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Dear Colleagues,
It’s been a busy summer at OpenCape, and seemingly we have hit our stride in terms of connecting businesses, municipal clients and exploring the possibility of ultimately servicing residences in our region.
Around this time last year, I outlined our strategy of focusing on businesses that were on or very near our network. Our thought process was that connecting these easily accessible customers would ensure OpenCape could remain strong and sustainable. I’m pleased to report that our efforts have paid off and we have been experiencing an outpouring of interest from organizations who understand the importance of connectivity. These companies and municipal clients all realize that in order to compete in current business environments and competitive marketplaces they need the most up-to-date communication platforms. In short, they know they need the services that OpenCape provides and that that really differentiates us from our competitors.
What is exciting is seeing that key industries that help drive our local economies are part of this surge in OpenCape new business. A great example of that is Healthcare. When Southcoast Hospitals made the decision to invest in Tomosynthesis, High definition 3D mammography to provide the best diagnostic services for patients, they turned to OpenCape for the connections that would ensure their new technology worked. This summer we connected three of their principal hospitals and three urgent care centers to the OpenCape Network.
Closer to our home office in Barnstable, Cape Cod Healthcare went through an extensive review after they lost internet capabilities with a previous provider. In an effort to create a reliable digital environment to extend healthcare to all patients in their network, CCHC selected OpenCape to connect Cape Cod Hospital, Falmouth Hospital and a few additional critical health facilities in their network. This inaugural interaction with us is setting the stage for major opportunities in how data can be securely and consistently shared and reviewed within their system.
Of course, OpenCape doesn’t just serve large corporations and multi-facility non-profits. We are also providing internet solutions for small to medium businesses all across our network area. In our last newsletter we let you know that Pie in the Sky chose OpenCape as their provider. So if you live in Woods Hole, or are visiting there, make sure to get a hot cup of coffee and one of Pie in the Sky’s delicious pastries, all while enjoying their super fast internet speeds.
Big or small, near or far, the point is we are making tremendous progress in our goal to serve diverse businesses in all the communities in our footprint. We will continue to work tirelessly to provide multi-faceted solutions for serving you today and ten years from now.
Best,
Steve
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Heritage House Hotel
Hospitality is another huge part of our region’s economy and inns, B&Bs, motels and hotels all try to respond to their guests’ needs and desires. The owners of Heritage House Hotel, located right on Main Street in downtown Hyannis, were looking to further differentiate themselves from their competition.
The circa 1968 hotel was purchased by Superior Hotel Management Corporation (SHMC) from its original owners in 1999. Since then the principals have focused their 75 years of combined hospitality management experience to consistently improve the guest experience, and provide the type of amenities today’s hotel visitors are demanding.
This vision includes applying new technologies and systems to maximize guest comfort at the Heritage House Hotel. Phase I of this vision was implemented in 2011, when the Heritage House became the first (and only) hotel on Cape Cod to become solar-powered.
The Heritage House Hotel is fueled by 464 patented Solyndra™ 200 series solar panels on the roof, which annually offset approximately 144,734 pounds of carbon dioxide. Anyone can check the monitoring station online or in the hotel lobby to see the panels’ real-time production.
This goal to become a green, technologically advanced hotel led Heritage House to recently choose OpenCape as their internet provider. Not only does our reliable 100% fiber optic network ensure seamless online reservations, but all hotel guests and diners at Chauncy’s Bar & Grille, can experience super-fast internet service.
We are happy to serve Heritage House Hotel as part of efforts in the Main Street Hyannis renaissance.
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Earlier this month at the STEM Starter Academy Luncheon at Cape Cod Community College, OpenCape’s Angela Hurwitz joined Ed Klein from Cape Cod Healthcare to speak with a group of CCCC students. They provided insight into the skills needed to land interviews and further their potential technology-based careers.
“The students responded really well,” says Hurwitz, “and both students and professors told us that we provided useful information as to what the people behind the table are really thinking during interviews.”
Hosted by the Cape Cod Regional STEM Network, which is hosting their annual Cape & Island STEM week October 22 - 26, the luncheon was offered free of charge to interested students. “It was very much a concentration on soft skills,” adds Hurwitz. “We reminded them that as important as tech skills are, employers are also looking for good communication skills, which can make potential hires really stand out.”
Hurwitz and Klein also encouraged students to participate in tech-focused opportunities like coding challenges and hack-athons, which can add to interest and depth to the interview conversation.
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OpenCape's Director of Client Solutions Angela Hurwitz and Cape Cod Heathcare's Ed Klein speak to students at Cape Cod Community College this month.
