Featured in Gainesville Daily Register on September 14, 2018
A gigabit city: that’s what Gainesville is because of a partnership with Nortex Communications and the City of Gainesville to bring a reliable, fiber optic network to much of the city.
August 2013, City of Gainesville staff found themselves operating on several loosely integrated networks and decided it was time for a change. A fast reliable infrastructure was an integral component for future converged network projects. So, in May 2014, they sought proposals from qualified firms to provide implementation of a fiber optic cabling network, interconnecting multiple city facilities and locations.
Nortex promoted the benefits of excellent broadband services, like the attraction and retention of better jobs, improved educational opportunities, enhancement of modern healthcare, and the added bonus of saving the average person a lot of general frustration with their connected devices!
Joey Anderson, CEO and general manager of Nortex Communications, said “We partnered with the city of Gainesville beginning in 2015 to connect various offices around the community. The city’s investment met their internal needs, but also opened the door for us to expand a gigabit-capable network to the wider business community.”
“Today, well over half of local businesses rely on this fiber, along with municipal and county governments.”
Preliminary designs called for approximately 10 miles of fiber. That number has now grown exponentially to more than 60 miles!
Nortex’s reputation for quality customer service and their strong local presence only enhanced their innovative plan to include the businesses along the network’s route.
Kevin Kelcey, information technologies director for the city of Gainesville, was instrumental in the implementation of the fiber optic backbone project. Kelcey commended Nortex’s cooperation during the project and their willingness to assist, calling them “exceptional.”
Anderson added, “It is a perfect example of local entities coming together in private-public partnership for the greater good.”
In addition to the construction of the network, Nortex will also maintain the network for 20 years.
Although this story doesn’t ring quite the same bell as our others, we hope you’ve seen the merit of those groups involved with implementation and the project as a whole and realize the true impact such a service has brought to the citizens and businesses of Gainesville.