OnLight Aurora Partners with the City for Better Connectivity in Illinois

Written by Lisa Gonzalez. The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website.

Nine years ago, Aurora officials decided it was time to reduce telecommunications costs and upgrade to a faster, more reliable network. The local government built a fiber network to service municipal government, but developed long-term ideas for the network to benefit the entire community.

Nonprofit OnLight Aurora now uses the City’s fiber optic network to provide high-speed connectivity to educational institutions, businesses, healthcare facilities, social service entities, and major non-profits. The organization leases fibers from the City’s fiber optic network and provides Internet access at affordable rates.

Aurora is the second most populous city in Illinois. The municipal government spans 52 buildings over 46 square miles. Before the city’s fiber network, connections were a patchwork of varying speeds and capabilities. Employees in a building with a slow connection would need to travel to City Hall to access a high-speed connections to use the city’s bandwidth intensive applications. The network was old, unreliable, and expensive. The Director of Onlight Aurora recently spoke with Drew Clark from Broadband Breakfast :

“In 2005-2006, we came to the conclusion that we were paying $500,000 a year [to telecommunications providers] for leased line expenses,” said Peter Lynch, Director and President of Onlight Aurora.

The 60-mile network, constructed from 2008 – 2011, cost approximately $7 million to deploy. At the beginning of the process, payback was estimated at 10 years. While the short-term goal was to cut municipal connectivity costs, community leaders intended to expand its use in other ways. The City now saves approximately $485,000 each year from having eliminated leased lines. From a Cisco case study on Aurora [PDF]:

“With local governments increasingly facing limited resources, you have to be able to find efficiencies in operations.” Although the cost savings are gratifying, [Ted] Beck,[Chief Technology Officer] notes that that was just the beginning: “The priority for the fiber optic network was initially cost savings; however we’re realizing that the benefits don’t end there. We’ve had some super wins with this technology, and we’re going to keep leveraging the infrastructure.” Mayor Weisner confirms these successes: “Pretty quickly, we saw a return on investment, both financially and otherwise. We have a much greater capability and fewer problems.” 

In 2011, Aurora received a Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) grant from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) administered through the Illinois Department of Transportation. When the FHWA sought communities for the pilot program and accompanying grant, Aurora’s existing fiber network was a plus. During construction of the city network, Aurora had installed extra fiber strands in its conduit. City traffic engineers used several strands to synchronize intersections to improve traffic flow. The grant, of approximately $12 million, upgraded 60 traffic signals. It also allowed Aurora to eliminate all remaining debt on the network.

From the Broadband Breakfast article:

“We have been able to see better movement of traffic, which alleviates congestion and air quality,” said Eric Gallt, the city’s Traffic Engineer. The fiber loop enables city traffic officials “to see what is going on remotely, and it decreased the cost of the project by 50 percent or more.”

That same year, Mayor Tom Weisner formed a broadband task force to field specific ideas for best utilizing the fiber optic network. In 2012 the group created non-profit OnLight Aurora. The organization received a $25,000 grant and a three-year $150,000 loan from the City. OnLight and Aurora entered into a 20-year agreement for OnLight to lease network fiber strands from the City. OnLight would then lease access to the fiber backbone to other entities at affordable rates.

In 2012, OnLight Aurora received a $1 million Illinois Gigabit Communities Challenge award. The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity awarded the grant as seed money. OnLight Aurora also received another $1 million in matching public and private funds. The organization used the funds to offset costs of connecting customers and to expand to better reach developing business parks and healthcare facilities. Schools, medical centers, social services agencies, arts & entertainment entities, and businesses now connect to the network at speeds of up to 10 Gbps.

In August 2013, Indian Prairie School District 204 announced its plans to expand its technology program. The connection allows the District to connect two of its data centers. District 204 obtains a 10 Gbps connection from OnLight Aurora for $39,600 per year. OnLight provides ample bandwidth for the district’s bring-your-own-device initiative. A portion of the $1 million Illinois Gigabit Communities Challenge grant paid for the cost of connecting the fiber.

OnLight also offers wireless connections as an economical way to serve small- and medium-sized businesses. OnLight uses city-owned towers and buildings that are already connected to the fiber for wireless point-to-point connections. The wireless complement will connect schools, businesses, and other entities when a lengthy fiber connection is too costly.

Businesses in Aurora are connecting to the fiber. An August Beacon-News article on the wireless plan also tells the story of security company Alarm Detection Systems (ADS). The company went from T1 connections at 1.5 Mbps to 20 Mbps connections from OnLight for approximately $500 per month. From the article:

While cases vary based on a number of factors, the upfront installation cost for Alarm Detection Systems offices to connect directly to the fiber network are about $19,000, according to [company IT Manager Mark] Schramm. But the reliable and fast connection will save the company money in the long run.
“We’re saving money and believe we’re getting a better product,” he said.

