For the past three years, RISQ has been actively involved in building a privately owned fiber network for the benefit of Quebec's Research and Education community. The effort was spurred by our realization of the fact that ownership was a viable alternative to broadband network leasing. Our current accomplishments include a MAN in Montreal, a MAN under construction in Quebec city, and intercity transport spanning the major cities in the province. We are also currently working with universities, colleges, and school boards to build institutional networks that leverage our existing network, and allow us to expand to new areas.
The talk will focus on three principal areas. Firstly, we will discuss the business rationale for building our network, including comparisons between leasing and ownership. Secondly, we will explain the strategies used by RISQ so far to gain access to right of ways, and how these strategies have been contributors to the financial business case. In particular, we will expand on the notion of fiber optic brokerage, and how we have been able to leverage industry's capabilities to enhance our ability to act for schools and research centers in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada. Finally, we will expand on future plans and strategies with regards to fiber brokerage and deployment in the Canadian regulatory context.
Although this talk will be given from the persepctive of building dark fiber networks for th R&E community in Quebec, many of the lessons learned can be adapted by ISPs who are interested in building their own dark fiber networks.