From Expo 1974 to the wireless SpokaneHotZone in 2004
1974
Spokane is the smallest city ever to host the Expo, “Celebrating a Fresh, New Environment” in the newly developed 100-acre Riverfront Park in the center of downtown Spokane with one of the largest urban waterfalls in the U.S. as its centerpiece.
Spokane designated All America City by the National Civic League
Late 1980s
Created the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute (SIRTI).
1994
SIRTI Telecommunications Committee (STC) created representing local universities and colleges, the public library system, US West (now Qwest), public utility Washington Water Power (now Avista), and a number of network design and installation companies. The STC submitted three strategic recommendations.
1. Focus on Optical Fiber Infrastructure.
2. Use a Mix of Optical Fiber Models – Dark and Lit.
3. Couple Communications Initiatives to Service Sectors.
Inland Northwest Community Access Network (TINCAN), non-profit organization, created to provide education and support for social, economic, and community development.
TINCAN provides Internet access and training to those who are economically disadvantaged to lessen the digital divide.
Inland Northwest Health Service (INHS), a not-for-profit corporation, created by Empire Health Services and Providence Services of Eastern Washington to provide better patient healthcare, headquartered at the historic Holley-Mason Building
INHS operates on a private, unified network using Internet Protocols (IP). This network is the basis of their Information Resource Management Division.
INHS also uses NoaNet for high-speed/broadband health care delivery to rural areas.
1997
Avista optical fiber network began. GST, NEXTLINK, Qwest, and Electric Lightwave also laid optical fiber.
o These providers laid the foundation for the Terabyte Triangle.
Terabyte Triangle (TT), an economic development initiative, began as a specialized zone in downtown Spokane where businesses have access to cost-effective, high-speed connectivity.
o Its purpose is to promote occupancy, new jobs, and businesses by encouraging building owners to fit their buildings with optical fiber.
o Known as an urban cluster of "smart" buildings with cost-effective, high-performance Internet connectivity.
Fernwell Building became first major downtown building with new high-speed fiber and wiring.
1998
School District 81, with the assistance of Avista and Packet Engines (now Alcatel), began EMAN (Spokane's Education Metropolitan Area Network) which provides fiber connection to all classrooms in School District 81.
o EMAN contains a gigabit Ethernet connection to all classrooms in more than 53 schools and administration buildings and has been ranked No. 1 in the world.
Network World cited Spokane as a high-tech hot spot.
1999
Downtown Spokane Partnership and the City of Spokane completed The Plan for a New Downtown with input from more than 1,500 community members
Terabyte Triangle Committee (TTC) was formed.
o The TTC is a coalition of TT property managers, connectivity providers, and Internet Service Providers along with SIRTI, the universities, and economic development agencies.
50 high-tech companies located in the downtown TT area.
A dozen “Plug and Go” Buildings located in the downtown TT area, providing landlord-driven, high-speed fiber connectivity services in lease with instant connectivity.
o Includes four historically renovated buildings, the Fernwell, Holley-Mason, Schade Tower, and Steam Plant Square (see picture).
Five optical fiber connectivity providers with state-of-the-art technology.
o Miles of dark and lighted fiber under the streets of downtown Spokane
o Miles of fiber reaching to outlying areas.
o High-speed copper available everywhere in the TT.
o Due to pioneering research and development of advanced packet technology, gigabit-per-second connectivity available now in the TT, not as a future development.
2000
Developed TerabyteTriangle.com web site to promote connectivity options and capacity, building inventory, quality of life, and services.
Inland Northwest Technology Education Center (INTEC), created as a state-funded effort to develop means for providing affordable, quick-turn-around technical education in the biomedical and information technology arenas was formed.
o INTEC is a partnership between industry, education, and government with the ultimate goal of creating economic prosperity for the region through innovation, technology, and training.
2001
TT included hot zone of buildings with high-speed, broadband data-transfer networks of up to gigabit capacity.
