Fiber Optic Network

• City of Appleton,
• Appleton Area School District,
• Outagamie County,
• Town of Grand Chute,
• Fox Valley Technical College

The Town of Grand Chute performed an analysis of this agreement and determined that the Towns cost for the same infrastructure would have cost $377,000 if they contracted the work on their own.  The cost to the Town as a result of this agreement was$163,000 - a savings of 57%.

 
In the fall of 2002, the City of Appleton, Appleton Area School District, Town of Grand Chute, Outagamie County and Fox Valley Technical College became partners in a technology project that provided a new fiber optic network for the community.
 
Together they created AAMFON (Appleton Area Metropolitan Fiber Optic Network).  AAMFON is a $2.5 million, 40 mile network.  Nearly a third of the fiber or 14 miles of it is buried underground.  The fiber optic cable holds more than 10,000 times the bandwidth of high capacity, leased phone lines and provides enhanced telephone and computer communications capabilities for the five entities involved.  AAMFON collectively hosts a total of 57 sites:
• 28 Appleton Area School District
• 19 City of Appleton
• 5 Outagamie County
• 3 Fox Valley Technical College
• 2 Grand Chute
 
Enough fiber was installed to provide growth  above and beyond the initial plan.

Mark Rohloff - Grand Chute Town Administrator at the time, recently Oshkosh City Administrator.