We are grateful for another year of satisfied customers, company growth and exciting new projects on the horizon. Weeks into 2016, we are predicting even more success and exciting news for this year.
Let’s look back at 2015…
2015 was a stellar year of customer wins in the education vertical. We proudly enhanced the learning 
environments of several schools systems though fiber. As distance learning and eRate programs change the education ecosystem, Firstlight could not be prouder to help regional schools to create a successful learning environment. Among a few of our successes included Hudson Valley Community College upgrades, Hill and Franklin School Districts have connected elementary schools and libraries through eRate wins. The private Holderness School is enjoying faster wireless and network access and VoIP to all students, faculty and administration campus-wide. 2016 will be another critical year for policy makers and private companies to join forces to connect our students. As bandwidth demands rise in schools, the network you have to support your district’s learning initiatives will be your most valuable resource and working with a service provider with a complete set of communications services is critical. Firstlight is here to help.
In 2015, our customers continued seeking diversity and reliability to run their businesses. Bowl New England and Vermont Teddy Bear both chose FirstLight for dedicated Internet access and have now ‘harnessed the power of light.’ Other businesses strengthened by FirstLight, were Laconia Harley Davidson and hopTo. In October, we aligned with OneConnect to provide businesses in Upstate New York complete communications solutions. What Partner will harness the power next?
As our July blog pointed out, the smartest businesses will leverage technology as a way to stay ahead of the competition. As broadband availability increases, especially connectivity via optical fiber networks, businesses should seek to take advantage of the benefits that this level of connectivity creates. FirstLight Fiber has a team of experts ready to customize our services to meet your needs. Supporting local businesses and organizations is very important to FirstLight. We work local, our families live local, our kids go to the local schools and we are active members in the local community. Seeing organizations throughout our region prosper will be a big priority in 2016.
2015 was also filled with many networking events. Throughout the year, we invited our community to take tours of our five data center facilities. Our NH data center event was made a been a bigger success with the addition of New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan who cut the ribbon and said a few words in support of FirstLight and about regional business. Those who attended, learned more about the advantages of leveraging FirstLight’s data centers to support their business applications.
In September, Maura Mahoney, of the Firstlight team took a closer look at “Improving Healthcare through 
Technology: Why Fiber-Based Networks are Key.” If you haven’t checked out the video roundtable, be sure to here. Where will applications like Telehealth go in 2016? Even with the industry’s high cloud adoption rate and dazzling new technologies, the underlying network is a critical component. As the need for fast, secure, reliable, fiber-based networks continues to grow more and more healthcare businesses and organizations are finding that fiber is the optimal connectivity solution. Stay tuned to see how FirstLight is continuing to enhance healthcare organization in 2016! Who will be the next to harness the power of light in this sector?
Overall, 2015 was an amazing year for our company and communications as a whole. As we all become more 
connected, the network that connects us will need to continue to grow and be ultra reliable.
In 2016, we hope to continue to be the new idea and progress for business and organizations in the region. THANK YOU, ALL!
