A Municipal Fiber to the Home Network for Charlemont Massacusetts
Information about the Charlemont Connect distribution network, sometimes called ‘Fiber to the Curb’. These are the main fiber-optic lines running from the network equipment room in the basement of the town hall and along most of the roads in town. The distribution network terminates at “taps” (called MSTs) located on utility poles near each serviceable house or structure.
TriWire crews have announced plans to begin work on the ‘big easement’ in FSA 05 on April 19th. This utility easement runs for about a mile through the woods behind homes on Route 2 and Burrington Rd. Fiber teams will access the area largely on foot and install the strand and fiber by climbing each utility pole. Please give these hardworking crews a socially distanced word of thanks if you see them in this difficult stretch of the network construction!
Comments closedCharlemont’s distribution network contractor, TriWire, has announced the beginning of splicing in FSA 01! Due to shortages of these specialized crews, splicing resources have been difficult to schedule for area projects and Charlemont’s work has begun ahead of expectations. Give a socially distanced thank you to these crews for this continued good work!
Comments closedAwaiting available splice teams in Fiber Service Area 01, TriWire has been working in FSA 05 and FSA 04. Starting with the Route 2 portions of these FSAs to avoid seasonal traffic, these construction teams have been focusing on the paved areas of both FSA 05 and FSA 04.
Comments closedTriWire crews have completed the first three construction steps in FSA 01- hanging string, attaching the fiber-optic cable, and installing an MST for each location to be served! This accelerated effort has completed the major work in the traffic calming area ahead of the resumption of the DOT construction this spring!
Comments closedBefore any homes or businesses can be connected, six steps to be completed to “light up” each of the five fiber service areas (FSAs) in town. For each FSA, our distribution contractor, TriWire, attaches strand, hangs fiber, places MSTs, splices all of the fiber-optic cables together, tests each fiber, and validates the whole unit before it is ready for installations to begin.
Comments closedCharlemont Municipal Fiber Network
Selectboard Status Report
March 7, 2021
Summary
Network construction is underway and the essential work in the village center has been completed to alleviate conflicts with the DOT traffic calming project, which will be resuming soon. The subscription website is operational and we are encouraging all residents to sign up so that WhipCityFiber can plan the installation schedule for the summer. There will be a virtual information session on March 16. Sign-ups are currently at 20%, mostly through word-of-mouth. The project remains on budget. WhipCityFiber is recommending a “safe” schedule with FSA01 (the first fiber service area) lighting up in July and the other FSAs following at two-month intervals. The town is working with WGE and TriWire to try to accelerate this schedule if possible. Currently, the lack of fiber splicing and testing crews seems to be the bottleneck.
Charlemont’s distribution network contractor, TriWire, has completed the FSA 01 river crossing to the east of the Long Bridge! This team accelerated our project buildout to complete the essential work in the village center ahead of the DOT traffic calming project through the snow and winds of February and early March. Because our network hub is in the center of the traffic calming area, completing this work was essential to provide service to every location in Charlemont.
Comments closedTriWire, our distribution construction team, has the fiber for each FSA running into our network equipment room ready to be connected to the installed optical equipment! Because our Network Equipment Hub is in the center of the traffic calming area, having the network backbone run through to the hub is another success for the project staying ahead of the Department of Transportation in the village center.
Comments closedOur partners, WG&E, have completed the installation of the optical network equipment in our network hub! TriWire, our distribution construction team, also has the fiber for each FSA running into our equipment room ready to be connected when service installations begin!
Comments closedTriWire’s been working on the railroad, all the live long day on Friday. Conduit is now in place over the tracks at the Long Bridge railroad crossing and the Tower Rd. railroad crossing! Completing these public way crossings is a project milestone worth celebrating.
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