UVCN
Thursday a few of the municipalities in Utah County along with Utah Valley Community College (UVSC) and UEN threw a party. Governor Leavitt and I attended, along with a few dozen others. I didn't get to talk to Mike. He was busy.
This gathering was all about tying a bunch of fiber together. For many decades city and county agencies in Utah County have been installing fiber. These projects have met with varying degrees of success. It is a tribute to these Utah County communities that they have stuck with this for many years.
Over a year ago Pete Kruckenberg and I got together with representatives from UVSC, American Fork, Spanish Fork, Provo and others to discuss the future of community based fiber optic networks in Utah County. Pete shared his vision of regional peering. In short order everyone involved understood and the Utah Valley Community Network (UVCN) was created.
As stated earlier, this fiber has been around for many years. It has always been valuable to the communities. UEN has benefited from fiber in Orem and American Fork for years. But with this "go live" of UVCN that value of the network has increased many fold. Now all of the fiber plants are tied together.
This creates some unique opportunities for the participating communities. Students at UVSC can get much better access to the campus if they live within the participating fiber area. Employers and employees can share data faster and more conveniently. Internet providers have one place to connect to all of the people in all of these Utah County cities. Other technology can be more easily integrated. Who knows where this will go.
I felt some anxiety as this scene unfolded. It's great for this one county and the towns who are taking advantage. What about St. George, Logan, Salt Lake and Ogden? And Vernal, Blanding, Moab, Cedar City, Delta and Price? Shouldn't every Utah resident have great access to the network?
So, good luck Utah County. And pay attention everyone else. We should make this same thing happen in every County in the State..........
10:34:55 PM 
|
