The Virgin Islands Next Generation Network (viNGN) held its Broadband Business & Technology meeting on the campuses of the University of the Virgin Islands on Monday afternoon. In his opening remarks, viNGN President & CEO Lawrence Kupfer welcomed a filled to capacity crowd in the conference room of the Administration Building on the St. Thomas campus, as well as attendees in the UVI’s Great Hall on the St. Croix campus who were linked in to the meeting via videoconference. The goal of the meeting was to update the public on viNGN’s progress of providing access from the broadband high speed Internet to the Community Anchor Institutions (CAIs). All in all, 316 CAIs are slated to have direct fiber access connecting them to the broadband high speed network infrastructure, which has been possible by the Comprehensive Community Infrastructure Grant, one of four federal grants awarded to viNGN for the project.
CAIs are defined as schools, libraries, universities, hospitals, health care facilities, government agencies and other entities that serve the community. As a CAI, the site will be connected to the viNGN Fiber Optic Network and will be provided with a fiber connection directly to the communication room of the CAI. Additionally, the CAI will also be provided with a router to connect to the network, all completely free of charge. The CAI will receive “last mile” connection from an ISP of their choosing that has contracted with viNGN to provide access and bandwidth on the “middle mile” territory-wide fiber optic backbone.
“A great example of the progress viNGN is making with regards to the installation of the territory-wide fiber optic network is the work currently being done right here on the western end of St. Thomas on the same road that many of you passed as you were entering the campus of the university for today’s meeting.
“The current work being done and the connections being made are key, as they will link what is referred to as a Facilities Access Point (FAP), one of which is located here on the St. Thomas campus of the university, to one of the main Super FAPs, located next to the VITEMA Building and thereby making the high speed Internet connection complete,” Kupfer said.
Dr. Peter Schultz, a viNGN executive board member and co-inventor of fiber optic technology, led the main discussion of the meeting, giving technical updates to the representatives of both the CAIs and the territory’s current Internet service providers (ISPs) who were in attendance. During his remarks, Schultz indicated that many of the key FAPs in locations throughout the territory are already completed or nearing completion. In addition to discussing the overall progress of construction, he provided updates on the fiber and undersea cable deployment.
“We are making rapid progress on the build out in all aspects, and we’re looking forward to getting stateside bandwidth speeds here in the V.I. in the very near future,” Shultz said during his presentation. He added that completion of the viNGN is expected by the end of 2013.
Addressing the meeting’s attendees, in particular the numerous representatives of the Community Anchor Institutions (CAIs), Kevin Hughes, V.P. Sales & Marketing of viNGN, said, “Now is the opportune time to begin reaching out and contacting your local Internet service providers (ISPs) to request a quote for high speed Internet bandwidth service on the viNGN network. The viNGN broadband network will be providing local ISPs access to the highest Internet speeds available at the lowest costs in the territory.” Hughes added that, as CAIs, representatives are encouraged to request a minimum of up to 1 gigabit or more of bandwidth, from any participating local ISP of their choosing.
Also adding to the discussion, Director of the Bureau of Information and Technology Reuben Molloy informed the CAIs that BIT would assist all government agencies in the process of upgrading their bandwidths. The meeting concluded with a brief question and answer period.
The viNGN was established in 2010 as a public corporation; it is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Virgin Islands Public Finance Authority. It is funded primarily from a grant by the National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA) as part of a federal program to improve the broadband capacity in the United States, its territories and the District of Columbia. The program is called the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP).
For more information regarding viNGN, call 715-8581 or visit www.vingn.com.
