GATEway Fiber Network Leads Nation in Innovation

On Thursday, June 13th, the Miami Valley Communications Council (MVCC) will hold a ceremony to mark the official launch of the GATEway Fiber Network, a 44-mile high speed public fiber optic network.

The GATEway Fiber Network, one of the first multi-jurisdictional fiber optic networks in the country, is a collaborative partnership that links MVCC, the Miami Valley Educational Computer Association (MVECA), and the cities of Kettering, Centerville, Oakwood, Moraine, West Carrollton, Miamisburg and Springboro in a 10-gigabit data network.

This $1.14m infrastructure investment allows the cities to partner more efficiently on joint technology projects, to gain economy of scale on shared telecommunication services such as internet access, and allows the cities to interconnect dispatch and emergency operations centers thereby increasing the reliability of public safety response. “This project was first envisioned nearly 20 years ago and through the dedicated leadership of the elected and appointed officials from our member communities, our residents, business and schools will now be able to benefit from the shared vision and innovative spirit that embodies MVCC” said JoAnne Rau, Centerville City Council Member and MVCC Board Chair.

Located in Yellow Springs, MVECA is one of 18 Information Technology Centers (ITC) licensed by the Ohio Department of Education. Founded in 1980 and reorganized as Regional Council of Governments in 2006, MVECA is a non-profit organization and has a long history of providing high quality, low cost technology services to local school districts.

MVECA has managed construction of the fiber optic network and will provide internet access and network management services to the seven municipalities. MVECA’s access to the GATEway Fiber Network assists its mission to provide cost effective technology services to its educational and
government customers. Importantly, school districts that connect to the network will have immediate access to the Ohio Academic Research Network and affiliated data centers.

“The GATEway Fiber Network is an example of how schools and governments can save money and create efficiencies through regional collaboration. The GATEway network will help all of our partners control costs and establish the critical infrastructure needed to support modernization. MVECA is exceptionally proud to be part of this project” said Thor Sage, MVECA’s Executive Director.

By creating a public fiber network, MVCC and its member cities will encourage other government agencies, non-profits and businesses to utilize capacity on the GATEway Fiber Network to spur innovation, encourage business growth, and establish a foundation for upcoming technologies such as 5G, autonomous vehicles and smart city infrastructure.

MVCC has been actively soliciting partners to utilize the network and has reached a preliminary agreement with EdgeConnect, a provider of edge computing data center colocation and cloud infrastructure.

EdgeConnect President and co-founder, Shawn Grow, adds: “EdgeConnect is excited to work with MVCC to help manage and grow this network by creating a neutral-host environment enabling competitive communications services, mobile networks for IoT devices, local and secure colocation and hosting services, and high performance computing services for Deep Learning, AI, 3D Modeling, surveillance analytics, and the like.

These services will improve community value for both residents and businesses and create the infrastructure for further economic development.”