Golden LEAF Rural Broadband Initiative

MCNC and its northwestern North Carolina project sub-recipient ERC Broadband (ERC) have selected three companies to construct 1,200 miles of new fiber optics as part of the second phase expansion of the North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN).

The vendors share a roughly $40 million construction award. The entire expansion of NCREN, called the Golden LEAF Rural Broadband Initiative (GLRBI), has an estimated project cost of approximately $146 million.Three experienced fiber-optic construction firms--Globe Communications, Fiber Technologies, and Edwards Telecommunications--were selected for this phase of the project, the size and scope of which is nearly four-times larger than round 1. The project is scheduled to be completed by July 2013.Edwards Telecommunications is a full-service telecommunications contractor based in Columbia; S.C.Fiber Technologies, a Quanta Services Company, is based in Loganville, Ga., with more than 35 years of telecommunications construction experience. Fiber Tech is working on roughly 200 miles of fiber installation in western North Carolina. Globe Communications is currently building segments totaling roughly 220 miles in southeastern North Carolina.

June 20, 2011

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