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County IT director says fiber migration has cut copper phone lines from 43 to 9; PSAP grant will help convert sheriff dispatch
Summary
IT Director Shane told the committee AT&T rate hikes prompted a push from copper to fiber. The county reduced 43 SentriX copper lines to nine remaining lines and expects a Plover Library fiber install in the next week or two; a PSAP grant will help convert the sheriff's dispatch lines.
Shane, the county information technology director, told the Portage County Finance Committee that the county is migrating its SentriX copper phone lines to fiber after AT&T’s state contract expired and the carrier began raising copper-line rates. Shane said the county was previously capped at about $13 per line under the state contract, then saw rates rise to $45 per line in July and to $65 per line on Sept. 1; he said AT&T’s pricing trend prompted a planned migration to fiber.
"Their goal is to hit $500 per line per month," Shane said, and the county moved proactively: "we knocked it down from 43 to 9," with three remaining lines serving the Plover Library and six serving the sheriff’s dispatch center. Shane said the Plover Library fiber install will connect the library to the county network and allow the county phone system to be extended to the library; staff expect the fiber work to be completed within one to two weeks. He said the county has planned solutions for the sheriff’s lines and that a PSAP grant application and likely award would fund conversion of the dispatch center off copper.
Committee members asked clarifying questions; no formal policy changes were adopted at the meeting. IT staff will move forward with the fiber installs and coordinate grant funding for the remaining public-safety lines.
