Medina County Fiber Network Brings Technology to Bear on Vital Services
Medina, OH (April 13, 2020) – First responders, medical personnel, healthcare providers and city and township services work tirelessly during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic to preserve the health and welfare of local residents. The sudden implementation of social distancing and the corresponding web traffic created by the surge of a remote workforce and distance learning can cause service disruptions and slowdowns at a critical time.
Medina County Fiber Network (MCFN) has been working with essential service providers in Medina County to help prevent service disruptions by expediting connection to the fiber network. One recent case involved the Guilford Township Fire Station, which serves approximately 5730 residents and 160 businesses.
The mayor of Seville, Carol Carter, reached out to MCFN seeking a solution for the Guilford fire department when she learned their cable modem couldn’t handle the information load and traffic generated by employees working from home. Personnel assigned to work remotely need the ability to access and share critical files.
Fortunately, the fiber lines had been installed to the fire house this past December, awaiting the “fiber to home” service MCFN will be rolling out in in the near future. David Corrado, CEO of MCFN spoke with different area carriers and LightSpeed Hosting, a Medina-based service, proposed donating two to three months of high-speed (100×100 Mbps) internet connection to the fire house in Guilford. The equipment was installed and connection completed within just a few days, connecting the station on April 9.
Fire Chief Brad Winter said, that after the Governor of Ohio issued the stay at home order, the internet speed at the station decreased. “The Seville-Guilford Fire Department is very grateful for the generous donation from the fiber carrier Lightspeed on the Medina County Fiber Network for 3 months of fiber internet.”
Medina County Fiber Network is supporting multiple critical emergency services in Medina county for 911 phone and internet services as well as the Health Department, Sheriff’s department, public schools, the Board of Developmental Disabilities, license bureaus and administrative services. For the state of Ohio, MCFN supports the ODJFS services, plus the State of Ohio site, “Ohio Means Jobs.” The 911 emergency centers of Wadsworth and Brunswick depend on MCFN for internet connectivity as does the City of Parma communications center.
Fiber Optics Meets Myriad Challenges During a Crisis
The shelter-in-place orders in Ohio meant an instant, massive dispersion of employees, students, patients and individuals working and learning in central locations, to instead conduct these activities at home. This slows service for traditional cable connections due to the increased volume in locations meant to handle less traffic and smaller files.
Compared to cable, fiber optic lines are one-tenth the diameter and offer faster service, travel longer distances, are more secure, more reliable, more durable and easier to scale. This blazing speed and enhanced capacity enable instant sharing of high-resolution images and file transfers. These features make it possible to pursue telemedicine, online education or e-learning and remote work.
Telemedicine for example, involves high-definition video connections between patients and physicians. It is being encouraged at this time to maintain consistent communications with active care patients who are not experiencing an emergency. Telemedicine allows for non-contact visits to protect patients and healthcare providers alike from possible infection.
For more information about Medina County Fiber Network and the services it provides, call 330-722-9215 or visit the web site at https://www.medinacountyfibernetwork.com.