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Current Issue: June-July 2008
Service Talk | Joe Kennedy, Cianbro
Cianbro Corp. scales up with Mid-Maine Communications
by Sean Buckley
When considering a service provider to connect up its new Eastern Manufacturing facility in Brewer, Maine, Cianbro Corp. had a number of choices including FairPoint, Oxford Networks and large incumbent Verizon. Still, Cianbro found its existing supplier, Mid-Maine Communications which is building a high-end, fiber-based network for the Brewer facilities, could best respond to its ever-changing needs. Joe Kennedy, IT network and operations manager at Cianbro, talks with Editor in Chief Sean Buckley about why he selected Mid-Maine Communications.
Q.Cianbro is a large, high-end construction corporation with offices throughout Maine and the East Coast. Although you’re a Mid-Maine customer, what drove you to consider them for this particular facility?
A.We treated the Brewer facility as an opportunity to see who has what to offer. We looked at Mid-Maine, Verizon, Fairpoint and Oxford. It came down to what we needed at the site because Cianbro is extremely fast-paced. Sometimes we get awarded notices for bids [and] have only a month or less to get services. Mid-Maine has worked with us to get services in place with short-time leads.
Q.Your facility is located in a region where winters can be pretty harsh, so environmental issues could be a concern. Have there been any challenges with the ongoing deployment?
A.Unfortunately, the Fairpoint acquisition of former Verizon assets threw a couple wrenches into our plans. We wanted fiber from day one, and we’re still waiting for that. We have bonded T1s as a temporary service. As far as the winter goes, you get used to dealing with snow and frozen ground. But it [was] difficult because you like to plan, and we did plan for the different fiber layouts well in advance, even internally throughout the whole site. I learned it’s not so much about having a good plan and sticking to it, but more about how well you can adjust your plan on the fly.
Q. So is Mid-Maine flexible enough to meet your needs?
A.We have voice and data basically on copper. Right now, we have 100 people on site, but a lot of those are construction workers getting the facility prepped. They have been working with us on pricing, billing and how we want it set up. Most of the time it’s an e-mail, and they say we’ll get it done.
Q. You looked at a number of carriers in the bidding process. What was an important attribute in considering a service provider?
A.Obviously, people don’t care how much you’re spending until you start to have problems; then they want to know what you’re getting for their money. What’s good about Mid-Maine’s customer relations is my account rep comes over once a month to go over existing and future service needs. In Maine we probably have about 25 to 30 sites, some of which have just voice and some have both voice and data.
Q. You’re having Mid-Maine install a fiber-based network. Will the network support specific service drivers?
A.We’re in the middle of deploying an outdoor Cisco wireless network that will allow work to be done on the pad. Picture this 500x500 concrete pad where all the work will be done. [Some] modules could be 30x400 feet and other weeks they might be 70x80 feet high. They’re all different sizes and shapes, so we wanted the ability to have technology on the pad where people could pull up drawings.
Q. You’re having Mid-Maine build an underground fiber network. Does this have specific benefits at the Brewer site?
A. There’s no aerial fiber at all on the site because of the different lifts and types of cranes, so we wanted everything underground. We had to plan our entire network infrastructure and we did the conduit runs, our own vaults for fiber, electricity and for anything we needed. I’m right in the middle of a security badging system… for site access [plus] time and attendance for payroll. [We’ll] use it not only at Brewer but also at other sites so we [have] the same ID badge at any location.
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