OpenCape receives first round funding
Barnstable County Commissioners and Cape Cod Economic Development Council vote $50k to critical regional infrastructure project
December 1, 2006 -- OpenCape has been selected to receive $50,000 in first round project funding from the Barnstable County Commissioners and the Cape Cod Economic Development Council. The funds are directed towards the first phase development of a critical regional broadband data network. “Broadband data networks are essential to our region’s health and future development,” said Teresa Martin, Executive Director of the Cape Cod Technology Council. “Much like roads and highways helped us grow and prosper in the last century, data networks are critical infrastructure for both economic development and public safety in this century. OpenCape is the data equivalent to Route 6 or Route 495.”
The OpenCape collaborative is spearheaded by Cape Cod Community College, Cape Cod Technology Council, UMass-Dartmouth, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Its goal is to install a high- speed wireless broadband network from Bourne to Provincetown with links to Plymouth and Dartmouth. The network addresses both public safety and economic enterprise needs.
Dan Gallagher, Chief Technology Officer for Cape Cod Community College, who is supervising the project, said that OpenCape will benefit the whole region by providing a reliable broadband network for public fixed access, commercial access and a commercial regional mobility network at speeds significantly higher than those now available on the Cape. “The eventual goal is to use OpenCape as an integral part of a wireless mobility network so that mobile workers such as visiting nurses, sales reps, consultants, delivery personnel and even those working offshore will be able to connect anywhere from Providence to Provincetown,” he added.
The network will include two components: 1) a public network for high-speed wireless service to higher education and K-12 public school districts, major research institutions, municipalities, libraries, emergency facilities and key healthcare institutions and 2) a commercial network for wireless services to homes and businesses. The collaborative partnership includes towns, schools, higher education, research, and regional business. So far, more than 60% of the municipalities and school districts across the Cape have returned written letters of support for the project and have begun identifying existing publicly owned water and communications towers that could be used to support antennas and other required hardware. The OpenCape Steering Committee continues to provide information and clarification to the remaining 40% in its effort to gain 100% participation of the Cape and Islands community.
Grant funds will be used to finance a portion of the first phase of the project and leverage additional funding sources. This initial “proof of concept” phase involves establishing wireless transport connectivity from the Community College, to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, to UMass-Dartmouth, and on to the Internet. It will be developed and deployed over the next 90 to 120 days.
Funds for the grant come from the Cape and Islands License Plate Grant Program administered by the Cape Cod Economic Development Council. According to Daniel Dray, Administrator for the Council, the Commissioners and the EDC support the network because it “will provide an additional broadband access option for public and private users up and down the Cape, greatly reduce existing connectivity gaps, and create new economic development opportunities for the region’s myriad businesses and institutions.”
