Campus Networking Project Nears Completion

A networking project begun nearly a year ago is nearing completion at the COM-FSM National Campus. "It seems like we've been pulling wire forever," says Ken Girrard, Title III System Network Specialist and coordinator of the networking project. "We started putting fiber optic cable in the ground last November and we haven't looked back. So far we've installed four thousand feet of fiber, five thousand feet of copper, and we just ordered four thousand more."

Much of the work has been more difficult than expected so results have been slow to accumulate. Although conduit existed between campus buildings it wasn't easy to get cable through. "It took a lot of encouragement to keep the crew going," according to Gordon Segal who oversaw this phase of the project. "We managed to complete one building per day but not without a lot of frustration. Especially on the longer pulls it was really hard to get anything through those conduits."

Wiring inside buildings has been a challenge as well. "We started out trying to replace the telephone wire inside the conduits but don't do that anymore," notes Girrard. "After just so many broken wires, blistered hands, and lost days you have to look for another path." That path has been through the ceilings, leaving a lot of exposed wire running down walls. "It isn't pretty now but we'll be back with surface raceway to cover the wires. I don't want to be known as the guy who left all the ugly wire behind."

Attention is now shifting to the state campuses where Girrard described similar projects that are in the planning stages. "We are seeing a lot of the same needs at the state campus level as we had at Palikir. The scale may be smaller but the need is just as real. It's time to bring networking to all of COM-FSM."