Technology

Networks

While the transition appeared seamless, the work behind the scenes to physically dismantle the network hardware is a massive undertaking.

News provided by: Iowa Communications Network (ICN)

Following the successful voice migration of long-distance traffic to our partner, Aureon, the Iowa Communications Network (ICN) has reached a major physical milestone. With long-distance telecommunications services officially transitioned as of February, our facilities, business services, engineering teams, and staff from our network maintenance provider, Fiber Network Services (FNS), have shifted their focus to the hands-on teardown of our legacy DMS (digital multiplex system) equipment.

While the transition appeared seamless, the work behind the scenes to physically dismantle this network hardware is a massive undertaking that has been months in the making.

The roadmap for this project began before the power was turned off. Initial planning for the teardown started back in late December 2025. Since the official cutover in February, our teams have been working through a step-by-step process to dismantle the equipment safely and securely:

  • Finalizing operations
    • Teams began by closing out internal maintenance circuits and disabling billing systems associated with the old hardware.
  • Data security
    • In alignment with our commitment to security, engineers cleared all disk drives of any company-related information, ensuring that no data remains on the retired hardware.
  • The heavy lifting
    • Our teams were in the thick of the physical cleanup. This involved disconnecting and removing cabling and dismantling the massive metal cabinets and frames that once housed the state’s voice switching technology.

Retiring the DMS equipment is about more than making room in our facilities. By powering down these machines, ICN is reducing energy consumption and clearing the way for modern and efficient equipment.

Our partnership with Aureon allows ICN to provide high-quality long-distance voice services while refocusing our resources on maintaining the fiber-optic network that links the State’s critical infrastructure.

We are proud of the coordination between our teams to bring this era of legacy voice equipment to a close.

Get this news in your inbox. Subscribe to the Broadband Communities newsletter!

Share