Worcester Business Journal

www.wbjournal.com February 29, 2016 • Worcester Business Journal 19 report on Worcester's economic com- petitiveness identified the professional, scientific and technical, education and health and manufacturing fields as the area's fastest growing sectors, all of which need strong data connections. Worcester's top 25 sites for development are within a mile of fiber. A fiber broadband connec- tion can be more expensive, and costs can vary depending on the provider, said Robert DeMaria, sales account man- ager at Spectrum Business, which owns more than 180 miles of fiber in the city and has 60 lit buildings. The cost can be a burden on small busi- nesses, but so can not having access to fast and reliable Internet. "You get what you're paying for through fiber," DeMaria said. "You can buy a Hyundai, and it'll get you to and from work, or you can buy a Tesla, and it's going to get you to and from work. They both do the same thing, but they have different qualities." While a DSL or cable connection could work for some businesses, any company whose operations would stall without the Internet should have fiber, said Chris Williams, vice president of complex solutions at Lightower, which has 80 miles of fiber in Worcester. DeMaria is constantly getting calls from his people on the ground who notice construction, so Spectrum can get in and lay fibers before construction begins. Waiting until after the fact can be time-consuming and costly, he said. To avoid this, Lightower will some- times put fiber in for free, Williams said. "We're willing to take long returns on it for customers," he said. One of the ways providers hope to cut costs going for- ward is by installing new fiber lines through a method called micro-trenching. Instead of digging a four- foot-wide trench into the ground to accommodate a 12-inch cut for fiber lines, contractors like Phoenix Communications would only have to dig a little less than two inches wide and up to two feet deep. This knocks installation costs down by about 25 percent, said Mark Langevin, president of Phoenix Communications, a Shrewsbury firm contracted by Lightower to do the on- the-ground installations. Though micro-trenching is cheaper and it is less disruptive to traffic because it doesn't take as long, the shallower lines are harder to protect and more more susceptible to breakage, said Paul Moosey, commissioner of the Worcester Department of Public Works & Parks. No fiber lines have yet been laid using micro-trenching, but the public works department is in the final stages of approving it, McLaughlin said. To address issues like cost, the cham- ber is establishing a task force of ven- dors, city officials and business leaders. Murray said he hopes to have a fiber task force up and running in 2016. n Family-owned businesses are an integral part of the social and business fabric of Central Massachusetts. To celebrate the achievements and the impact that family-owned businesses have on our communities, the Worcester Business Journal will profile a select group of finalists in our May 9 edition, and hold a special celebration dinner to honor their many accomplishments on May 25, 2016. Help us recognize these local family-owned businesses by submitting a nomination today! NOMINATIONS CLOSE ON MARCH 25, 2016 FAMILY BUSINESS A W A R D S C E N T R A L M A S S . 2016 WORCESTER BUSINESS JOURNAL CALL FOR NOMINATIONS! Presenting Sponsor: Go to www.wbjournal.com/familybusinessawards Phoenix Communications crews can put in fiber using a relatively low cost method called micro- trenching, where they don't dig as deep or as wide to put in digital infrastructure. Timothy P. Murray, president and CEO, Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y

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