Granite Telecommunications (Granite) and Iowa Communications Network (ICN) are teaming up to enhance connectivity for the Capitol Complex buildings in Des Moines, IA. This collaboration will ensure reliable cellular connections for elevators, fire alarm panels, and security systems in places Iowans visit every day.
For many State government buildings, integrated building systems operate using legacy copper voice lines, also called POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service). With POTS technology becoming outdated due to rising costs, ICN explored alternative solutions to ensure our government customers can keep providing essential day-to-day services to Iowans.
ICN started testing the Granite EPIX cellular solution in early 2025. The partnership excelled in March 2025, when a vendor outage disrupted connections at the State Historical Building. ICN deployed the Granite EPIX solution right before the weekend, which helped avoid the need for staff to work about 63 hours of overtime, ensuring the elevators, fire alarm panels, and security systems were working properly.
For deployment, government buildings will have a direct Internet fiber connection plus two SIM cards from two separate providers. This allows the box to have a total of three connections, ensuring redundancy. This solution can also serve as a backup connection to a primary Internet connection.
It is anticipated to have all elevators located on the Capitol Complex equipped with this solution by Fall 2025. ICN is also exploring if Graniteβs EPIK solution can serve as a connectivity substitute for fax lines.