Case Study

KTS Helps Boston-Area College Phase Communications Improvements

KTS Helps Boston Area College with communications

Client: Boston-Area College

Location: North of Boston

Technology: Single mode Fiber optic cabling

Sector: Education

Lifecycle Phases Showing KTS Involvement:

Plan

Design

Install

Service

Solutions implemented by KTS:

Infrastructure

Wireless

Security

Audio Visual

Cellular BDA

A small private college north of Boston – a long-time customer of KTS – reached out for help on several strategic projects to keep their ever-expanding campus safe and connected.

The Work

KTS assessed the work that was needed to improve safety and connectivity on the campus and separated the project into three phases.

Phase I
The campus-wide Blue Lights needed new cabling (these lights, ubiquitous on college campuses, offer fast assistance to anyone in distress). Old copper cabling needed to be replaced across a large section of the campus. KTS recommended continuous runs of cabling, avoiding having any splices in the cabling that could be compromised over time. The cabling was run underground between four buildings on the campus via multiple manholes.

Phase II
The college has a strong hockey program and needed to replace old, multi-mode OM1 Fiber with 12-strand, single-mode fiber cabling from the campus library’s data center to the ice rink to improve the live-streaming of hockey games. The cabling was snaked underground through multiple manholes, and new connectors were installed.

Phase III
The final phase of work involved replacing multi-mode OM1 cabling with 48-strand single-mode fiber optic cabling between the campus student center and the main library to improve the quality and reliability of the communications backbone across the campus.

Challenges

Running the cabling underground presented some challenges. The maps for the manholes were created some time ago, and the terrain of the campus had changed considerably since 1998. One manhole in particular took some effort to locate. A tree, planted after the manhole had been installed, had grown large enough to hide the manhole cover and required some sleuthing and detailed measurements to locate it. The ground had to be excavated with a backhoe to reveal the manhole and enable the work to be completed.

Benefits/Impacts

The campus-wide Blue Light system is working better than ever across the campus; the live-streaming of events from the ice rink is better and more reliable than before, and the new cabling between the student center and the library ensures reliable connectivity to the network. The result is a safer and more connected campus for everyone.