Battle Creek Unlimited wants more people to know just how wired the community is.
BCU released a report this summer called "Battle Creek Bandwidth Bountiful for Businesses" that spells out the benefits of the city's 25-mile fiber optic loop. It connects the Battle Creek airport, Fort Custer Industrial Park and major businesses in the area.
The
City of Battle Creek and
BCU made the strategic decision to install the network as a way to attract and retain high-tech companies to the area, as well as accommodate the city's largest employers.
Access, connectivity and speed have emerged as three of the most important considerations for businesses in the 21st century. Large enterprise, small and medium business, health care providers and local schools in Battle Creek all benefit from speedy access connections of up to one gigabit per second — more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today.
The community-wide OC-48 optical ethernet fiber ring serves residential, commercial, and industrial sectors of Battle Creek.
The system provides any level of bandwidth required. There are also dedicated optical ethernet circuits with speeds at 1 gigabit per second or 10 gigabit per second. They allow government, education, healthcare or other customers to build private Wide Area Networks (WAN) to connect buildings across town, or farther away.
"We are fortunate that our community had the foresight to understand the significance of what a truly connected community means to business," says BCU President and CEO Karl Dehn. "Battle Creek is ahead of the curve when it comes to connectivity, and it's a competitive advantage when considering locations for a business."
BCU is the economic development organization that works with the City of Battle Creek to transform the city and and diversify its economy.
Writer: Kathy Jennings
Source: Karl Dehn, BCU
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