During difficult times, ICN has played a crucial role in supporting our customers. Recent examples highlight the importance of the fiber optic network across the state, which not only supports our customers, but also ensures that Iowans can communicate during emergencies.
Connecting First Responders during the Greenfield Tornado: The E911 facilities in Greenfield, supported by the ICN, survived the tornado and continued to operate. When the local telecom services were compromised, the ICN’s backup FirstNet/AT&T connection protected the community and kept public safety services operational and connected.
Also due to storm outbreak, the ICN had six facility sites automatically transitioned to generator power causing alarms at our Network Operations Center. ICN has generators at approx. 106 sites, and we incorporate large battery backups at 300 sites. During this time, our staff made sure the air conditioning was turned on and power was available, which allowed for most sites to remain operational.
Flooding: The Iowa HSEMD has 78 Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) connected to the ICN’s backup FirstNet/AT&T connection, which provides a failover network connection for these sites. Given the recent storms and flooding in Iowa, this redundancy has been extremely valuable. The ICN also worked closely with Public Safety personnel in Spencer to help ensure the primary PSAP was back to operational once cleanup was complete.
Lumen’s Water Pipe Break: When Lumen’s downtown facility was flooded it did affect the ICN. However, we were able to keep the State’s wireless 911 system operational to help mitigate the loss of wireline 911 traffic in the State.
Capitol Complex Elevator Circuits: Our team worked with the Iowa Department of Administrative Services (DAS) to address multiple non-operating elevator circuits at the Capitol Complex. We promptly began troubleshooting with DAS, the vendor, and our NOC to restore services.
Des Moines Tornado Siren: ICN swiftly and strategically devised a way to keep the tornado sirens operational for the Des Moines Police Department (DMPD). Concerned about the data circuits and their use, DMPD sought assistance from the ICN. Due to our commitment to critical communications and public safety, ICN staff researched, designed, and implemented new circuits within a very short window.
LMR Communications: Each day, Iowa’s public safety officers are communicating across the Land Mobile Radio system. The radio traffic travels through the ICN infrastructure. When seconds matter, Iowa’s first responders depend on the ICN's private and secure network for fast and secure communication.
In addition to these specific examples, the ICN provides high-speed Internet, data, voice, and security services to K-12 schools, higher education, hospitals and clinics, state and federal government, public safety entities, National Guard armories, and libraries.
The ICN fiber optic infrastructure has been reliable for over 30 years. We will continue to provide dependable and redundant communications that are required for our customers and critical communications.