Global Network Technologies, Inc. completes $1.4 million tel-data project for Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Global Network Technologies, Inc. has completed the $1.4 million structured cabling system and fiber optic riser infrastructure installation for Vertex Pharmaceuticals parcel B building located at 50 Northern Ave. on the city's Fan Pier. The IBEW contractor is serving on a project team headed by general contractor Turner Construction. Elkus Manfredi Architects was the project architect. Vertex building B is a 17-story laboratory building of 779,000 s/f, with five laboratory floors and seven floors of office space as well as three underground parking levels. Building B also includes a full service cafeteria that serves both buildings. Global Network's tel-data scope included installation of all voice and data cable for the facility, as well as the LIDF/server room and intermediate distribution frame (IDF) build-outs. The facility's entire fiber optic backbone runs from the LIDF on the 11th floor, connecting to the IDF closets on each floor. The LIDF was also interconnected to the building A MDF via two diverse pathways across the bridge on the 6th floor and through the lower level parking garage. IDF closets on floors 1 through 7 and 9 through 15 were built to support 300 user workstations on each floor. Two separate paths of fiber optic cable were installed throughout the facility to provide full physical redundancy for Vertex's mission critical data requirements. Global Network installed 14,000 feet of fiber optic cable for the facility's backbone and 1.3 million feet of category 6 copper cable to support the data needs. Global project manager Kevin Flaherty and project supervisor Richard Chaimberlan supervised a field crew of 10 IBEW Local 103 technicians, working with Vertex and Turner from start to finish. The project finished on time and under budget.