Tacoma Power Expands by Adding Fiber Optics.

Telecommunication is a new venture for Tacoma Power, but taking on new ventures is nothing new for the 106-year-old utility.

Tacoma Power has been municipally owned since 1893, when Tacoma citizens voted to buy the privately owned Tacoma Light & Water Company. Citizens believed

Tacoma Power's telecommunications project evolved in a similar way. Tacoma Power originally planned to build a fiber-optic network for automated distribution system control. A consultant suggested that the utility, for a small incremental investment, could build a network with additional capacity that would allow the utility to develop new services that would strengthen customer loyalty and generate revenue. Tacoma Power decided to build a hybrid fiber-optic/coaxial network to connect all of its 143,000 customers as well as its substations -- and help offset the cost by selling data transport and cable television services.

"We recognized the economic development potential for the community we serve and the potential for new services for our customers," said Steve Klein, Tacoma Power superintendent who spearheaded the telecommunications effort. "We were prepared to invest in a system that would benefit every customer in our service area and give them a choice of telecommunications services.

"A system-wide network also opens possibilities for automated meter reading, power outage reporting, better reliability and a two-way communications link with our customers," he continued. "With competition in the electric utility industry increasing, the telecommunications network offers us opportunities to serve our customers in new and exciting ways."

Tacoma Power's in-depth technical feasibility studies, market analysis and customer research all strongly supported building the network. So did citizens, who almost universally favored the project, primarily because of the prospect of competition for the incumbent cable television provider.

Tacoma Power's governing bodies, the Public Utility Board and City Council, gave the utility the go-ahead in 1997.

Tacoma Power had developed some expertise in telecommunications business while preparing the business plan but realized that moving forward required skilled employees from the telecommunications industry who could build a system from the ground up. They found a leader in Debra Stewart, who has been in the cable television business since 1975. She has worked in every aspect of the cable business, from construction to franchise negotiations. Nearly all of Tacoma Power's 98 telecommunications employees are telecommunications industry veterans, bringing between 10 and 30 years of experience to the project and unlimited enthusiasm and commitment to making it work.

"A lot of talented people are working on this project," Stewart said. "The attraction is the opportunity to build a state-of-the-art network from the ground up and to build it right. Our network will give customers superior products with superior reliability."

Fiber was first installed in downtown Tacoma in August 1997 to accommodate the Frank Russell Company, an international investment management and asset consulting firm. Tacoma Power made a fiber-optic connection between two Frank Russell facilities so it could move large amounts of data. This piece of cable became the first section of the downtown Tacoma network.

Construction on the residential cable television network began in December 1997 and service began in July 1998. By November 1999, Tacoma Power had more than 10,000 cable television customers.

Tacoma Power plans to complete network construction within Tacoma in early 2000 and expand service to its customers beyond the city limits as franchise agreements are completed. Tacoma Power needs to negotiate with 10 separate municipalities to serve the entire utility service area.

As construction began, so did marketing efforts, including selecting a name. Tacoma Power brought in marketing and branding expertise to select the name Click! Network and design a distinctive logo.

"Selecting the right name was crucial," said Cyndi Wikstrom, marketing and business operations manager. "Click! is a great name because it reflects that the network will provide cable television, Internet access and broadband services. It communicates what we offer -- quick access to information and entertainment."

Tacoma Power's telecommunications network will consist of some 1,400 miles of fiber-optic and coaxial cable. It is designed to support utility, cable television and broadband applications.

The 35-mile "backbone" of the system is an optical cable ring that routes communications between the cable television head-end and six major hubs, located at Tacoma Power electrical substations. From the hubs, optical cable "service loops" route communications to some 125 neighborhood nodes. Coaxial cable from the nodes completes service to individual homes and small businesses. Large businesses, government institutions and substations that demonstrate a need for high-volume voice or data traffic receive direct fiber-optic connections.

One of the "build it right" requirements is redundancy. Redundancy is built in throughout the system so that services from each hub and each node can be provided through two different routes. Further; each node has batteries to provide up to three hours of back-up power. A status monitoring system, similar to a power SCADA system, provides continuous information about the network and notification when problems occur.

For most Tacoma Power customers, Click! Network means cable television, but the core use of the network is for utility applications. The primary uses will be in distribution system operations, starting with automatic fault restoration. The network will sense a fault, isolate it, restore electrical service to the remainder of the feeder and notify dispatchers where the fault is.

"Some utilities have reduced their average power outage time from 50 minutes to less than six minutes with automatic fault restoration," said Joe Orth, Tacoma Power's SCADA supervisor. "The customer benefits are obvious."

Tacoma Power also may use the fiber-optic network for voltage control, especially in an area of Tacoma with a large number of voltage-sensitive industries. Real-time data on voltage fluctuations will enable Tacoma Power to better address industry needs.

Data gathering is an important network application. Tacoma Power will be able to extend its SCADA system to include unit substations as well as main substations.

"We plan to build a data warehouse with information from the unit subs and the main stations," Orrh said. "The data will help our planning efforts and support our Geographic Information System, just to name a few uses. Once we have the data, it's likely we'll find many more ways to use it productively for our customers.

Click! commercial products fall into three major categories: cable television, Internet access and broadband services.

Cable television: Cable television is the most visible non-utility application. Click! Network offers 114 channels of cable television programming, which includes a digital music service and several premium and pay-per-view channels at competitive prices. So far Click! is realizing better than its market penetration goal of 25 percent.

The head-end for cable television service is located at the Tacoma Power office complex. The head-end is the control center of the system, where incoming television and satellite signals are processed for the network. Click! has seven satellite dishes at the head-end to capture incoming cable signals. A 120-foot tower at the Pearl Street hub captures signals from local broadcast television stations and sends them to the head-end for distribution.

Internet access: Click! has developed a unique platform on which it provides transport for multiple Internet service providers (ISPs) to offer customers high-speed Internet access through cable modems. Click! will create business alliances with ISPs to allow them to use the network to offer cable modem Internet services to business and residential customers.

Broadband and other business services: Broadband telecommunications services include products for telephony, data transport and Internet service for business customers, plus cable television and digital music for business. Click! launched its business services, Click! Business Advantage, in 1999, and offers customers transport services from DS1 to 0C48 in addition to Internet access through Click! ISP Advantage. Contracts with Electric Lightwave and Advanced TelCom Group give business customers high-speed data transport anywhere in the world.

Businesses are also able to use Click! to connect local area networks at several facilities, creating virtual private, secure networks for e-mail and data transport.

While many high-speed data transport services focus on large companies, Click! services will be adaptable and affordable for medium-sized and small businesses, which make up a large part of the Tacoma business community.

Institutional Network: Click! is also building an institutional network, or I-Net, which is a "network within a network" that links schools, colleges, universities, libraries, park buildings, police and fire services and other public facilities. The Tacoma I-Net has the potential to connect some 300 public facilities in Tacoma, allowing them to share video, voice and information services. City government will pay for and manage the I-Net and has contracted with Click! to build, install and maintain it. Organizations that use the I-Net will pay for necessary electronics and connection to the I-Net plus an annual maintenance fee. They then can use the I-Net at no additional charge. "All the 'dividends' from this project go directly back to our customers in the form of more choices, higher quality choices and creating a community asset," Klein said. "Building the system has been a major challenge, but it is also a major accomplishment as well."

Click! Network's World Wide Web address is http://www.click-network.com.