Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell announced that the state will partner with Level 3 Communications to build a self-healing fiber optic network connecting lower Manhattan with northeastern Pennsylvania. The optical network will enable redundant, instantaneous data transmission between the two areas, further establishing the northeastern Pennsylvania region as a premier backup operations location for Wall Street firms. The network is a vital part of the infrastructure known as Wall Street West, a state and federal program designed to create a complete backup of the New York financial markets in the event of disaster.
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| Victoria Reider, acting banking secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, speaks on the benefits of the new fiber network that will connect northeastern PA with New York City. |
The Role of Wall Street West
Wall Street West, a $40 million initiative involving a variety of federal, state and private-funding sources, is administered by Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP/NEP). Nearly $15 million in state funds are leveraging up to $25 million in federal and private investments.
"From a geographic standpoint, northeastern Pennsylvania is ideal. We are on a different power grid, yet close enough geographically to the epicenter of the financial services world," says R. Chadwick Paul, Jr., president and CEO of BFTP/NEP. "We also have the partnerships and collaborative environment in place to make Wall Street West a success."
An Ideal Location
While providing better connectivity between New York and northeastern Pennsylvania, the Wall Street West fiber network will also interconnect with an already robust fiber-optic infrastructure that covers all nine counties covered by the Wall Street West initiative, including Carbon, Berks, Lackawanna, Lehigh, Luzerne, Monroe, Northampton, Pike and Wayne.
"Northeastern Pennsylvania is already home to a number
of financial firms, and this initiative is essential to continuing
the area's advancement and economic growth," says Governor
Rendell. "It will also strengthen New York City's status
as the financial capital of the world by providing firms
there with mission-critical data backup."
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Inside
the Fiber Optics Network
Level 3 Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: LVLT), a
global leader in telecommunications solutions, will build
what is known as a Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing
(DWDM) optical network. The network will provide integrated
data communications and support a variety of applications,
including:
- Synchronous data replication
- Streaming video
- Video instruction
- Workstation video conferencing
- Converged networking
- Storage-area networks
- Intranet support
- Internet access for end-user employees
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Significant
Advantages of the Region
In addition to the fiber network, northeastern Pennsylvania
offers business significant advantages, including:
- Power, water and transportation systems separate from New York City
- Central location with easy access to New York City, Philadelphia and Washington
- Low operating, energy and real estate costs
- Substantial business tax incentives
- An educated, dedicated and productive workforce
"Northeastern Pennsylvania is ideally situated to provide backup operations for Wall Street firms—close, but not too close," says Catherine Bolton, project director of Wall Street West. "With the implementation of this fiber network, we are able to meet the diverse needs of the financial services industry, while providing a low cost of doing business and exceptional quality of life."
"With world-class infrastructure and the availability of talent as recognized pillars for economic success, the Administration's Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) initiative last year supplied the seed capital for educating and preparing the workforce necessary for the success of Wall Street West," said Emily Stover DeRocco, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training. "This fiber optic network will unite with the talent development strategies already being implemented in northeast Pennsylvania."
To provide synchronous data transmission, fiber optic lines cannot exceed 125 fiber miles in each direction. Once the optical network is in place, portions of northeastern Pennsylvania will be the only locations within the 125 fiber-mile limit surrounding Manhattan to also meet Federal Reserve and Securities and Exchange Commission recommendations that backup sites not rely upon the same infrastructure components used by financial firms' primary sites.
From the August/September 2007 issue
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