Somerset Development, one of the real estate industry’s foremost innovators in large-scale, mixed-use redevelopments, today announced Comcast Business has completed the expansion of its advanced network infrastructure at Bell Works Chicagoland.
With the nation’s largest gig-speed network, Comcast is able to provide businesses at the Bell Works campus access to high-speed internet along with a wide range of advanced commercial services including ethernet, internet, advanced voice and value-added cloud services.
“Comcast’s advanced technology and high-speed internet is an incredibly valuable asset to Bell Works Chicagoland,” said Joel Shandelman, Director of Technology and Energy at Somerset Development. “In today’s digitally driven world, connectivity is crucial, and so it made perfect sense to partner with Comcast, a company that has been consistently on the forefront of connection for the last half-century. It’s critical that our technological infrastructure be able to support the growing list of tenants calling our campus home, and this expansion ensures their needs will continue to be met.”
“The transformation of the campus into a mixed-use ‘metroburb’ with an urban core is a major undertaking that requires innovative thinking,” said Hoffman Estates Mayor Bill McLeod. “Connectivity is at the forefront of urban planning and real estate development, and I’m pleased to see Somerset and Comcast partner to create a model for the role of technology in next generation developments right here in Hoffman Estates.”
Thanks to Comcast’s proactive approach and the newly expanded network, small, medium, and large businesses located at Bell Works Chicagoland have access to internet speeds of up to 100 Gigabits per second (Gbps). The high-speed internet will help companies on campus conduct business and compete locally, regionally, and nationally.
“Without question, reliable connectivity is more important than ever before, and absolutely essential to conducting business effectively and efficiently,” said Sean McCarthy, Comcast’s Regional Vice President of Business Development and Strategic Initiatives. “Having access to the most advanced technology services and fastest internet speeds not only positions business on campus for success, it also enables Bell Works Chicagoland to continue to attract more and more quality tenants – especially those that require support for high-bandwidth activities.”
Comcast Business services extend throughout Bell Works’ 1.65-million square-foot development, which can accommodate up to 5,000 employees. The expansion is designed to make Bell Works Chicagoland even more attractive to both businesses and visitors.
Additional services available to Bell Works’ tenants as a result of the Comcast network expansion include:
- ActiveCoreSM SDN, a software-defined networking (SDN) platform providing businesses intelligent, centralized control for their networks via software applications like Managed Router and SD-WAN.
- Cybersecurity Services, reducing vulnerability to denial of service (DDoS) attacks and helping protect business infrastructure with managed security solutions; and
- Comcast Business VoiceEdgeTM, a fully managed, scalable cloud-based voice system providing unified communications (UC) tools that can improve communication, enhance collaboration and help businesses increase productivity.”
Previous to Bell Works Chicagoland, Comcast Business also played an instrumental role at Bell Works New Jersey, the first iteration of the metroburb spanning 2 million square-feet, located in Holmdel, N.J. In 2017, Comcast brought world-class solutions to Bell Works New Jersey to support every type of tenant’s technological needs and built out a gig-speed fiber network with enough flexibility to cater to both existing and future tenants. As a result, all tenants have access to Comcast Business products and services, and new tenants can be up and running quickly with little turnaround time required.
