The Jamestown Board of Public Utilities has received a nearly $30 million grant will go toward constructing and installing an open-access fiber network in the BPU electric territory.
The City of Jamestown will partner with EntryPoint Networks and Quanta Telecommunication Services to build the network to serve 14,447 homes and businesses served by the Jamestown public utility. The BPU will own and operate the infrastructure, with EntryPoint Networks providing telecom equipment and software and Quanta managing design and construction.
The $29,926,817 Municipal Infrastructure Program grant comes from the the New York State Opportunity/ConnectAll agency.
BPU General Manager David Leathers expressed gratitude for the NYS ConnectAll grant, which will allow the BPU and its partners to create public fiber infrastructure to be made available to customers in the utility’s electric territory of Jamestown, Celoron, Falconer and parts of the Town of Ellicott, “The open-access models in other communities have demonstrated the ability to create true market competition to reduce consumer costs while improving service levels.”
Rates are expected to be around $50.20/month for 300Mbps and $65.20/month for 2Gbps. Customers will be contacted to sign up for service later next year. There will be no cost to sign up and install this new service during the two-year grant period, so officials are encouraging interested customers to sign up as soon as it’s made available.
According to Leathers, this infrastructure will also improve the BPU electric system immediately through significant pole replacements, capital investment and an improved monitoring system for transmission and distribution assets and outage management. In addition, the project includes a potential for improved communications between the other utilities and municipal facilities. All the utility divisions may leverage the communication architecture to assist in the efforts to continue providing affordable and reliable services.
The two project partners will assist the BPU in creating the fiber network. The BPU, as the infrastructure owner, will be responsible for make-ready work, plant operations, existing facilities access, utility and operational support frameworks.
EntryPoint Networks is responsible for logistical architecture, technical support, network electronics supply, the Open-Access operational platform, technical team training and operational support. Quanta Telecom Solutions will handle design, engineering, materials and logistics, construction, plant team training and outside plant support.
The first phase of the effort will involve the BPU launching make-ready work and pole replacements. Construction of the entire project is expected to be completed within two years.
Leave a Reply