N.Y.C. REALTY LEADERS SEEK REDUNDANT NETWORKS AFTER SEPT. 11

Task force is meeting with information technology officers and facility managers from downtown companies next week, Gilbert said. Point is to develop specifications and get them out to carriers quickly. One driver of task force in both energy and telecom is that streets are torn up in Lower Manhattan and implementing comprehensive blueprint now would mean streets wouldn’t have to be dug up repeatedly to install new networks, Gilbert said. Citing damage to CLECs, LECs and wireless providers in World Trade Center attack, he said: “There isn’t enough money in the market today that will allow these carriers to build distinct networks themselves. Let’s create a robust, fiber-based carrier- neutral network in the streets that will save them money from a capital expenditure standpoint.”

Gilbert outlined strategy last week at Public Safety National Coordination Committee (NCC) meeting in Brooklyn, where public safety officials and others laid out critical spectrum needs in wake of Sept. 11 (CD Nov 19 p4). Gilbert told us that Rudin Management project to revamp 1960s era building at 55 Broad St. into high-tech office complex could serve as template for multitechnology, multicarrier approach that real estate companies are seeking when rebuilding Wall St. area. That building offers high-speed, broadband access and other advanced services to tenants with multiple service providers, including 15 CLECs, he said.

“In Lower Manhattan, what we have to do is create a carrier-neutral, totally diverse, optically self-healing fiber network, integrated around using our rooftops by using a carrier-neutral broadband, wireless network,” he said. “If we do not do this, Lower Manhattan will become a ghost town. We will not be able to ask anyone to come back to Lower Manhattan to live and to work.” Gilbert has been examining needs by chairing task forces for groups such as Real Estate Board of N.Y. and The Building Congress, which have been looking at energy and telecom issues “with a new focus now in light of the Sept. 11 events,” said Roger Platt, senior vp- counsel for Real Estate Roundtable in Washington, which coordinates Real Access Alliance in Washington that has fought for CLEC building access.

Task force of N.Y. real estate groups still is grappling with questions such as exactly how telecom plans would be paid for, but Gilbert said idea behind project was that it would be driven by critical mass of users who would provide substantial demand base for carriers. Point of plan would be to give carriers “plug-in infrastructure” and to give business users choice of service provider, he said. Task force plans to form technical advisory committee of telecom carriers so they can have input into technical specifications, Gilbert said. Among companies with existing, privately financed infrastructure from which he said task force would seek input were AT&T, Con Ed Communications, Metromedia Fiber Network, Qwest, Terabeam Networks (free space optics developer), Verizon, others. Rudin, which Platt said is largest privately held office space owner in Manhattan, plans to offer rooftops of its 6 buildings in Lower Manhattan for start of new broadband wireless network in area.

Economic impact analysis of attack released earlier this month by N.Y.C. Partnership stressed need for alternative telecom systems “to fall back on in the event of a natural or manmade disaster.” Report called for long-term plan by mid- 2002 for Lower Manhattan infrastructure and pointed to “lack of alternative networks for telecommunications and power” as among weaknesses that could pose “a significant threat in the event of future systemwide disruptions.” Report said telecom infrastructure was “surprisingly fragile” with single point of failure at Verizon central office at 140 West St. Among report’s recommendations is that financial services industry should weigh development of secure network for use in emergencies that didn’t rely on main telecom network or on ability of employees to reach backup sites.