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Verizon Puts in Fiber-Optic Network in NMB: The 3-Year Project Will Make New Services Available

Posted on: Wednesday, 11 January 2006, 09:00 CST

By Janelle Frost, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Jan. 11--Verizon has agreed to upgrade technology services in North Myrtle Beach at the same time it places utility lines underground.

Officials say the city is the first area in the state to receive the upgraded services through Verizon's fiber-optic conversion project.

Construction on the three-year project began earlier this month, said Bob Elek, spokesman for Verizon.

Public Works Director Kevin Blayton said the fiber-optic cables being installed will allow Verizon customers to have broadband telephone and Internet services as well as the potential for video services in the future.

"The primary reason for the project is to remove overhead utilities on Main Street and Ocean Boulevard," Blayton said. "But to do that, Verizon is going ahead with fiber-optic facilities so people can have a higher capability for services and different services."

The project is beginning along major thoroughfares in North Myrtle Beach: Sea Mountain Highway, North Ocean Boulevard and Main Street. It will cover neighborhoods adjacent to those roadways.

Work has already begun on Sea Mountain Highway. And fiber-optic lines will be laid underground on U.S. 17 and Main Street at the same time work is being done on the Main Street Connector, Blayton said.

Another part will go down Sea Mountain Highway to North Ocean Boulevard to the eastern end of Main Street. That work could be completed by late 2006, Blayton said.

Eventually it will cover all of Ocean Boulevard and U.S. 17 in North Myrtle Beach, Blayton said. "And eventually, as customers request it, it will be extended into residential neighborhoods," he said.

Verizon started the national program in 2004 with nine states, Elek said. Since then, it has grown to 17 states: Florida, Texas, California, Washington, Oregon, Maryland, Virginia, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Indiana, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and South Carolina.

Last year, the company spent $12 billion on projects in those states as well as 12 other states and the District of Columbia, Elek said. He did not have the cost of the North Myrtle Beach project available Tuesday.

Initially, Verizon was reluctant to do the project because of cost, Mayor Marilyn Hatley said.

"At first it was going to be a cost to the city,"she said. "But the city was able to negotiate with Verizon where they are paying the cost."

Elek said that was because the project tied in with removing telephone poles on Ocean Boulevard and Main Street as part of the underground utility project.

In the past, it was the responsibility of the entity receiving the service to pay for the project, he said.

After some initial hurdles, Verizon saw the cost benefits of placing utility lines underground and installing fiber-optic cables all at once instead of having to come back years later to do it, Blayton said.

"They assured us the service will be better and greater for the city," Hatley said.

Contact JANELLE FROST at 443-2404 or jfrost@thesunnews.com [mailto:jfrost@thesunnews.com].

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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NYSE:VZ,

Source: The Sun News (Myrtle Beach, S.C.)

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