OpenCape: current status

current status

1. Regional Support. 100% of Cape school districts and towns, and other entities who might play a role in the OpenCape project have submitted letters of support. A Regional Summit is being planned for June 26th Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution that will bring together local, regional, and state leaders, both public and private sector, to discuss public private partnerships that can help to exploit the capabilities inherent in OpenCape. For example, communities and school districts will be asked to work towards connecting their physical networks to one another through OpenCape, and creating applications such as shared data, web, and other services in an umbrella of services overlaying the Cape region.

2. Seed Funding. The Cape Cod Economic Development Council (EDC) of Barnstable County has contributed $50,000. Cape Cod Community College, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and UMASS Dartmouth have each committed $30,000. A Regional Priority Grant was approved by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, John Adams Innovation Institute for $150,000. The funds support engineering studies, demand aggregation, and other necessary analysis needed to prepare a full proposal to build the network.

3. Proof of Concept. OpenCape is now testing the initial point-to-point link of the initiative’s proof-of-concept to establish a regional digital data highway network. Three additional links will be installed when testing of the first link is completed. Once completed, the proof-of-concept will establish a high speed connection from Cape Cod Community College to the Internet. The proof-of-concept is necessary to validate the technology and the OpenCape Corporation’s ability to implement it.

4. Engineering and Analysis. OpenCape has issued two contracts for the further development of the OpenCape network plan. AccessPlus Plus Communications, Inc. was selected in an RFP process to complete a network topology design of the OpenCape network. Vector Consulting is conducting a study of service communities and applications. The study describe potential examples of services offered and applications used by the various user communities, both public and private, under various network conditions. Two additional studies are being conducted under an MTC contract on behalf of OpenCape. These studies will describe the fiber optic inventory in southeastern Massachusetts and describe the telecommunications market on Cape Cod. The completion of all of this work is expected this summer. In its totality it will form the basis for further definition and description of the technical and business plans of OpenCape.

5. Institutional Development. The OpenCape initiative is managed by the nonprofit OpenCape Corporation. The initiative is the result of a region-wide collaboration, led by Cape Cod Community College, the Cape Cod Technology Council, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. The collaboration involves more than 40 different regional entities, including school districts, municipalities, and other agencies.

6. Full Project Funding. The OpenCape Corporation is seeking funding for the full project implementation. A request was made of the Joint Committee on Bonding and State Assets in February, 2008 to open and amend House Bill 4311 “An Act Establishing and Funding the Massachusetts Broadband Institute” to expand the bond from $25 million to $30 million to construct the OpenCape network. House 4311 is commonly referred to as the Governor’s Broadband Bill. The entire Cape and Islands delegation has taken a keen interest in this Bill and taken action to ensure the Bill is amended to include the funding of OpenCape. The Massachusetts Senate passed the Broadband Bill on July 10th following passage within the House of Representatives on July 1, 2008. The passage of this Bill is a major milestone for OpenCape. It includes a $40 million bond to create the Broadband Institute at the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative and authorizes the issuing of bonds to address the "unserved" and "underserved" broadband communities in Massachusetts.

creating regional broadband opportunities

current status

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