Case Studies

Northwestern University

Sunesys Enters Long-term Contract with Northwestern University to Build New Fiber Optic Network

Sunesys, LLC, a Warrington, PA dark fiber provider, recently announced a 20-year partnership with Northwestern University to build and support a fully redundant fiber optic ring interconnecting the University's suburban Evanston campus and its downtown Chicago campus networks at multiple locations. The intersection point will be the world-renowned StarLight facility, an advanced international network exchange funded by the National Science Foundation and located on Northwestern's downtown Chicago campus.

A major research university with an annual budget of over $2B and more than $350 million in research grants, Northwestern is seeking to optimize communication not only between its two campuses, but also across the country and around the world. "Our bandwidth demands between our two campuses were escalating so rapidly that it became difficult to control our budget as we continued to 'pay by the pound' for bandwidth," explains Dr. Morteza A. Rahimi, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Northwestern University. "The very nature of high-level research requires that faculty and researchers have unlimited freedom to explore data in minute detail and exchange information from the farthest reaches of the globe. We need a solution that will not place any restrictions on the important work our research teams are doing."

In addition to research, Northwestern Voice over IP and IP video initiatives continue to demand greater bandwidth and require constant availability. The Sunesys fiber optic solution allows Northwestern to have unlimited redundant bandwidth at a fixed cost and upgrade its own electronics as needed. "We felt it was important to have a network that was exclusively ours--with separate routes and separate landings on both campuses--so a single failure would cause no disruption of services," notes Dr. Rahimi.

Dr. Rahimi explains that "Northwestern found Sunesys attractive because Sunesys enjoyed a reputation with its customers for maintenance services after cable is installed. It seems that Sunesys is always there to support its customers, maintaining the network and partnering with them as they move forward."

John Versaggi, Director of Sales for Sunesys, looks forward to a lasting partnership with Northwestern University and states that, "this is just the beginning of a strong presence for Sunesys in the Chicago metropolitan area." Sunesys, LLC is a leading dark fiber provider with assets in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Illinois, California, Georgia, Florida, Ohio, Maryland and Delaware. It is a subsidiary of Quanta Services, a leading specialized contracting services company, delivering infrastructure network solutions for teh electric power, natural gas, telecommunications and cable television industires. Quanta Services has operations in all 50 states and Canada.

Chicago Acquisition

Sunesys Acquires Significant New Fiber Optic Assets in Midwest, Underscoring its Commitment to Chicago Market

Sunesys, LLC, a Warrington, Pennsylvania-based provider of high-speed fiber optic networks, has announced the purchase of metropolitan dark fiber assets in Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas and Phoenix. Acquired from Chicago Fiber Systems, LLC, the dark fiber represents "a significant investment in our future," according to Sunesys Senior Vice President, Alan Katz. 

"Our goal with this purchase is to make a serious and lasting commitment to the Chicago market, which we see as having tremendous growth potential for us," explains Mr. Katz. "Within three to five years, we expect Chicago to be one of our top three markets, possibly even surpassing the Philadelphia market, where we currently have a significant presence. We also expect the Cincinnati assets to have strong potential, but for now we're focusing on Chicago."

The Chicago assets provide Sunesys with a 130-mile fiber footprint configured as a diverse set of conduit rings covering the ciy's central business district as well as the Northern and Western suburbs, including Oak Brook.

"The assets strategically position Sunesys to provide dark fiber solutions to key financial and commercial clients, carrier collocation facilities and popular service provider points of presence (POPs)," notes Mr. Katz.

Sunesys, LLC is a leading dark fiber provider with assets in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Illinois, California, Georgia, Florida, Ohio, Maryland and Delaware. It is a subsidiary of Quanta Services, a leading specialized contracting services company, delivering infrastructure network solutions for the electric power, natural gas, telecommunications and cable television industries. Quanta Services has operations in all 50 states and Canada.  

VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY

Internet/Internet 2 Transport

Client:
Founded in 1842, Villanova University is a premier institution of higher learning with an enrollment of 6,335 fulltime undergraduate students. Located in suburban Philadelphia on 254 acres, Villanova contains more than 60 buildings, including 26 residence halls.  

Background:
Villanova’s multi-location network includes two commodity Internet feeds supplied by two different providers. The university’s internet access—including the last mile—rests in the hands of the outside providers. Costs to add additional internet bandwidth continued to escalate and Villanova desired to maintain more control over our internet access. 

Solution:
Leasing dark fiber from Sunesys put Villanova in control of their own internet access including the last mile. They installed their own switches and were able to increase their commodity internet bandwidth by 62 mgs plus install 25 mgs of Internet 2 at no monthly cost increase. The Sunesys option achieved substantial savings on their transport AND allowed the university to purchase additional bandwidth. 

Quotation:
“It started out as a pure TCO decision—and it was a good one. We’ve seen tremendous savings and appreciate the high level of service we get from Sunesys.” 

Bob Mays
Director Network and Communications

TRION

Metropolitan Area Network

Client:
Trion is one of the nation's largest privately-held benefits firms. Headquartered in King of Prussia, PA, Trion advises clients on the strategy, design, financing, delivery, communication and ongoing planning and management of all health and welfare programs.

Background:
When Trion opened a new facility in Conshohocken, four miles from its King of Prussia headquarters, it needed to make all data stored at King of Prussia accessible to its Consohocken staff.  Upon discovering that the cost from the phone company to connect the buildings was unreasonably high and would increase every time they needed to add bandwidth, Trion contacted Sunesys.

Solution:
Sunesys already owned dark fiber in the immediate area, and the monthly fee to lease it—with unlimited bandwidth --would be substantially less than the phone company’s charges. The Trion IT team chose to light the fiber themselves at the speed they needed, knowing they could increase it anytime at no cost.  In addition, the Sunesys ring configuration meant their network was safeguarded from random outages beyond their control. Their disaster recovery needs were met AND the new Sunesys fiber optic network between the two locations was actually faster than the previous phone company network at the King of Prussia location.

Quotation:
“The people at Sunesys have been excellent to work with. They’re always on top of whatever we need. It’s like we just stepped into this perfect situation, with their dark fiber literally already on our street.”

Rob Trueman
IT Director

NutriSystem

Wide Area Network

Client:                                                                                                                                                    Founded in 1972, Nutrisystem (NASDAQ:NTRI) is a leading provider of weight management and fitness products and services. The company offers a weight loss program based on portion-controlled, lower Glycemic Index prepared meals. The program has no membership fees and provides free online and telephone counseling.

Background:                                                                                                                                             NutriSystem wanted to connect a new administration building with a Data Center as part of their Wide Area Network to facilitate VOIP and data. When NurtiSystem's original carrier was acquired by a phone company, it was unable to provide the dark fiber solution NutriSystem needed.

Solution:                                                                                                                                                Heeding the recommendations of other satisfied Sunesys customers in the area, NutriSystem contracted with Sunesys to design, construct and maintain a physically diverse 8-strand fiber optic ring solution that connected the two locations.

"Sunesys has a good reputation for delivering fiber optic solutions as promised in a cost-effective way. We've been very happy with the performance and service of Sunesys."

-Brendon Perero                                                                                                     Cheif Technology Officer, NutriSystem, Inc.