By Duck Paterson
It has taken some time but Ladysmith is about to break through into a new cyber era.
For the past month crews from Grey Wolf Communications have been working throughout the community installing new cable either underground in existing services or along existing poles in local neighbourhoods.
According to Robert Toal, director of planning and engineering for F3 Networks Canada, the crews are working for F3 Networks installing fibre optic cable to build a network that will be capable of reaching most homes and businesses.
“F3 Networks Canada Inc is a Canadian company registered with the Canadian Radio/Television Commission as a telecommunications carrier,” said Toal. “The company has a commercial agreement with Telus to bring their PureFibre services to area neighbourhoods.
“F3 will own the infrastructure that is being installed, while Telus provides the services over the fibre-optic connection.”
Fibre-optic networks are powered by thin, flexible strands of transparent glass that transmit information as pulses of light, and carry huge amounts of information in the space of seconds.
“A fibre-optic internet connection offers superior performance, reliability, and security, making it the preferred choice for high-speed data transmission and communication networks,” said Toal. “Fibre optic technology also enables symmetrical connections, meaning the upload speeds are just as fast as the downloads.”
“While Telus does have its own fibre-optic network infrastructure, the network being built in Ladysmith is owned and operated by F3 Networks. Many other Canadian carriers also offer fibre-optic technology to provide service to their customers, however, not all of these connections are fibre-optic connections directly to the home. F3 offers an FTTH connection which provides fast, consistent speeds with less lag than hybrid networks.”
The Grey Wolf crews are anticipated to be working in Ladysmith building the network until October of this year, though it may take slightly longer in some areas. The goal is to have all of the Ladysmith installation completed this year.
“Residents that agree to allow F3 Networks to provide a fibre-optic connection to their home will have this done while the crews are in each neighbourhood,” Toal said. “There is a specialized crew doing the fibre-optic cable placing in the public areas and another team doing the fibre-cable placing to individual homes and businesses. The coordination of work between the crews is within days of each other. It is only after each neighbourhood is completed that Telus will be contacting residents with the option to take services over the installed Purefibre connection. Each neighbourhood is approximately 250-350 premises and takes about four weeks to complete each area.
“Installation to homes is not a big deal,” Toal said, “the new fibre optic cable will take the same path as existing communications lines and will distribute from the same location inside the home as existing services.”
Toal said he anticipated pricing for the new offering should remain competitive.
Over the length of the installation there will be 30 to 40 people working on the construction.
