The Roanoke Valley Broadband Authority (RVBA), a collaboration among four Virginia communities to advance broadband connectivity in their region, says is has delivered dark fiber-optic broadband connectivity to the Regional Acceleration and Mentoring Program (RAMP).
RAMP is a collaboration among Roanoke city, Virginia Western Community College, and the Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council. The program aims to assist startups through the provision of free office space, mentors, business education, and access to capital. The dark fiber will enable Virginia Western Community College and other tenants to access the RVBA's fiber-optic cable and conduit infrastructure. End-users will have the flexibility to individually configure, procure, and manage their own fiber lines and data transport services.
"Virginia Western has collaborated with the Roanoke Valley Broadband Authority to provision fiber connectivity between its main campus and the two downtown Roanoke sites at the Claude Moore Education Center and the new entrepreneur training facilities inside the RAMP building," said Shivaji Samanta, director of Information and Educational Technologies at Virginia Western. "The project, delivered on time and within budget, provides VWCC with dedicated connectivity to its off-campus locations at speeds limited only by the equipment at the end-points for a fixed monthly cost."
"Dark fiber is advantageous to growing businesses that wish to secure and invest up-front in future bandwidth capacity. As we remain committed to the economic development and technological growth of the Roanoke Valley, this partnership with RAMP makes perfect sense. We share a core commitment to maximizing the future growth potential and technological infrastructure of our region," said RVBA President and CEO Frank Smith.
Four regional municipalities – the cities of Salem and Roanoke, Roanoke County, and the County of Botetourt) – formed RVBA in 2011. The group opened services on regional, carrier-grade, open-access network in April 2016 (see "Roanoke Valley Broadband Authority lays fiber-optic cable in Roanoke and Salem" and "Ciena supplies packet-optical transport system to RVBA municipal networks").
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