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Gearing Up for Fiber to the Home (FTTH)
It’s what everyone is thinking about: Residential Internet Service, or as we like to call it FIBER TO THE HOME (FTTH.) We are listening to the people of Cape Cod, the Islands and Southeastern, MA., when they tell us they want our super-fast, reliable internet in their houses ~ and they want it to be affordable.
In a nutshell, there are a few stages of how FTTH will eventually become a reality. Currently, our OpenCape backbone crisscrosses our geographical region. As we extend it out through connecting new business and municipal clients our footprint grows larger, and we begin to reach more residential areas.
So, to prepare, we are meeting with the leading providers of equipment that facilitates FTTH. We will assess different options in fiber access technology and platforms from companies like Nokia, Corning, Adtran, Zhone and Calix to understand which equipment is best suited for our needs and can withstand our harsh weather and coastal environment.
We also need the commitment and involvement of each town to make this their community’s priority. Local residents should voice their demand for a better and more reliable level of connectivity in their homes, at competitive prices.
We are working on
the gear ~ we need you to provide
the will to make it happen!
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Why Our Fiber is Better
As everyone knows Fiber is good for you - but why is OUR Fiber better? It is a question that we get all the time: why chose OpenCape versus the another provider?
There are many reasons, which include the fact that our network was built to serve one purpose: to move data back and forth in the 21 st century.
Other providers rely on legacy infrastructure that is constructed of a mix of elements, like copper, coaxial and a bit of fiber. Our network is 100% Fiber, no coaxial cable, no copper, no string or duct tape.
Secondly, the way we deliver service to our business clients is unique in that we “dual-home” every business client. This means that fiber comes from a customer’s location and goes in two different locations. If any damage happens to one route our client’s service will continue, in most cases with out the customer even knowing it. No other network provides this level of reliability.
Finally, our customer service is second to none. When you call OpenCape you will speak directly to a local OC staff member. So whenever you have a problem, question or need additional help you will get personal, dedicated attention.
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What is an MLP and Why Do I Need One?
Municipal Light Plants (MLPs) were originally devised so communities could generate their own electricity, but these days most MLPs are not focused on electricity production. Instead they allow towns to connect to poles without paying connection fees. A community’s MLP facilitates fiber based internet for all residents and businesses.
Massachusetts towns that have already embraced MLPs include Westfield, Greenfield, and Alford. OpenCape is in the early stages of conversations with several Cape and Southeastern, MA., communities to explore the potential for them to form their own MLPs and move their towns closer to Fiber To The Home initiatives.
For more information on MLPs and how towns are successfully using them to provide services to their residents take a look at these local towns:
Alford,
Westfield,
Greenfield.
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In response to the recent tragic fatal and near-fatal shark bites in the waters off Cape Cod, OpenCape has been working diligently to offer potential solutions moving forward.
As an organization whose core mission revolves around public safety and economic development, this is something that we feel is critical to participate in. Connecting the Outer Cape beaches within the National Seashore is something we have been working toward over the past few years. The stumbling block always comes down to the same factor: money to build into these fairly remote areas.
Before any practical technological solutions for shark mitigation, such as the Clever Buoy system, can be considered or deployed the Cape community needs to prioritize enhancing the connectivity and communications capability for the Outer Cape beaches that are most impacted.
To meet this remote connectivity challenge, OpenCape is collaborating with another company founded here on the Cape, Sandwich’s Centerline Communications, which built Gillette’s Stadiums DAS (Distributed Antenna System) Network within the Stadium.
The team at Centerline is expert at utilizing DAS or Small cell technology to share connectivity provided by OpenCape to the beaches without having to construct massive towers. Our goal is to reach and effectively service the National Seashore with the least possible environmental impact, maintaining the majesty and beauty of one of the greatest protected natural areas in the world.
OpenCape has been in touch with the National Seashore, the entire Cape Legislative Delegation and the Outer Cape Town Managers and have offered their expert assistance for the ongoing challenge of servicing these remote beaches. In addition, our company is being proactive by analyzing what will be most effective for the needs of the community.
We have been in close communications with Craig Anderson, CEO at Clever Buoy, about the technology required to ensure the Clever Buoy network would function and remain connected in the harsh marine environment of the Outer Cape.
We all want to continue to enjoy our seashores, with the understanding that the ocean and its inhabitants can be dangerous and unpredictable. Our services can help create a more technologically connected experience for everyone who loves Cape Cod beaches.
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OpenCape Corporation
P.O. Box 1148
Barnstable, MA
02630-2148
www.opencape.org
508-362-2224
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