Administrators of the Five Colleges celebrated alongside Massachusetts government officials in the completion of a 53-mile, $3.6 million fiber optic network that will provide virtually unlimited bandwidth for seven Pioneer Valley communities and the surrounding five campuses.
After five years of extensive construction the new network, which is connected at its center in Springfield, is ready to connect the five campuses and hopes to create new economic development for seven Pioneer Valley communities.
The celebration was held at the Campus Center of University of Massachusetts with state and local officials, collaborators and technicians who helped to develop the network and representatives of the member institutions in attendance.
“Some 40 years ago, the Five Colleges understood the need to provide transportation from campus to campus,” said Lorna M. Peterson, executive director of the Five Colleges. “Today they understand the importance of linking our campuses to each other and the rest of the world through an electronic highway that gives faculty and students ease of access to 21st century communications.”
UMass Chancellor John Lombardi said the new network has jokingly been named by university officials as the campus’ new “lollipop” because, “It’s so sweet.”
Lombardi used the celebration as an opportunity to extend his thanks to Donna Baron, the director of information technology for the Five Colleges, as well as the board of directors of the Five Colleges, composed of the presidents of the four colleges – Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke and Smith.
“Five years ago when we began to envision solutions for our networking needs, we never imagined we would be donning construction hats and building a network ourselves,” Baron said. “But given the economic downturn in the telecommunications industry, and the lack of existing infrastructure in our rural area, it proved financially more favorable for us to build the infrastructure,” Baron added.
Gov. Deval Patrick, in a letter to the consortium, said, “I commend the Five Colleges and their business partners for taking the initiative to bring fiber optic Internet to Western Massachusetts. This partnership is an excellent example of the great strides communities and educational institutions can take together to improve their neighborhoods.”
The fiber runs through seven municipalities: Northampton, Amherst, Hadley, South Hadley, Granby, Chicopee and Springfield.
Northampton Mayor Ellen Story said the network should give the cities and towns an opportunity to gain access to much-needed infrastructure that can boost regional economic development and education.
“This network will serve as a new type of infrastructure for our surrounding communities, acting as a new road of development,” said Story. “It should help lead our communities into the 21st century, and for some, the 20th.”
The cost of the entire project is $3.6 million, but the network is expected to pay for itself within approximately seven years.
Installation of the fiber optic cable is complete, and Amherst, Smith and Mount Holyoke colleges are using some of its capabilities, with Hampshire expected to follow shortly.
Detailed tests of the network are under way, and Baron said she expects the network to be fully operational this summer. The Five Colleges will work with the cities and towns in the coming months as they decide how to make best use of the donated fiber.
Matt Belliveau can be reached at [email protected].
