News

FIRSTENERGY SUBSIDIARY TO IMPLEMENT SPANS JOINT USE NOTIFICATION SYSTEM

Wind Lake Solutions, Inc. - Mukwonago, Wisconsin, is pleased to announce that FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) has contracted for the implementation of WLS’ SPANS™ (Spatially-enabled Permitting and Notification System) for its Ohio Edison subsidiary. SPANS is a hosted web-based solution designed to electronically and centrally manage inter-company communications associated with joint use pole attachment projects.

Under the contract, SPANS will be implemented throughout Ohio Edison’s 7,000 square-mile electric utility service territory and will be used in the management of communications associated with approximately 565,000 joint use attachments to Ohio Edison poles.

WLS has already begun configuring SPANS for use by Ohio Edison and its joint use partner communications companies. SPANS’ configurable managed workflow architecture provides for the effective coordination of interdependent pole owner/attacher joint use activities.

The Ohio Edison implementation is being configured to handle pole removal, replacement, and relocation notifications as well as requests for rearrangement of existing attachments, and requests and notifications associated with establishment and discontinuation of joint use by Ohio Edison’s joint use partner companies.

Ohio Edison served as the charter participant in a SPANS pilot project which was initiated in July, 2007. Two national incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) along with two major cable operators also participated in the pilot with Ohio Edison.

David Coates, CEO of Wind Lake Solutions said, “Much of the credit for the success of the SPANS Ohio pilot goes to the users in each of the participating companies. By working with the pilot user team, WLS was able to tailor SPANS functionality to meet their specific needs. We look forward to delivering an expanded SPANS implementation for use throughout Ohio Edison.”

Larry Thompson, Joint Use Coordinator for Ohio Edison/Penn Power stated, “Ohio Edison is facing increasing joint-use pole attachment request activity. Based on our experience during the pilot program, we believe SPANS will help us effectively respond to this situation, and we are planning to implement the system across our Ohio Edison service territory.”

For more information please contact Susan Smith-Lee of Wind Lake Solutions at (262) 363-4800 ext. 225 or via e-mail at ssmithlee@windlakesolutions.com.