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By
PAM KASEY
pkasey@statejournal.com
A
growing number of planned communities across the nation are
going fully fiber optic, and Charles Pointe in Bridgeport will
become West Virginia’s first.
Developer Genesis Partners announced its plan recently for a
fiber optic network throughout the 2,000-acre mixed-use development
along Interstate 79 in Harrison County. “The
whole goal for Charles Pointe was to create a truly connected
community, ensuring we have the most advanced broadband infrastructure
for this, in essence, new city,” said Thomas Reiman of
The Broadband Group (TBG) of Sacramento, Calif. TBG specializes
in communications technology for planned communities and is
responsible for Charles Pointe’s technology master plan.
Charles Pointe not only will be a physical community, but also
a digital and virtual community, Genesis Managing Partner Jamie
Corton said.
“We envision converged voice, video, and data over fiber
optic and wireless networks for every physical space,”
he said.
TBG and Genesis contracted with TelAtlantic Communications Inc.
of Virginia, a regional telecommunications carrier willing to
meet the specification for pure fiber. “In the telecommunications
industry, the word ‘fiber optic’ is not always exactly
as described,” Reiman said. “In this community,
we decided we want a fully fiber broadband network. TelAtlantic
agreed to make such an investment.”
The user experience of pure fiber point-to-point is “vastly
better” than the typical broadband experience, Reiman
said.
The network theoretically can carry up to 100 megabytes per
second, Reiman said — speeds that will accommodate the
Internet as it matures well into the future. Broadband connectivity
lays the foundation for an Intranet that rounds out Genesis
Partners’ vision of Charles Pointe as both a physical
and virtual community, according to Reiman. “Through it
we will have calendaring, scheduling, reservations, babysitter
times, electronic student portfolios — really capturing
the community electronically,” he said.
TBG created such an Intranet at Brambleton, a planned community
in Loudoun County, Va. Brambleton’s Intranet interface
offers users one-click access to community news and a calendar
of events; basketball, soccer, softball, little league and football
schedules and online registration for a golf tournament; and
slideshows of the community’s Spring Festival and of progress
on a new neighborhood under construction.
Access is available at public locations throughout the community.
At Charles Pointe, Reiman expects high speed Internet access
may be provided as a common amenity rather than a subscription-based
service.
“To truly create a connected community, you really need
everybody online so we can really have online government, don’t
need newsletters, can do voting and e-commerce,” he said.
“It’s different than the normal way in which phone
and cable companies do networks,” Reiman said. “I’ve
been asked by (Corton) and everyone on the project to improve
the way we live our lives. That’s what I’m supposed
to do.” |
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TelAtlantic
Communications, Inc.
604 Cameron Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
703-838-2013 |
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