The Finnish subregion of Kaustinen comprises seven small
municipalities located in the region of Central Ostrobothnia in
Western Finland.To date, the subregion has been wholly
overlooked by communications service providers on the basis
of its sparse population and, thus, poor market prospects. As a
result, the subregion was faced with the genuine prospect of
being left utterly void of modern data communications
connections. In response, local residents resolved to take the
matter in hand and, in typical Ostrobothnian spirit, were
determined from the start that if the job was to be done, it
was to be done properly.Thus, Finland's first genuine Triple
Play network was established, bringing the Internet, telephone
traffic and television images to remote households and
companies in the Kaustinen subregion via a fiber network.
Part of the Information Society
At the turn of the millennium there were no ADSL
connections available in the subregion of Kaustinen.The area
was deemed as having insufficient market potential, and thus
faced complete exclusion from information society
developments. In addition to its lack of advanced data
communications, the subregion’s prospects for inclusion in
digital television developments were also poor.
The region’s residents took action and decided to build a
multiservice network which would bring modern connections
to the area.The Kaustinen subregion evaluated a number of
alternatives, of which a fiber-based solution proved the most
cost-effective in the long run.The network architect was
networks expert Kari Karvonen of Kasenet Oy.
In comparison to wireless technology for example, fiber
networks offer a more reliable long-term solution.
“Wireless networks quickly reach operating capacity. File
sharing and peer-to-peer network programs, for instance,
rapidly overload wireless systems, which means network IP
calls, not to mention high quality TV images, can no longer be
effectively transmitted. With networks built using optical cables
this is simply not a problem.”
The Kaustinen fiber network effectively delivers services to
the subregion’s sparsely inhabited areas, keeping the area in
close step with – or even leading the way in – developments
in technology.
Community Backing
In order to realize the vision of bringing advanced connections
to the region, it was essential to get the local residents and
village communities behind the idea.The project organizers
toured the subregion gaining support for the project.
“Village meetings were held to discuss the fiber network
project. At the meetings it was decided whether fast Internet
connections should be brought to the village and to what
degree households were prepared to invest in the
connections. Attitudes towards the project were extremely
positive, and households really pulled together and became
active participants in the project,” says Karvonen.
The costs of the project were shared between the
municipalities, private households, the state and the EU.The
costs were distributed roughly equally between the parties, so
that around one third of the total cost is paid by private
households.The total cost per household is around 2,500 -
3,000 euros, of which each individual household pays around
1,000 euros. In addition, household customers pay 50 euros as
a fixed monthly user fee.
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Allied Telesis Case Study: Kasenet Oy
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Case Study |
Kasenet Oy
“We settled on optical fiber because our vision was to
build a network that would also be capable enough to
meet our demands well into the future.The network had
to be able to deliver to its villages network customers not
only the services which are currently available on the
network, but also services which are only just now
breaking through onto the market,” says Karvonen.
