While you wait, we get busy!
It can feel like a lifetime when you are waiting for something you really want to experience, especially when you know someone else already has it and really enjoys it. We understand, and promise your fiber optic internet, cable TV and telephone service will be worth the wait. Here’s a glimpse at why your patience is appreciated and necessary.
Timing is everything
Our goal is to bring fiber services to you as quickly as possible. We have mapped out areas with growing interest and will open sign-ups in these areas when enough interest is shown for a neighborhood or community. The sign-up phase is the time when you can pre-register and choose your package. It is also a period that determines the level of commitment by a prospective Fiberhood. After we reach our commitment requirements, the sign-up period closes. If your Fiberhood has met its goal, we’ll contact you with an estimate for when you can expect construction to begin, any construction updates for your Fiberhood, and later, when you’ll be able to self-schedule your installation online.
A lot of things impact our timing though. This piece explains what we do between the time you sign-up and the time we can install fiber in your home. It also explains why sometimes things can take a bit longer than we originally anticipated.
Building brand new networks take time.
Before we invite you to sign-up, we spend a lot of time developing a construction plan for your Fiberhood and working with local authorities on permitting and other issues. Once a Fiberhood qualifies for fiber service, there is more design, engineering and staking work to be done.
Underground investigations must be done.
Initially, a main line will be installed along the streets, one foot at a time. But before we can lay the fiber in the ground or bring in construction equipment such as boring machines, we must figure out where the existing underground utilities are – wires, pipes, wells, water lines, septic systems, sprinkler systems, and so on. We follow the required process for marking the locations (“locates”) where each utility is supposed to be. This helps our construction crew when they are digging. You might see orange, blue, red or yellow paint on sidewalks, streets, or even on your grass. Those are locating marks.
Construction can be disruptive.
After the markings are established, our construction crew will plow main line alongside of the roads. Often, this involves many miles of plowing.
Once the lines have been run along the road, a separate crew will come by and install the fiber lines, “drops”, up to the homes.
Our goal is to treat your property as if were our own. After digging the narrow trench required to install the fiber cable, we will restore your yard to a condition as close to the original as possible. If you have any specific concerns about the work planned for your property, please contact us.
After the lines are plowed to the homes, a technician will follow up and mount a protector box on the exterior of your home. This is where we splice and ground our fiber optics.
In addition, there will be a device installed inside your home or business to supply the internet. It contains the electronics that convert a signal of light from the fiber into usable internet.
Hurry up and wait.
Even under the best of circumstances, some things such as the weather can slow us down. . Like road construction, we still work outside during inclement weather, but there are times when it’s just impossible. Spring and summer will be much more productive than fall and winter!
We’re very efficient when we can be!
We can still run into other roadblocks and delays though. We have learned a lot since our first fiber-to-the-home buildout in 2009 and have streamlined as much as possible in our construction process.
We have designed the Fiberhood sign-up and construction process to maximize efficiency. This means we stick to our sign-up deadlines so that we can build in a particular Fiberhood and then move on to work in another Fiberhood.
We plan and coordinate with the local authorities as much as possible, so we’re ready to start construction as soon as sign-ups close.
When it’s time to connect to your home, we’ll email you, so you can schedule your installation appointment online.