become more competitive and responsive to the demands of their changing business.
The success of the project is a personal accomplishment for Roy Brister, but he is quick to explain that this is not about me or my accomplishments.
I chaired a highly competent team of focused individuals. I am only one of eight. Mayor Whitteker and his council kept the politics at bay allowing the committee to perform our mandate and the community supported us. But, it is not over by a long shot.
A high-speed communications infrastructure is a living project and it has no end. Change is a constant. Promoting and nurturing an environment that embraces business, community and personal innovation should never see an end. It is the process that keeps the community healthy, vibrant and prosperous.
Our new challenge is sensibly managing growth while preserving the benefits of our small Ontario town.