Construction Crews Hard at Work as Town Finalizes Critical Operational Details

While backbone and mainline fiber construction was paused during the busy summer months, and drop conduit installations continued, much was happening behind-the-scenes to prepare BroadbandBI to go live this fall. A full gambit of Sertex crews have now returned to construction work, as the Town is finalizing these critical operational details:

Contracts: The Network Operator Agreement, an extensive 10-year contract, fully spells out how the relationship between the Town, the network operator (Sertex), the ISP (Crocker) and the transport provider (OSHEAN) will be structured and function for the next decade. This contract with Sertex was uniquely crafted to Block Island’s needs and priorities, island challenges, and the unusual parameters around the subsea fiber cable. Crafting this agreement has taken months, is a critical step in network implementation, and was as intensive an exercise as construction and permitting.

Similarly, the ISP Agreement with Crocker Communications has been finalized and will go before the Council in September for authorization.

While all network partners have continued to work while these agreements are finalized, no customers can be turned up until the contracts are fully executed.

Core Network Electronics: located in the telecom building - have been installed and configured. This equipment and other physical elements of the network have been impacted by ongoing supply chain challenges. Having these key pieces of equipment in place is an exciting step toward service activation.

Critical E911 configuration, including redundancies and system testing, are underway.

The BroadbandBI website is being redesigned, and backend databases that accommodate customer subscriptions are close to complete. The fire number conventions on Block Island make address and location systems much more complicated than on traditional mainland networks. The updated website will go live in September.

Important Property Registration Information
If you haven’t already registered your property for one or more fiber drops, please visit the BroadbandBI website ASAP to register.

Contact Us for More Information

If you have any questions about Block Island Broadband network project construction or your installation, please email Sertex customer service with your lot/fire number.

Thank you for your support and patience throughout this complex,
multi-phase construction and implementation project.