The New Year has come and gone here at VETRO. With our New Year’s resolutions in full swing, a few VETRO customers are seeing their vision through, taking big steps in their broadband journeys. Let’s check in with Sertex Broadband, Giganet and IQ Fiber now!
One of the pillars of broadband expansion in 2023 is lighting rural communities; bringing high-speed fiber internet to those off-the-beaten-path customers. On Block Island, Rhode Island, just ten miles off the coast, Sertex Broadband Solutions has partnered with the town to construct Rhode Island’s first publicly owned, privately operated fiber-to-the-home fiber network. Although Block Island draws big crowds in the summer months, its year-round population is a mere 1,400. And, being so far off the mainland, it was always going to be a local solution.
Through a public-private partnership involving logistical challenges, environmental regulations, and a lengthy permitting process, Block Island was able to partner with Sertex to complete the project over a two-year build. Intrigued by the challenge and complexity of deploying fiber on an island only accessible by air or sea, Sertex founder and CEO Michael Solitro was eager to get underway.
“We’re so pleased to complete this buildout,” Michael told Telecompetitor in February. “The network’s future-proof technology will meet the island’s bandwidth needs for decades.”
Sertex signed on with VETRO in the summer of 2021, using our transformative platform to finalize design plans and begin construction. Having been completed just weeks ago, the network includes more than 100 miles of cabling, over 1,800 properties passed, and a transport capacity of up to 100 GB.
If you thought 10 miles off the coast of Rhode Island was far, try 3,500!
Across the Atlantic in the United Kingdom, VETRO customer Giganet is part of creating a national wholesale fiber network over the course of 2023. On February 8th, Fern Trading Limited announced that it would consolidate four fiber providers into a single broadband entity, with Giganet CEO Jarlath Finnegan taking the reins.
“All four companies are excited to build upon the solid foundations they have built over the last few years,” said Finnegan in a recent press release. “Together, we will become even stronger through exceptional customer service, combined with a relentless focus on technology and product.”
It was in large part the “relentless focus on technology” which brought Giganet to VETRO in the spring of 2021. In May of that year, Giganet announced plans to pass more than 300,000 UK homes and businesses across Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire, & West Sussex counties. The initial funding for this massive undertaking was provided by a sizable investment by Fern Trading, part of their plans to consolidate fiber providers across the UK.
“It is an exciting time for Giganet,” Finnegan, who had been appointed only weeks before, said in a May 2021 statement. “We’re looking to become the leading ISP in the region, bringing people together like never before and creating sustainable high tech job opportunities for local communities.”
With those values in mind, VETRO seemed like the perfect fit for Giganet. Sharing a passion for serving rural communities, pushing the boundaries of new tech, and bridging the digital divide has made this partnership a fruitful one.
Giganet will partner under the Fern umbrella with Jurassic Fibre, Swish Fibre, and All Points Fibre to bring combined resources, experience, and expertise to rural Britain. As John Browett, chairman of Fern’s fiber division, said: “Today represents the start of even bolder aspirations for our place in the UK fiber sector”.
Speaking of bold aspirations and broadband growth, let’s pivot stateside to IQ Fiber, Northeast Florida’s only local residential fiber ISP. In September of 2021, IQ chose VETRO as its fiber management solution to design their impending fiber builds. In February of 2022, IQ announced a 100% fiber deployment for Atlantic Beach. In March of that same year, they expanded to San Marco, a neighborhood of Jacksonville. In January of 2023, they announced expansion to Nassau and St. Johns Counties.
This all points to one clear fact: IQ Fiber is growing fast, either currently serving or building in Duval, Clay, St Johns and Nassau Counties, including San Marco, Beauclerc, Mandarin, Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach, Orange Park, Lakeside, Ridgeview and Fleming Island.
“We’re excited to continue our expansion to serve the greater metropolitan area,” said IQ Fiber CEO Ted Schremp in a January 30th press release. “We’re providing a refreshing new choice to Northeast Florida residents with a streamlined, straight-forward customer experience and a 100% fiber-optic network that’s purpose-built for the modern internet.”
A 100% fiber-optic network purpose-built for the modern internet requires a management solution purpose-built for fiber. In VETRO, IQ’s design team was able to secure that solution, taking another step into the future of broadband in Northeast Florida.
“Obviously, we’re trying to build aggressively in multiple areas,” design project manager Les Guthrie told us. “We’ve been trying to use VETRO to get our ducks in a row prior to construction. Matching circuit inventory against address data, creating splice logs – it’s a complex, innovative approach. VETRO’s guaranteed accuracy through the verification process is just incredible to me.”
About VETRO
VETRO builds software that makes it radically simpler and faster for broadband providers to plan, design, deploy, and operate their fiber optic networks. Our map-based SaaS platform is easier to use and more powerful than traditional tools, and enables network owners, operators and sponsors to benefit from a modern, integrated, and connected digital hub for their physical network assets. We deliver Internet Infrastructure Intelligence.
