State College, Comcast aiming to improve resident services

A recent collaboration between the State College borough and Comcast set the goal of improving resident services throughout the Centre Region and into the county.

Comcast Business, in a partnership with State College, is using Ethernet services to improve internal collaborations and data backup efforts, according to a Comcast news release. The improved network capacity will extend from the borough to Ferguson and Patton townships, Centre Area Transportation Authority, the Centre County 911 center and the Centre Region Council of Governments building.

“By linking these organizations and local governments to each other,” the release said, “this comprehensive meshed Ethernet network service will help support public safety, regional development planning efforts and provide better community services to more than 90,000 residents.”

The borough recognized that its existing wide-area network, shared among the different municipalities and organizations, was in need of an upgrade, the release said. Municipalities rely on the network to share police records and aerial maps.

“A regional backup program allows our locations to replicate data between sites to prepare ourselves in the event of a disaster program,” State College borough Chief Technology Officer Angel Hernandez said in the release. “Being able to do this without compromising access speeds for our other operations is critical.”

A comprehensive Ethernet network was installed by Comcast at seven locations, the release said — the State College Municipal Building, the Centre County 911 center, CATA, COG and the State College, Ferguson and Patton police departments. The network offers 30 megabits-per-second of capacity, with a dedicated 100-Mbps line housed at the municipal building.

The locations now have more capacity than the previous service combined, Hernandez said in the release, allowing the transfer of large data files like video footage without interrupting daily government work.

The additional capacity will also allow the agencies the possibility of sharing video streaming services from street cameras with local police in the near future, the release said.

This story was originally published February 9, 2016 at 1:16 AM with the headline "State College, Comcast aiming to improve resident services."