[Gallery] Southwestern Community College and Drake Enterprises announced today the formation of BalsamWest FiberNET, LLC a public/private partnership created to facilitate the deployment of a high-capacity fiber-optic network ring through Jackson, Macon, Swain, Graham, Clay and Cherokee counties.

BalsamWest FiberNET was formed to ensure that the southwestern region can participate fully in a global economy by providing open and affordable access to state-of-the-art infrastructure. The BalsamWest FiberNET endeavor will give the region the tools it needs to educate and train the workforce of the future, support advances in health care, improve the ability of local businesses to succeed, and create opportunities to generate good jobs for the future.

David Hubbs, Director of Internet Services for Drake Enterprises and Manager of Dnet Internet Services said, "Our region must have adequate infrastructure in order to be part of the 21st century economy. By the end of this decade 9 out of 10 jobs will require the use of computing and communications technologies. Business, education, law enforcement, government, and the medical community will depend more and more on access to affordable and reliable high speed data transport. Without it, our region will not be able to compete. A fiber-optic ring will fulfill this need with virtually unlimited capacity and maximum reliability.”

BalsamWest FiberNET will bring virtually unlimited capacity to, from, and through the area. The network is to be deployed in five segments connecting the six westernmost counties of North Carolina. Construction of the first segment is underway, connecting the counties of Jackson and Macon with a fiber-optic backbone.

“If we wait for the telecommunications giants to determine when our region merits the investment, it will be too late. With a public/private partnership such as BalsamWest FiberNet our community can do this now. Drake Enterprises is proud to be part of this effort,” said Hubbs.

BalsamWest FiberNET has selected the Education and Research Consortium’s Asheville MetaPoP as its upstream connection to the Internet. BalsamWest’s network will connect the area west of the Balsams to the Asheville MetaPoP, a second tier Internet Network Access Point funded through the efforts of Congressman Charles Taylor.

In a new model of innovation and collaboration, BalsamWest FiberNET is creating an open infrastructure available to the public, private, and nonprofit sectors—a model other rural regions might want to consider. The availability of this network promises to help rural Internet service providers to better serve home and business customers through better access, lower prices, and higher quality. “Western North Carolina has much to offer high tech companies, but will be overlooked unless it has access to this type of high speed network at prices comparable to metropolitan areas and a highly trained labor force,” said Hubbs.

Southwestern Community College’s commitment to quality education and community development has driven its involvement in improving telecommunications infrastructure in the region—with their new Macon campus being connected in the initial deployment. “Infrastructure like this will allow the College to tap into advanced teaching tools, provide education virtually anytime/anywhere, and help our public partners (such as the schools and libraries) access resources anywhere in the World,” said Cecil Groves, President of Southwestern Community College.

The Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians—who have a vested interest in the southwest region and a technological vision for the future—have taken formal steps to be part of this enterprise. With its blossoming economy, creative leadership, and central importance to the region, the Eastern Band is poised to be a cornerstone of western North Carolina in the 21st Century.

BalsamWest is also exploring ways it can support the work of AdvantageWest, which received funding from the Rural Internet Access Authority for middle mile infrastructure deployment in Jackson, Macon and Clay Counties. The $1 million grant was awarded to AdvantageWest based upon the strategies developed through the Appalachian Access initiative—a three-year effort led Southwestern Community College, the Western North Carolina Knowledge Coalition, the Appalachian Regional Commission, the NC Rural Economic Development Center, and AdvantageWest.
BalsamWest invites companies from anywhere in the world to tap directly into the ultra-high-speed capacity of its fiber backbone and its connectivity to the high performance supercomputing capacity of the Asheville MetaPoP. “We can connect their employees in our area with others anywhere in the world, allowing them to work together in real-time just as if they were in the same room,” Groves said.
Drake Enterprises is a technology-driven company and one of the largest private employers in Western North Carolina—recently recognized by the North Carolina Employment Security Commission for making exceptional contributions to the North Carolina Economy through new business, expansion, innovation, community involvement, and partnership with the ESC. Dnet Internet Services, a member of the Drake Enterprises family of businesses, is one of Western North Carolina’s oldest and largest Internet Service Providers.

Southwestern Community College is a comprehensive learning and teaching institution offering high quality innovative instruction and support to the people of Jackson, Macon and Swain Counties. Seamless links with the community, advanced technology and a culturally rich environment promote student achievement and academic excellence.