According the a recent Beacon-News article, OnLight Aurora is now reaching out to local businesses through seminars. An article about the January 29th seminar quoted a city official:

“Attendees will receive the necessary tools to better understand and employ the OnLight Aurora network resource for their businesses and organizations,” said Clayton Muhammad, Aurora Director of Communications.

OnLight Aurora’s three year plan includes doubling it’s current length to 100 miles. The network is completely underground and any carrier has access to the infrastructure.

 

About Lisa Gonzalez: 
Lisa Gonzalez researches and reports on telecommunications and municipal networks’ impact on life at the local level. Lisa has worked in politics, education, and as a freelance journalist. In addition to her contributions at ILSR.org, Lisa writes for MuniNetworks.org and produces the Broadband Bits podcast.

Rush-Copley Joins City's Fiber Optic Network

Rush-Copley Medical Center has become the first healthcare facility to utilize Aurora’s 60+ mile fiber optic network through a partnership with OnLight Aurora, a not-for-profit organization which brings the advantages of the network to the City’s community anchor institutions.

Rush-Copley Medical Center is a 210-bed hospital providing a comprehensive array of health and wellness services in the greater Fox Valley area. Rush-Copley is a leader in state-of-the-art healthcare in Illinois' second largest city and its adjacent communities with dynamic centers of excellence – each designed to meet the needs of a growing and diverse population.

Rush-Copley joins a multitude of Aurora businesses, non-profits and educational institutions enjoying an alternative path to the internet made possible by the fiber optic ring. 

“When we tested and demonstrated their connectivity to the internet, Rush Copley was impressed with the speed and latency,” said Mark McCoy, OnLight Aurora Board Member. “When we demonstrated the speed connecting to other OnLight Aurora customers they could see the endless possibilities.”

The connectivity positively impacts Rush-Copley’s service to patients and increases opportunities to collaborate with other organizations in Aurora.

"Rush-Copley prides itself on being a technology leader with the high level of medical care we provide the community, according to Rush-Copley Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer John Diederich.  He added, “The OnLight initiative is in total keeping with our commitment to advanced medicine and our promise of extraordinary care to our patients and guests.  The speed and reliability of the fiber optics is enhancing real-time patient care efforts and bringing direct Internet access to those that make daily use of Internet access throughout our facility," he said.

In this current age of portable technology and instant connectivity, bandwidth needs are increasing both from internal staff needs as well as the patients and their families in the waiting room.

Connectivity to the fiber optic network will allow Rush Copley access to two-way audio and video conferencing which has the potential to provide both patient and medical service providers with a very efficient tool to diagnose and treat patients. In addition, the hospital will have access to the network’s data center to store volumes of information in an approved secure setting.

"The OnLight Aurora connection is a critical, redundant Internet access tool for us, ensuring that patients, guests and caregivers are connected immediately. The OnLight Aurora project has incredible potential for our future growth and technology needs," said Dennis DeMasie, Vice President, Information Technology and Chief Information Officer at Rush-Copley.

Rush-Copley will also have direct and immediate access to schools, social service agencies, and businesses that are also connected to the network which will result in collaborative education and training that will benefit the entire community.

“To be able to connect the current high school Health Care curriculum with a world-class, respected organization like Rush, will transform education as we know it and provide our students will the tools necessary to advance their studies in ways we never thought possible,” said Don Ringelstein, Director of Technology for West Aurora School District 129.
“Rush-Copley has been a significant part of the fabric of the Aurora community for generations. Its use of cutting edge technology as a regional healthcare and research institution is further enhanced by its connectivity to the fiber optic network ring,” said Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner. “While the hospital will benefit from faster broadband connections at lower costs, patients will benefit from greater access to information and education, and the area business community will see that Aurora is not just the City of Lights, but the City of light speed,” Weisner continued. 

In 2013, OnLight Aurora has provided connectivity to educational institutions, non-profit organizations, and an array of businesses including West Aurora School District 129, the Illinois Math and Science Academy, Aurora University, Alarm Detection Systems, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and PDS. Aurora Christian Schools, Indian Prairie School District 204, and a number of Downtown Aurora are expected to be connected in the near future.

OnLight Aurora Shows How to Leverage the City of Aurora's Fiber Network

by Drew Clark, Publisher, BroadbandBreakfast.com

Just over a year ago, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn announced the first of four awards under the state’s “Gigabit Communities Challenge,” an effort to raise the bar on broadband speeds in the nation’s heartland. Of the four awardees named thus far, the Gigabit Network created by OnLight Aurora here is perhaps the most advanced. This is owing to a unique public-private partnership in the state’s second-largest city.

Other awardees in Illinois are Gigabit Squared and the University of Chicago; the City of Evanston and Northwest University; and Frontier Communications, Connect Southern Illinois and Southern Illinois University.

But the example of OnLight Aurora provides an important window into the way Gigabit Networks can help a multiplicity of purposes. These include government cost-savings, traffic solutions, and economic development options for business retention and growth.

