Company Launches Fiber Optic Initiative ; North State Communications Will Spend $30 Million for Faster Broadband Services.
Posted on: Monday, 4 July 2005, 00:00 CDT
In the 1967 movie "The Graduate," the word that famously summed up the future was plastics. In 2005, the words are fiber optics and broadband.
At least that's what High Point-based North State Communications is banking on. The telecommunications company has launched two initiatives designed to bring fiber optics to more homes in its service area, which covers 600 square miles. Fiber optics are common in large businesses but unusual in homes.
Here's what this means for residents:
What is North State doing?
With "Fiber to the Neighborhood," North State will spend about $30 million to bring fiber-optic cable within a mile of most homes, resulting in faster broadband services.
North State already uses fiber optics for much of its network. But it's replaced by copper wire - which is about 33 times slower than fiber optics - when it gets to within three miles of established neighborhoods. The new project could begin in August or September.
"LightStar" would bring fiber-optic cable directly to homes in neighborhoods under construction.
Which neighborhoods?
North State plans to bring fiber optics to homes in High Point's Avalon, Country Club Estates, DelMar and Piedmont Crossing subdivisions.
So, the folks who move into these new neighborhoods automatically will have faster broadband?
No. This is where North State hopes to make money on its investment. Homeowners in these neighborhoods will have the option to buy communications packages from North State to use with homes' built-in fiber optics.
Why is North State doing this?
The company has about 125,000 traditional phone lines in its service area. But it's losing about 6,000 customers each year as they switch to cellular phones. The initiatives could bring in new customers. In the near future, broadband could bring new gaming, movie and interactive services into the home that would be most effective if combined with fast-moving fiber optics, said Royster Tucker III, executive vice president at North State.
"We've future-proofed the homes in these areas for what may be out on the Internet in the future or for some new broadband service that doesn't even exist yet," he said.
What are fiber optics, and what is broadband?
For years , copper wire has carried communications services such as telephones. Fiber optics uses light impulses to transmit information much faster than copper wire.
Broadband allows several kinds of information - such as cable television, telephone service and the Internet - to be transmitted at the same time. It's like adding lanes to a highway to allow traffic to move faster and more smoothly.
Contact Justin Cord Hayes at 883-4422, Ext. 238, or jhayes@news- record.com
Source: Greensboro News Record
Related Articles
- Residents in 2,029 Yonkers Public Housing Apartments Will Soon Be Able to Enjoy Verizon's FiOS Services on the Nation's Most Advanced All-Fiber-Optic Network
- Verizon Wins Telephony Magazine Innovation Award for Aggressively Deploying GPON, Most Powerful Fiber-Optic Transmission Technology in Use Today
- New Jersey Dazzled By the Light: Verizon's FiOS All-Fiber-Optic Network Now Passes More Than 1 Million Homes and Businesses in the State
- City to Weigh Ending Fiber-Optic Network
- Fiber-Optic War Moves into Portland Suburbs
- Fiber Optic Plan is Best Choice for Tri-Cities' Future
- Northwest Open Access Network Oregon Taps Fiber Optic Lines for Broadband
- AT&T Will Help Get $470 Million Utah Public Fiber Optic Network Running
- Homes about to get wired for speed ; Telecom companies agree to standards on fiber-optic lines directly to homes
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds