Project Background
In November 2020, a city in Ohio needed to quickly install optical fibers across an expansion bridge crossing a river to meet commitments made to a property developer on the far side of the bridge. A middle-mile service provider had evaluated the installation of the fiber due to their commitment to a major cellular service provider to connect the fiber to a cellular tower on the far side of the bridge and river. The city was interested in a public-private partnership to collaborate on the fiber installation to meet the town’s needs and those of the middle mile service provider and the developer.
The Problems
- Middle mile provider needed access to a cellular tower on the other side of the river running through a municipality.
- ISP was challenged with exhaustive permitting delays, time and expense to bore under the river.
- Municipality promised fiber access to a developer building properties on the other side of the river.
The Elysian Fiber Solution
Using FiberTRAX equipment, specifically modified for this project, TRAXyL installed four-24 strand fiber cables, two cables on each side of the deck surface of the bridge, for a total of 96 strands of fiber, in two days.
- 48 strands of fiber on each side of the bridge.
- P3 Project.
- Permitted in ten business days versus many weeks or month.
- Fiber runs across the expansion joints of the bridge.
- Topcoat color matched to DOT color chart.
The Bottom Line
The city met its commitments to the property developer, and the middle mile provider began to see revenue from the project the following month. TRAXyL provided a timely, cost-effective solution that was an immediate market success and illustrated that this innovative technology could simultaneously provide a middle-mile and last-mile solution.
- First-ever installation of it kind.
- Traditional installation projected boring costs well-exceeding $200,000.
- Project with FiberTRAX came in at a +50% savings.