*Please Scroll Down for Updates*
This is a map of the backbone section of the North Build that is being worked on now. The backbone is the high capacity fiber optic cable that is the base of the service for North Greenfield. This cable is pulled from two directions (East and West) to our Local Convergence Point (LCP) on Severance Street. The LCP is the secure building we have constructed on Severance St. that will carry all of the network equipment necessary to service individual customers. Those customers will be serviced by lateral lines of lower capacity fiber optic cables that will be pulled down individual streets from the backbone. We think of it like the backbone is the major artery for North Greenfield and the lateral lines are the smaller arteries that come off the backbone to service individual streets and neighborhoods. The total backbone is over 7 miles in length and will attach to hundreds of Utility Poles.
To attach it properly we pull “strand” (a carrier wire that will attach to the utility poles to form a secure and strong attachment point for the fiber optic cable). Then we pull the fiber optic cable. Then we “lash” the fiber optic cable to the strand with wrapping wire that binds the cable to the strand. Our goal is for the fiber optic cable to last for 10 to 20 years or more, so installing it with strong attachments is essential for its longevity.
- The East Backbone Section has been completed. That means the strand has been pulled. The fiber optic cable has been pulled. And the lashing wire has been attached.
- The West Backbone Section strand has been pulled. The fiber optic cable will be pulled during the next month. The lashing will start as soon as the fiber optic cable has been pulled.
- The LCP has been built and all the equipment is purchased and ready for installation. Once the backbones have both been completed, the LCP can be configured. This will ensure that the thousands of people who will be regularly using it will all have safe, secure and fast, connection to the internet.
We are working hard to bring internet to North Greenfield. We will provide further updates here as the build progresses.
*Update: The West Backbone fiber optic cable pull is scheduled to begin on 10/22 and run through the first week or so of November.
*Update 1/27/26: The remaining West Backbone Section fiber cable pull has been completed. Lashing started in late November on Leyden Rd. and is ongoing. Equipment is being installed at the LCP and initial configuration work has begun.
*Update 5/6/26: Lashing is 90% complete along the West Backbone.
*Update 9/11/26: GCET has installed all power systems and upgrades necessary at the central core for the expansion into North Greenfield. Switching and routing equipment also continues to be installed at the new Local Convergence Point location. Final lashing for all backbone fiber elements will be complete by 9/15 and the first lateral fiber lines to neighborhoods will begin to be pulled next week. Meanwhile, final configuration work on software control systems with our network hardware providers is proceeding well. Configuration work like this is detailed and intensive and requires time and expertise to complete. This configuration is essential to make sure the network will work efficiently and securely for the new expansion.