Charter and Berbee connect Pharmacy Cooperative

Charter and Berbee connect Pharmacy Cooperative

MADISON – Charter Business, a division of Charter Communications, announced Tuesday it is continuing to develop its partnership with Berbee Information Networks by adding a ninth fiber-based circuit, connecting Independent Pharmacy Cooperative (IPC) to Berbee’s data center in Fitchburg.
“Rather than having to string together multiple T1 lines between multiple Telco vendors, Charter hands off 10 Mb Ethernet and provides the entire circuit themselves,” said Jim Blake, vice president of information technology for IPC.
IPC, which leads the greater Madison area in revenue growth during 2003, appreciates the flexibility of fiber services that Charter offers.
“If we continue to grow as expected, we’ll need to increase our 10 Mb to 20 Mb pipe at some point, and Charter can do that in a matter of days. The ability to purchase only the bandwidth we need today, with room to grow tomorrow, is not just cost-effective – it enables me to manage my network to avoid bandwidth crunches in the future” Blake said.
Charter has dual fiber entrances into the Berbee data center, effectively making it a node on their state-wide SONET ring. The result has been numerous fiber circuits connecting not only Madison-area companies but others throughout the state, including CUNA Mutual Insurance Society, Dean Health Plan, Dean Health, Sonic Foundry, Firstlogic (LaCrosse), Rural Mutual Insurance Co, Thompson Investment Management and Wisconsin Capital Management.
“The beauty of the Berbee-Charter partnership is that we are now able to provide a direct high-speed link to our data center for our clients, enabling a wide range of solutions that were previously impossible or cost-prohibitive due to the proverbial ‘last-mile bottleneck,’” said Berbee President Paul Shain.
Independent Pharmacy Cooperative is a purchasing organization owned by independent pharmacies and is located in Sun Prairie.