[Archived] City of Alexandria and Arlington County Create Inter-jurisdictional High-Speed Fiber Optic Interconnection

City Press Release


	For Immediate Release	For More Information, Contact
	August 3, 2005 PIO# 240-05/rdo	Steven J. Mason, Public Information Officer, or Raynard Owens, Communications Officer, at 703.838.4300 Raynard Owens, Communications Officer, at 703.838.4300

City of Alexandria and Arlington County Create
Inter-jurisdictional High-Speed Fiber Optic Interconnection
Fiber Link Is First Step in Creating
Northern Virginia Regional Interconnection

The City of Alexandria and Arlington County governments have constructed a high-speed fiber optic interconnection joining the Alexandria Institutional Network (I-Net) and the Arlington I-Net.

The interconnect is a dedicated secure fiber link between both jurisdictions that will initially be used for voice and video applications for public safety. The fiber link, which uses existing Comcast cable fiber, is the first step in creating a series of Northern Virginia regional interconnections. This inter-jurisdictional fiber connection has been cited by the federal Department of Homeland Security as an innovation it would like to see replicated in the Washington, D.C., area, as well as other metropolitan areas of the United States.

Future applications for the fiber link include:

C connecting emergency operation centers of the two jurisdictions

C sharing of live video and satellite programming

C videoconferencing for inter-jurisdictional meetings

C sharing of building permit, GIS, tax, and criminal identification databases

C process Alexandria’s payroll on Arlington’s mainframe computers

C integrated traffic management between neighboring communities

C back up connections to radio controllers in neighboring communities

C back up 911 call centers and emergency operations centers in neighboring communities

Emergency responders used this new interconnection for communications during the Pentagon’s Gallant Fox Emergency exercise in June.

The fiber link regional interconnection will eventually also connect with the City of Falls Church and Fairfax County as well as possibly connect to other Northern Virginia jurisdictions.

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