Rural internet set for upgrade

Steve Hanson of Northeast Iowa Telephone Company spoke at the Murphy Helwig Library for the monthly Coffee House on Tuesday, June 6, 2017.

 

Hanson was on hand to discuss the future of the NEITEL and their plans for installing fiber lines throughout the rural area surrounding Monona and other nearby towns. Currently, much of Monona, Farmersburg, Luana and St. Olaf have fiber Internet in their town, so the next step that is to offer better Internet to rural areas.

 

The process is expensive and time consuming, according to Hanson. One of the mainly problems when upgrading phone line is potential rocks. Since fiber lines are buried underground sometimes the crews encounter rocks that need to be cut by large saws to allow the wire to come through. This can take a lot of time and money to fix.

 

Although the fiber line upgrade may not reach some customers for a couple of years, the upgrade will be worth it. Since fiber Internet is fast and more streamline, the signal strength is stronger and more consistent.

 

Fiber lines are not only for the Internet, as it also affects phone and T.V. signals. Since fiber is buried underground, it will last longer and will mean less disruptions.

 

The way fiber lines work is a light is shone into small, glass tubes that carry the light signal from one point from another. Fiber means that information is transmitted at the speed of light. The old way of sending signals was through copper wire, which had limitations. Fiber has few limitations and the only replacement needed in the near future will be the devices at the end of the lines.

 

Hanson then fielded questions about the future of Internet service and explained how small independent companies provide service to local communities.