CityNet Telecommunications Inc. has inaugurated the deployment of a fiber-optic network through the City of Indianapolis' existing sewer system -- a first in Indianapolis.

Mayor Peterson and CityNet Telecommunications CEO, Robert G. Berger, marked the event at a ceremony where they lowered CityNet's Sewer Access Module (SAM) robot through a manhole into the first sewer pipe.

Indianapolis joins Albuquerque and Omaha as one of the first U.S. cities to begin deploying fiber optic networks through sewers. Other cities that have signed agreements for similar deployments include Scottsdale, St. Paul, and Fort Worth, as well as Vienna, Austria, with another 25 U.S. and international cities currently negotiating agreements.

SAM is equipped with video cameras that CityNet's technical crews use to navigate the sewer pipes. SAM first installs stainless steel clamps to support both a special conduit and the actual fiber-optic cable inside small sewer pipes. The conduit that encases the fiber is made of the same stainless steel alloy that protects the fiber from corrosion and cuts. The 6-inch-wide, 36-inch-long, cylindrical robots are manufactured exclusively for CityNet by its strategic technology partner Ka-Te Systems AG, a Swiss sewer robotics company.

CityNet also has developed an exclusive relationship with CableRunner North America LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Vienna, Austria Water & Sewer Agency, to deploy CableRunner's patented in-sewer fiber optic deployment technology for man-accessible sewer pipes.

Alcatel provides the special conduit and fiber cables for the sewer environment. Meanwhile, Carter-Burgess helps CityNet manage the construction and engineering of its networks.