Eastern Washington University approved plan to unite the region’s colleges and university into one ‘digital university’ system.
o This became known as the Inland Northwest Digital University (INDU).
From the INDU project, VPnet was created.
o VPnet is “an economic development tool for the Inland Northwest to facilitate the creation of, and access to, a durable high-speed communications network.”
o Essentially VPnet is a gift of dark fiber from Avista Corp that allows for an ‘unlimited’ bandwidth Metropolitan Area Network (MAN).
o VPnet will eventually connect all universities and colleges in the Inland Northwest for research and economic development projects.
2002
TT celebrated 5 year Anniversary.
The Mayor and Spokane City Council proclaimed the week of October 14, 2002 as Terabyte Triangle Week in Spokane, Washington.
Survey indicated there are 100+ technology-based businesses utilizing the broadband connections made possible by the TT in downtown Spokane.
In conjunction with Running Start, the Community Colleges of Spokane helped create the Information Technologies Academy and the Biotechnologies Academy to address student and community needs for high school students located in the Holley-Mason Building.
Historically renovated turn-of-the-20th-century Davenport Hotel reopened after seventeen darkened years with two OC 12 fiber connections, zones of popular 802.11 (WiFi) wireless for laptops, and a subterranean Network Operations Center.
Downtown Spokane became the top city in the United States with more high-speed fiber per capita than any other.
2003
Survey indicated there are 135 High Tech Companies in the downtown TT Area.
The number of fiber-connected buildings in Spokane increased to 151.
New startups founded with experienced entrepreneurs and staff, venture/angel funding.
Companies became more expansion-minded.
TT newsletter reached 1,000 tech subscribers and web site traffic rises to 30,000 hits, exceeding goal by 1,000%
Spokane listed in top five "wired downtowns" by Google, Yahoo, AltaVista, the most popular search engines.
A half dozen free public wi-fi “Hot Spots” existed in the downtown TT area.
Hoopfest, world’s largest 3-on-3 basketball tournament with approximately 130,000 participants and visitors, used Vivato panels for wireless scoring and player tracking.
The City of Spokane named one of the Top Seven Intelligent Communities of the Year by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF), a project of the World Teleport Association and the only U.S. city out of thousands.
o The ICF selects communities for this honor that it determines are “pioneers and role models for the development of vibrant Digital Age communities in the 21st Century.”
o The ICF says the Intelligent Communities have what it takes to gain a competitive edge in the global economy.
Spokane “Downtown Renaissance” boasted $1.2 billion in new investment and over 450 projects since 1999.
2004
The “Downtown Renaissance” continued with an increasing number of projects.
Spokane designated one of ten All America Cities out of 600 by the National Civic League, an honor previously bestowed in 1974.
o The All America City award encourages and recognizes civic excellence, honoring the communities in which citizens, government, businesses and nonprofit organizations demonstrate successful resolution of critical community issues.
o The All America City award competition is the nation's longest-running and most prestigious civic recognition program. Since 1949, more than 4,000 communities have competed and nearly 500 have been designated "All-America Cities."
City received recognition in New York as one of the Seven Most Intelligent Communities in the World by the World Teleport Association.
150 High Tech Companies are located in the downtown TT Area.
TT listed by National League of Cities as one of the best proven City programs.
City leveraged fiber, Terabyte Triangle and Intelligent Community designation to begin the implementation of a “SpokaneHotZone” pilot network covering the 100 block core, with rollout of future phases to include the Spokane Arena, the South Hill medical complexes, and the West Plains.
The SpokaneHotZone, a natural extension of the fiber-wired downtown network of buildings in the TT, provided additional connectivity for businesses and citizens, as well as visitors to our City.
City of Spokane used this connectivity for projects like GIS mapping, networking of libraries and community centers, to consolidate resources for the homeless, and addition of wireless Internet access aboard police and fire vehicles.
The rich fiber network in the TT and the addition of the SpokaneHotZone enables Spokane to call itself one of America’s most connected cities.
More innovations to come…
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