Worcester needs fiber to expand business options
Timothy P. Murray
The Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce works to recruit, retain and incubate businesses in the region. We must understand the region's assets and market for business looking to move or expand.
To that end, the chamber commissioned a report to identify Worcester's fiber network assets and to seek suggestions for improvement. Released on Nov. 5, the Worcester Fiber Connectivity Report details the key elements available to consumers today as well as suggested steps to ensure growth and connectivity to pockets of the city that may lack access to the fiber network.
The three growth sectors identified in the 2013 Worcester Regional Economic Competitiveness Outlook report released by the Worcester chamber detailed the three highest growth sectors: professional, scientific and technical; education and health; and manufacturing. All require high capacity bandwidth.
Worcester has the key elements necessary to support high-tech businesses, including Worcester's greatest asset, the ability to offer unlimited Internet speeds through fiber.
Roughly 495 of the 20,000 cities and towns in the U.S. have a broadband network. A small percentage of these have a fiber network, and an even smaller number of municipalities have a multitude of lit fiber providers and vendors willing to lease dark fiber to commercial consumers. Worcester's infrastructure has all that.
Fiber networks are attractive to business tenants, developers and landlords because it offers unlimited speed and capacity and is essentially “future proof.” We see it in property values. A building with dark fiber generally has a higher property value for a few reasons. First, the number of Internet provider options from which tenants can select increases and competition drives prices down. Secondly, dark fiber provides unlimited bandwidth assuring tenants the flexibility and scalability they may need. Finally, lit fiber allows tenants to access unlimited speeds without having to manage the connection or equipment.
Worcester has two dark fiber providers with networks in the city, 11 service providers with fiber and 20 providers with service delivery ability. Along with the fiber assets, Worcester has a carrier hotel in the center of the city, eight data centers within 20 miles, and direct connections to Boston, Hartford and New York City.
The chamber and other stakeholders are committed to improving the city's infrastructure and expanding economic development efforts. Since the release of the report, additional plans have been solidified to expand the fiber network to the Worcester Regional Airport and construction has begun to bring fiber to more than 50 schools.
The chamber has asked the city to consider establishing a team to streamline the workflow for permitting and fiber development. We have suggested that a Fiber Accessibility Task Force be created to encourage collaboration between the small and large business community, city departments, higher education and the service provider community to open the lines of communication. Finally, the chamber has asked to work with the city to draft and advocate for policies that integrate fiber into infrastructure improvement plans.
In the ever-changing world of technology, promoting and expanding Worcester's fiber infrastructure is crucial to the chamber's recruit, retain and incubate strategy.
Timothy P. Murrary is president and CEO of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce.
WBJ Web Partners
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