An Institutional Network, or I-Net, is a component of many municipal cable systems across the country.   I-Nets are used by institutions for their own communications needs.  There are two basic types -- the use of channel space on the cable company's commercial network or the use of separate, dedicated fiber installed parallel to the commercial network.

Participating institutions usually included municipalities, schools and libraries.  However, federal law defines the range of potential users more broadly.  It defines an "institutional network" as "a communications network which is constructed or operated by the cable operator and which is generally available only to subscribers who are not residential subscribers."  47 U.S.C. 531(f).

The institutions used the I-Nets initially for their internal video programming.  Cities, for example, used I-Nets to broadcast training programs to police and fire stations, eliminating the need to take personnel off their jobs and assemble them at central locations.  Increasingly, however, the institutions used the networks for their internal data communications needs, replacing more expensive telecommunications lines leased from telephone companies.

With the advent of cable companies using their systems for Internet access in addition to cable programming, I-Nets pose a far greater opportunity for public uses.

Pittsburgh's initial cable franchise with Warner Communications included a separate cable, known as the C cable, for use as an I-Net.  The requirement was omitted, however, when Warner was unable to satisfy its obligations and the City and TCI entered into a new franchise agreement in 1984.

Pittsburgh's present cable system is a network of copper cables, organized as trunk links with branches which are daisy-chained past homes and offices around the city. The rebuilt system will replace the copper trunks with fiber optic cables starting from TCI's operations center and leading eventually to "fiber nodes" in each neighborhood. These nodes will connect to existing copper cables which will carry signals to and from individual homes and offices.

TCI wants to improve its ability to deliver cable programming and to introduce new advanced services, such as Internet access.  With AT&T's purchase of TCI, the company may also provide telephone, two-way video and other data services. The new system will also be more reliable than the current system.

A Fiber I-Net is an Institutional Network built upon fiber optic cables which supplement those put in place for the commercial cable system. The I-Net can consist of separate, dedicated strands of fiber installed at the same time as the commercial system and contained perhaps in the same conduit. The I-Net users may install the electronics to operate the system separately.  Services on the Fiber I-Net can be operated independently of services on the commercial system.

Services on the Fiber I-Net can be provided to schools, libraries, city facilities and community groups. These services can include broadcast video, two-way video conferencing, telephones, Internet data and emergency communications.

Institutions gain access to more flexible high-bandwidth networks at lower prices.  This is especially true for institutions that operate buildings, such as fire houses, police stations, schools and libraries, that are dispersed throughout the City's neighborhoods.  An I-Net will extend fiber optic infrastructure beyond the downtown and university areas served by traditional telecommunications businesses.

Community groups may also connect to the I-Net to provide high-speed Internet access and other advanced services for the benefit of the communities.

Different organizations will have different needs for services. The Fiber I-Net will be able to carry a range of services with quite different characteristics. Some examples are listed below:

1. High-speed Internet access for schools and libraries.
2. Secure, private communications for police and fire stations.
3. Two-way video conferencing for City Council and community groups.
4. Medical imaging and monitoring for community health care sites.
5. Low-cost Internet access for community organizations.
6. Distribution of electronic maps and other specialized data maintained by city agencies.

An independent system will be more flexible and make possible a broader range of services at low incremental cost. The technical architecture of the Fiber I-Net will differ from that of the commercial system, which will be designed primarily for broadcast video, with other services encoded within broadcast video signals.

Pittsburgh is a world leader in research on computing and communications. It is the home of Fore Systems, which is a major manufacturer for the type of technology that will likely be at the heart of the Fiber I-Net. And Pittsburgh has a long- standing tradition of public/private partnerships of the sort that will be necessary to construct and operate the Fiber I-Net.

An I-Net also complements the region's plans to develop a high-technology information-based economy.  Telecommunications networks represent the infrastructure of such an economy.  An I-Net will provide an essential network for both the City's institutions and its neighborhoods.