Press Release

Kendall County Builds New Broadband Network With Pivot-Tech Development and Ciena

Spread across an expansive 320 square miles about 50 miles from Chicago, Illinois, Kendall County encompasses a diverse landscape, with residential suburbs juxtaposed against sprawling rural farmland. As one of the fastest-growing regions in the metropolitan Chicago area, Kendall County also exemplifies the digital divide in the United States—where large segments of the population lack access to dependable, affordable high-speed internet connectivity.

To respond to this challenge, Kendall County is taking proactive measures to bridge the connectivity gap and help ensure that it becomes a thriving community for all residents, businesses, and institutions. The County established the “Connect Kendall County Commission” with a mission to construct a middle- and last-mile network that would serve as a foundation for expanding broadband service to more than 3,100 unserved and underserved homes, priming key areas for economic development, and bolstering emergency communications. 

The Commission selected Pivot-Tech Development, a fiber network development and operations company, to oversee the project based on its vision and expertise in the financing, design, development, and operation of broadband networks. Together with Aecon and Ciena, Pivot-Tech created a comprehensive plan—comprising funding, fiber, networking infrastructure, and subscribers—to build out this transformative network.

Innovative financing

To ensure that Kendall County wouldn’t have to take on risk or contribute to funding the project, Pivot-Tech conceived a unique way to finance the new network.

“The Kendall County broadband project leverages a combination of ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) and Illinois Office of Broadband grants, and a tax-free revenue bond secured by a nonprofit organization,” said Jim Cannon, CEO of Pivot-Tech Development. “This is a first-of-its-kind financing arrangement and, importantly, there is no monetary risk at all to the County.”

And this innovative financing structure provides other benefits as well. “As a stakeholder in the network, the County will receive a portion of any profits generated, allowing it to further expand the network or utilize the funds to lower subscribers’ bills,” continued Cannon.

Fiber installation

Pivot-Tech is collaborating with a consortium of partners that bring unparalleled know-how and a proven track record of success to the project.

The supply chain is being managed by Graybar, a leading distributor of electrical, communications, and data networking products. Graybar will expertly oversee the flow of materials to ensure the project stays on track and within budget.

And for the network fiber installation, Pivot-Tech is turning to Aecon, a North American construction and infrastructure development company with decades of experience in building telecom infrastructure and a history of success with community-centric network deployments. Aecon will oversee all phases of the fiber buildout.

Fiber rollout is scheduled to begin in early 2025, with timing contingent upon the area’s unpredictable weather conditions.

Broadband network solution by Ciena

In its search for a networking systems vendor, Pivot-Tech prioritized finding a company experienced in greenfield deployments, which involve building networks from scratch.

Well-acquainted with Ciena’s networking expertise and proven leadership in the telecom industry, Pivot-Tech handpicked Ciena's broadband solution based on its openness, scalability, and ability to deliver all types of services cost-effectively with optimal device utilization.

Ciena will provide all essential hardware, software, and services for the Kendall County project, including:

·         Routing and switching solutions to address the County’s unique requirements, from access to metro, with Ciena’s 3801 XGS-PON Optical Network Unit (ONU), 3924 Platform, 5164 Router, 8112 Coherent Aggregation Router, and 8190 Coherent Metro Router.

·         Navigator Network Control Suite to provide a centralized point of control to visualize, simplify, and optimize multi-layer network operations—across PON equipment, services, and subscribers. The software is hosted in the cloud by Ciena Services, known as Navigator Hosted Service.

·         Ciena Services to ensure project success and continued smooth operation, with network design and integration, deployment, custom cabinets, and maintenance services.

“The decision to team up with Ciena for Kendall County’s broadband network was an easy one, as Ciena’s broadband solution aligns perfectly with our goals, offering unparalleled scalability and economical service delivery,” said Cannon. “And the sustainability advantages are significant, too. In addition to the pluggables using less power, we can easily increase network capacity by simply upgrading just a Ciena plug rather than replacing entire hardware units.”

“We are confident that this collaboration will empower us to provide exceptional broadband service that meets the needs of Kendall County’s subscribers for years to come.”

Customer subscriptions

Once this open network is in place, Pivot-Tech will work with ISPs to deliver broadband services to subscribers across the last mile. Meanwhile, Ciena will support the County’s subscriber acquisition efforts through its Marketing as a Service program.

Community benefits

The network is slated to go live in 2025, with exciting new possibilities anticipated to arise from the newfound connectivity.

“By bringing high-speed broadband to Kendall County’s underserved and unserved rural areas, we hope to foster limitless opportunities for residents and businesses,” said Zach Bachmann, Kendall County board member and chairman of the Connect Kendall County Commission.

“Access to reliable, high-speed internet is an integral part of our daily lives. It enables our educators and their students, expands the reach and capabilities of local businesses, allows for swift emergency responses—be it severe weather or other dangers—and grants our farmers the ability to incorporate the newest technologies into their work. This project is an infrastructure upgrade that meets our community exactly where its needs are, and it will upgrade the quality of life for our residents along with it.”