The Town of Bristol, a New Hampshire town of 3,300 permanent residents, has announced its deployment of smart infrastructure to provide high-speed broadband services to a rural community. The Bristol Broadband Now initiative is a long-term effort by the Town’s Economic Development Committee to build a fiber to the premise (FTTP) network that will provide symmetrical fiber optic internet to residences throughout Bristol as well as connect businesses, municipal buildings and educational facilities in Bristol and Plymouth, N.H.
The project is funded through two separate projects, including being supported by a $1.52 million Connecting New Hampshire Emergency Broadband Expansion grant funded by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The 24-mile fiber route passes nearly 400 Bristol residences and connects to the NetworkNH system at Plymouth State University (PSU). The second project will provide the additional fiber backbone and fiber distribution required to connect all Bristol municipal, educational and commercial buildings and is being funded by a Northern Border Regional Commission grant and Town appropriation.
As the only municipality in New Hampshire to receive Act grant monies for telecommunications infrastructure, the Town selected eX² Technology to deliver a hybrid network architecture solution using Active Ethernet and Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) technology.
“We knew it would be a challenge to complete the first project in such a tight timeline, but eX² worked collaboratively and proactively with us to get the network constructed on time so we could secure the grant funding,” said Bristol’s Town Administrator Nicholas Coates.
“Ultimately, it’s the citizens of Bristol that are the true winners,” said Jay Jorgensen, Chief Operating Officer, eX² Technology. “Bristol’s unwavering commitment to building this network was very evident during the entire process.”
The network is hoped to provide the community with an asset that extends future development and prosperity, as well as spur additional development of a tech corridor along I-93 in Northern New Hampshire.
Bristol’s second project is on schedule for completion mid-April 2021.
To read the entire press release, click here.
