Wofford College and Converse College, both located in Spartanburg, S.C., have joined the ERC Fiber Network, an initiative that began in 1997 to improve the technological infrastructure of the western Carolinas.

David Whisnant, Vice President for Information Technology for Wofford College, says, "Wofford College is looking forward to the benefits of being connected to the ERC network. Our ERC connection has given us a redundant fiber entrance to the campus and reasonably priced access to high-speed network resources. It also has allowed us to join a regional academic and research community that has the potential for future growth, including connecting with the Internet2 network sometime in the future."

Converse College's Director of Information Technology, Judy Folk, is pleased to have the ERC as a complementary service. "Using two ISPs will allow us to balance internet traffic over two circuits and build redundancy into the system. This also fits into our disaster recovery plan. Just like Wofford College, we feel that ERC has provided a solution that will make our budget dollars go further and improve productivity while enhancing our network reliability and improve our quality of service."

ERC Broadband is excited to add these colleges to its network, which already includes Furman University. "Connecting these schools is another significant step toward achieving our mission which is creating and promoting a solid infrastructure for Internet access and related services. The end result is the growth of economic opportunity in our region through the technological growth of our education, research and business communities," says Hunter Goosmann, Director of Network Operations.

Congressman Charles H. Taylor (R, NC-11) was instrumental in forming and funding the ERC, a non-profit organization based in Asheville, N.C., that seeks to help the people and economy of the western Carolinas engage in and benefit from the new technology revolution. Senators Jim DeMint (R-SC) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) have actively worked with Congressman Taylor for the past 8 years on initiatives such as the Adventure of the American Mind Program, a teacher training program at Furman University and the University of South Carolina Upstate, as well as the ERC Fiber Network for the benefit of the region.

For more information, visit www.ercbroadband.org.