At last Thursday’s Community Council meeting, a Verizon spokesman introduced the Fiber to the Premises (FTTP) project, an advanced fiber-optic technology that can be used instead of copper wires to connect a home or business directly to Verizon’s network. ‘Pacific Palisades has been selected to receive FTTP,’ said Tom Kormondy, Verizon Community Communication Manager. ‘What we propose to do is overlay the copper wires of the existing phone lines with fiber.’ When one audience member asked, ‘Did you say you’re going to replace our phone lines?’ Kormondy answered, ‘No, this is an offering we’re making to our constituents.’ He added that the project would maintain two telecommunication infrastructures’copper and fiber. ‘The layout design would be similar to what you have here [in the Palisades] today,’ Kormondy said, explaining that Verizon would ‘maintain underground conduits’ and other underground infrastructure where possible. Kormondy said that with fiber-optic technology, increased speeds of Internet access’10 to 30 times faster than cable modem’would enable residents and businesses to send and receive large files of data more efficiently. ‘It’s more reliable and dependable,’ said Kormondy, who calls FTTP ‘one platform for all,’ or one delivery system that offers multiple services. Fiber-optics systems use hair-thin strands of glass fiber and laser-generated pulses of light to transmit voice, data and video signals that exceed copper cable systems in speed and capacity. Kormondy said FTTP will be no more costly than having regular phone service and will also have lower maintenance costs. Resident Dick Littlestone wanted to know if FTTP will work if the community loses power, since the current, copper-wire system still works in these circumstances. ‘There is a battery back-up with fiber that’s good for four days,’ Kormondy replied. While the FTTP sounded good to community members, Marquez resident Haldis Toppel cut straight to the chase by asking, ‘Why do we need to know all of this?’ ‘Because there will be a presence of machinery and trucks in the community,’ said Kormondy, who could not answer specific questions about the engineering of the project, such as the impact FTTP installation will have on traffic and noise. Council secretary Karyn Weber suggested that Verizon have engineers come to another meeting to answer questions about street construction and how long the whole process will take. Questions also remain as to whether the FTTP service would be available in parts of Rustic and Santa Monica canyons that have a Santa Monica zip code. A recent Los Angeles Times article on wireless technology raises another point: Will wireless broadband technology soon match hard-wired cable and DSL in popularity? According to the article, Verizon is investing $2.5 billion to wire three million homes in two years. ‘It’s a $1 billion initiative this year alone to provide service to 1 million homes,’ Verizon spokesman Bill Kula later told the Palisadian-Post. ‘We hope to bring the benefits of fiber to Pacific Palisades but won’t likely initiate our fiber deployment until, at earliest, next year.’ Kula added that FTTP is ‘a very labor intensive and arduous process, and it is nearly impossible not to see a Verizon truck or van on the street on any given day.’ In California, Verizon most recently introduced FTTP in Huntington Beach, and the Palisades could be the first community in Verizon’s serving territory in the City of L.A. to receive FTTP, according to Frank Uribe, Verizon’s Director of External Affairs. However, Verizon must first receive the necessary municipal permits from the city, a process which asks that Verizon obtain public support from Pacific Palisades. Currently, Verizon has received letters of support from the Palisades Chamber of Commerce board and from Mayor James Hahn. ‘We’ll continue to have an open dialogue with the Palisades Community Council, with the intent of bringing fiber optics to the community,’ said spokesman Kula.
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