On Wednesday, November 6, 2013, Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner will address the state of OnLight Aurora during a panel discussion at the Broadband Communities Conference on “Making Broadband Projects Sustainable: Fostering Economic Growth is Key to Building Robust Revenue Streams.”

Originally a Cost-Saving Measure

“In 2005-2006, we came to the conclusion that we were paying $500,000 a year [to telecommunications providers] for leased line expenses,” said Peter Lynch, Director and President of OnLight Aurora.

The city proposed to build a city-owned fiber-optic network, at a cost of $7.5 million, he said. At the time, the city was forecasting a minimum of 10 years payback period.

Instead, the city has leveraged:

  • A $13 million grant under the Federal Highway Administration’s Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program
  • An additional $1 million in funding under Gov. Quinn’s Gigabit Communities Challenge
  • Increasing opportunities for business revenue through add-on services available to business users.
“I can joyfully say, that we are now paying that off for its third or fourth time,” said Lynch.

Alleviating Traffic Congestion

The traffic congestion grant, which was administered through the Chicago Metropolitan Area for Planning, is a great example of leveraging a network originally designed for city communications for another purpose entirely.

The traffic grant occurred because the city had the foresight to install large number of fiber strands into conduits that it laid to build out the city network, said Lynch.

That in turn opened an opportunity when the FHA was seeking pilot cities to design programs that would alleviate auto emissions. The means for reduced emissions was to be an enhanced traffic flow because of better traffic light synchronization.

By granting the city’s traffic engineers with “access to several strands of fiber, they were able to prove out their concept on a much bigger scale,” said Ted Beck, the city’s Chief Technology Officer. “That helps the quality of our community.”

“We have been able to see better movement of traffic, which alleviates congestion and air quality,” said Eric Gallt, the city’s Traffic Engineer. The fiber loop enables city traffic officials “to see what is going on remotely, and it decreased the cost of the project by 50 percent or more.”

Planning for Broadband Success

Later, when Gov. Quinn announced the Illinois Gigabit Communities Challenge in the February 2012 State of the State address, the city of Aurora was ready to take the challenge to the next step.

Quinn’s challenge grant offered private providers and communities the opportunity to obtain between $1 million and $4 million in funding by working together to promote the highest-speed connectivity available. The goal was to “unleash the savvy of our entrepreneurs, the brainpower of our academics, and the creativity of our innovators,” Governor Quinn said in the speech.

In Aurora, Lynch and Beck recounted, Mayor Weisner empaneled a broadband roundtable, from business and the government, to brainstorm how the city’s fiber-optic network could benefit community broadband centers like schools, hospitals, and libraries. The plan enables these institutions to link up to the fiber network as they contribute to its financial strength.

“Technology plays a huge part in retaining the businesses that you want to keep and targeting the companies that you want to recruit,” said Beck. “Our core vision was community-based. Our schools are in critical need of technology, but you have to have a model that is sustainable.”

OnLight Aurora’s next step is to move beyond education, health care and social services to significant commercial resale of ultra-high-speed broadband services.

Aurora Nonprofit Group Helps District 204 with Data Needs

By Marie Wilson, Daily Herald

With grading systems, student information systems, learning applications and library checkout systems all running simultaneously, large school districts like Indian Prairie Unit District 204 are constantly dealing with expanding data needs. The district has found a new way to address its need for more data center space by partnering with OnLight Aurora, a nonprofit organization that leases bandwidth on the city of Aurora's fiber Internet network. For five years, District 204 will rent a 10 GB connection to the network, allowing two physically remote data centers to function as one.

"By connecting our current data center with space that's allocated at Metea Valley High School, we're able to meet our growing needs," said Stan Gorbatkin, assistant superintendent for technology services. "This is a prerequisite to additional work to meet the district's needs in terms of technology."

A fiber connection will be installed between Metea at 1801 N. Eola Road and the Crouse Education Center at 780 Shoreline Drive, both in Aurora. Much of the cabling already exists on Aurora's 50-mile fiber network, but new lines will need to be installed near the high school and from Aurora fire station 8 at McCoy Drive and Gregory Street to the education center, Gorbatkin said.

OnLight is using a portion of a $1 million "Gigabit Challenge" grant it received from the state last month to pay the $109,000 cost of building the connection District 204 needs, said Rick Mervine, an Aurora alderman and volunteer with OnLight Aurora.

"Our objective is to be able to connect education, medical centers, arts and entertainment, social services and businesses — both economic development and existing businesses," to high-speed Internet at a low cost, Mervine said. "This is just the first step with 204."

The district will pay $197,820 over the life of the five-year agreement, but board members who unanimously approved the contract Monday night said OnLight offered savings over other possible vendors.

"The partnership is of tremendous value," Gorbatkin said. "The big positive is with the availability of the grant funds and the willingness of OnLight to aggressively price their services, it made this a win-win."

West Aurora schools, the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy and Aurora Christian School already are using OnLight connections, and Mervine said more partnerships are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

Construction on the connection between Metea Valley High School and the Crouse Education Center will begin later this summer, with the service set to be live by February.