Introducing Connecting our communities; past, present and future. Workshop 2009

South Shore History Since 1908, the South Shore has been in the business of delivering value to the communities it serves by moving people and freight. The passenger and freight services were separated in The passenger service, right of way, and passenger assets became the sole responsibility of the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD). The freight service is owned by South Shore Freight. Each year South Shore moves millions of people and millions of tons freight along its route from Chicago to South Bend.

Inception of SSFL Over the last half decade, NICTD has installed a significant amount of fiber optic cable along it’s railway to provide high speed connectivity for it’s internal use. Not knowing what the future would bring, the system was designed with excess capacity. NICTD is proud to announce it’s latest and most significant contribution to the technological community with the introduction of: It is SSFL’s mission to provide value to the communities it serves by allowing the use of its fiber to compete in a broadband economy. Historical Past meets Innovative Future

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Who is South Shore Fiber Link? SSFL is an initialve of NICTD and is in the business of leasing carrier grade, vendor neutral, dark fiber “circuits” to corporate consumers along its right of way. It is not a phone company, internet service provider or cable company. Our region led the industrial revolution of the mid 1900’s with rail and highways. It moved people and materials from east to west like no other part of the country. Now, the SSFL now puts us at the head of the next revolution; the technological one. It allows customers to move data through the heartland of America at exponentially fast speeds, in a secure,high grade manner and at price points only a community partner can offer.

What does SSFL Provide? South Shore Fiber Link provides it customers with a pair (2 individual) of dark fibers (no electronics) from one end of the system to the other. These fiber pairs are packaged as fiber “circuits” and leased in an aerial or terrestrial (underground) bundle running the length of the system, or both to create a loop. The circuits are offered on lease programs that range from $1,000 to $2,000 per month. These circuits provide a “Backbone” connection. Each customer is responsible for connecting their lateral fiber to specifically designated cross-connect points.

IMPACT? Significant Cost Savings Phenomenal Speeds Hardened Security Choice Existence in the Global Information based Economy

56K Dialup 256K/1.5M DSL T1 1.5Mbps DS-3 45Mbps 10Mbps LAN 100 Mbps 1Gbps (Gig-E). Broadband: Bandwidth Speed Comparisons

The SSFL Model Network Service Providers Broadband Users Direct SSFL Fiber Connection Direct fiber connectivity between broadband users and/or Service Providers. Direct SSFL Fiber Connection

Broadband Users Local Telephone Access Systems Access Points Network Service Providers Community Access Systems

Sample Configuration BackboneLateralCustomer Location

St Joe county Access System

LaPorte County Access System Possibility

Porter County Access System Possibility

Lake County Access System Possibility

Michigan City Access System Favorable Conditions Regional Broadband Strategy House Bill 448

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