The Fiber Connection -The cascading impact of Spotsylvania County multi-year Fiber Initiative

About the Program

Category: Information Technology (Best in Category)

Year: 2020

The County initiated a multi-year plan to run fiber connectivity strategically throughout the county. By collaborating with the schools along existing fiber routes and conduit, the County’s $2.2 million capital investment has provided stability and redundancy to 30+ County-owned facilities, and has allowed the additional implementation of advanced technology to improve operations and save annual costs. Through a phased scheduled approach, county facilities, including fire and rescue stations, water tanks, communication towers, community buildings, and other ancillary locations, are now fiber connected back to the County’s primary network operating center, which has resulted in a reduction of overall operational costs by approximately $357,000 per year. The implementation of critical public safety tools has been one of the major resulting success factors; this project has led to a successful implementation of a new digital alert notification system, enhanced online in-station first responder training, and access to general county solutions that were previously not available. More importantly, with the expansion of fiber throughout the county, community centers now have public wireless access, for general public use. Additionally, in collaboration with the Central Rappahannock Regional Library, the County’s fiber vendor and several local Ruritan clubs, library stops with computers, books, and other library services have been made available in rural areas of the county where neither library nor broadband service is not readily available to residents.The total $2.2 million investment in this project was originally planned to have a return on investment (ROI) of approximately seven years; however, the ROI was surpassed at year 5. This fiber project has not only improved the County’s ability to provide expanded services to its internal users, but has also provided expanded services to its citizens, and reduced the total cost of telecommunications required for needed delivery of services.