SpringNet uses technology to provide clients with high-speed Internet service

The technical specifications alone are enough to make even the most die-hard computer aficionado salivate.

Internet access is provided via two tier-1 backbone carriers. The first connection is a 45 megabit per second (Mbps) pipe from a data center in north Springfield to the AT&T OC-12 backbone in St. Louis.

The second, which is with Sprint, also is a 45 Mbps pipe from a data center in south Springfield to the Sprint OC-48 backbone in Kansas City. Both data center routers run BGP4 (Border Gateway Protocol) with a gigabit per second (Gbps) protected link between them.

In plain English, what that means is that area businesses can get a high-speed and reliable Internet connection through SpringNet, www.springnet. net, the telecommunications division of City Utilities of Springfield.

SpringNet was established in 1997, shortly after the Missouri Legislature passed a law that allows municipalities to provide Internet-type telecommunications services to their customers.

Originally, the department had only seven full-time employees. Now it has 26 staff members who keep things running smoothly for large clients such as St. John's Regional Health Ssytem, Dis-covery Center and Assemblies of God. SpringNet also provides service to several local Internet Service Providers (ISPs).

Unlike most ISPs, which provide service to both business and residential customers, SpringNet only provides Busi-ness to Internet (B2I) and Business to Business (B2B) broadband services.

The system is delivered via fiber op-tics, and at present, SpringNet has more than 230 miles of fiber optic cable in and around the Springfield area.

City Utilities began constructing its fiber optic network to support electric, natural gas and water operations in 1987.

After 1997, implementation of its transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP) network began, lev-eraging the bandwidth potential of the fiber to deliver high-speed data services to Springfield area businesses.

Some businesses use the network to connect to the Internet. Other businesses such as St. John's Re-gional Health Sys-tem, which has multiple facilities, use the network to communicate internally be-tween locations.

SpringNet doesn't charge an installation fee to customers who sign a two-year contract.

However, "installing fiber to some businesses can be cost-prohibitive," said Todd Murren, SpringNet's manager of telecommunications. "City Utilities manages this business as a stand-alone unit responsible for its own financial operations."

All of SpringNet's network and server equipment is housed in one of two secure data centers, which have been built to withstand a natural disaster. For power protection, there are redundant electrical feeds as well as battery and generator backups.

"The system provides customers with a utility-grade of service," said Dan Brewer, telecommunications sales engineer. "The telecommunications service we provide is as reliable as your electric, natural gas or water service."

SpringNet also provides customers with an extremely efficient data transfer network.

Many businesses that have high-speed Internet access or B2B networks rely on traditional forms of telecommunications technologies. These technologies, which are not based on TCP/IP, divide information into "packets," which are transmitted over copper-based T1 lines.

These information packets then are reassembled once they reach the recipient.

Because SpringNet has designed its services based on TCP/IP via fiber, packets of information in their natural form can be sent without having to be split up and reassembled. The result is that large data files are transmitted faster and more efficiently.

Better still, SpringNet will allow customers to use as much or as little bandwidth as they need when they need it. For example, a customer who normally uses two Mbps of bandwidth can, during periods of heavy usage, "burst" up to as much as 10 Mbps of bandwidth on the network without incurring any additional cost or having to add more capacity, Although it has maintained a low-key presence, SpringNet hasn't had any problems attracting customers, according to Murren.

In fact, one of SpringNet's bigger challenges has been keeping up with the demand.

"We establish a connection to the fiber optic network for each one of our customers," Murren said. "That takes time, which is one of the reasons we're not in the high volume business. Growth at a manageable rate is our focus. We've always exceeded our customers' expectations, and we want that utility grade' of service to continue."

By the end of 2001, SpringNet showed a strong fourth quarter, with a profit of about $112,000 for the year, according to Kenny Hale, CU administrative director of electric.

The gross revenues were $4 million, he said.