Fiber Optics

MTA Fiber Holdings to Connect Alaska with Contiguous U.S.

MTA Fiber Holdings LLC is building AlCan ONE (Alaska Canada Overland Network), a fiber network connecting Alaska to the contiguous United States and beyond, with the goal of completion by the middle of 2020.

FOSA Urges ‘Smart Infrastructure’ Technology

The Fiber Optic Sensing Association (FOSA) has urged House and Senate Committees to incorporate advanced technologies that will help make the nation’s infrastructure safer, more resilient and longer lasting.

Pennsylvania Counties Using Fiber Optics to Improve 911 Capabilities

For years, fiber-optic cables have been the gold standard in speed and reliability for telecommunication networks. Not only do they provide much faster internet data speeds for homes and businesses, they allow for larger and more complex data sets to be transferred at no loss to speed or quality.

MTA to Build First All-Terrestrial Fiber Line From Alaska to Contiguous U.S.

MTA Fiber Holdings, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of MTA, Alaska’s best choice for technology and communications products, announced today that it plans to build AlCan ONE (Alaska Canada Overland Network), the first and only all-terrestrial fiber network connecting Alaska to the contiguous United States and beyond.

Perma-Liner Provides Ultimate Fiber-Optic Protection

Perma-Liner Industries LLC., a leading manufacturer and supplier of trenchless pipeline rehabilitation equipment and materials in North America, introduced its newest product. The Manhole Edge Protector (MEP) offers ultimate fiber optic protection and is produced in sizes to accommodate any manhole ..

Call or Click for Safe Digging

Calling 811 before any digging begins starts the process of identifying and marking buried utility lines in the United States and preventing the damage, service disruption, injuries, potential fines and costly repairs that result from unintentionally hitting them.

Fiber on Fire

Deployment of fiber optic cable directly to homes in North America continues at a steady pace, surpassing DSL in 2018 to become the second-most-common connection for home internet after cable,

Return to Google Land? Public Demands Broadband Alternatives

Remember back in 2010 when Google announced its entry into the broadband network market? To much fanfare, Google Fiber was born with Kansas City serving as its first major construction project. Google’s promise to deliver true high-speed internet services (as much as a gigabyte) captured the interes..

NineStar Connect to Acquire Gem Water Utility, Expand Fiber Service

NineStar Connect, a smart utility providing water, sewer, electric and high speed fiber services, has entered into an agreement with the town of Cumberland to acquire Gem Water Utility, which the town has owned since 2010. Gem Water serves approximately 500 water customers in a territory that lies b..

Washington Port, Utility District Form Broadband Company

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) – The Port of Skagit and the Skagit Public Utility District have approved an agreement to jointly oversee the construction of a fiber optic network that extends from Anacortes to Concrete. The Skagit Valley Herald reports the port and utility district approved the agreement..

Monet Cable System Begins Full Operations

Algar Telecom, Angola Cables, Antel and Alphabet, Inc. have commenced operations on the Monet Cable System connecting Boca Raton, Fla. to Fortaleza and Santos, Brazil. The 556-km system, which features the latest high-quality 6-fiber-pair cable and optical transmission technologies, is capable o..

NRTC Names Bartolomei President, Utility Solutions

The National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC) has named Greg Bartolomei President, Utility Solutions, effective May 14. Bartolomei will lead NRTC’s portfolio of smart grid solutions, which includes metering and metering networks, analytics, demand management, smart energy (including sola..

Seaborn Adds Industry Veterans to Lead Sales and Corporate Development Teams

Seaborn Networks has appointed David Zimmer Chief Sales Officer (CSO) and Jim Olson Vice President, Corporate Development. As CSO, Zimmer will be responsible for all of Seaborn’s direct sales, channel strategies and inside sales. He has also been named to the company’s board of directors. Zimmer m..

Fiber Installation Contract Awarded for Lake Ontario Project

Crosslake Fibre has selected IT International Telecom Canada to complete the fiber installation for its Lake Ontario submarine cable project.  The 58-km system across Lake Ontario is part of a 131-km system connecting Toronto, Ontario and Buffalo, N.Y. with critical telecommunications infrastruc..

Alabama Company Gets Federal Grant to Expand Broadband

HAMILTON, Ala. (AP) — Communications company Tombigbee has received a $3 million federal grant to expand broadband internet access to a rural community in northwest Alabama, the company’s president announced Thursday. Tombigbee Communications CEO and President Steve Foshee announced the grant from ..

KentuckyWired Partners with Utility to Expedite Broadband Project

The Kentucky Communications Network Authority (KCNA) and Owensboro Municipal Utilities (OMU) have reached an agreement to lease a portion of OMU’s broadband network to KentuckyWired, a broadband project that includes the construction of more than 3,000 miles of fiber optic cable across all 120 Kentu..

US Virgin Islands to Rebuild Roads to Accommodate Underground Infrastructure

CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands (AP) — The governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands says all of the territory’s main roads will be rebuilt to federal standards following the damage inflicted by hurricanes Irma and Maria. Kenneth Mapp says $530 million of the $1.2 billion needed has been pledged fo..

Coalition Works to Expand Rural Broadband

A coalition of stakeholders committed to the expansion of broadband services in rural America today launched the first in a series of workshops to focus attention on the wide-ranging challenges to achieving connectivity, and the opportunities improved e-connectivity could bring to the people and eco..

Kentucky Lawmakers Approve Broadband Project

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky lawmakers have grudgingly agreed to fund a high-speed internet project that has been plagued by delays and cost overruns. The project, dubbed Kentucky Wired, is supposed to build a network of more than 3,000 miles of fiber optic cables to bring broadband capability to..

Cable, HDD Shore End Suppliers Chosen For Lake Ontario Project

Crosslake Fibre has selected Hexatronic Cables & Interconnect Systems AB of Sweden to supply the high-fiber-count submarine cable and Maritech International LTD to construct the Horizontal Directional Drilled (HDD) shore ends for its 58-km project being developed across Lake Ontario. “T..

Broadband in Jeopardy Without State Funding, Kentucky Companies Warn

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Private companies building a high-speed internet network in Kentucky warned Thursday that the project will fall apart if state lawmakers don’t pay for it, potentially forcing taxpayers to pay back hundreds of millions of dollars in loans. State lawmakers sent a two-year operat..

Could Enemies Target Undersea Cables that Link the World?

WASHINGTON (AP) — Russian ships are skulking around underwater communications cables, causing the U.S. and its allies to worry the Kremlin might be taking information warfare to new depths. Is Moscow interested in cutting or tapping the cables? Does it want the West to worry it might? Is there a mo..

Kentucky Auditor Examining Troubled Broadband Project

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky’s auditor is investigating the state’s troubled broadband project, but the report won’t be finished before lawmakers must decide whether to keep funding a venture that is years behind schedule and costing taxpayers millions of dollars in delays. Auditor Mike Har..

CommScope Names Pease CFO

CommScope today announced it has named Alexander W. Pease executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective April 2. Pease succeeds Mark Olson is retiring from the company. Pease, who has more than 18 years of extensive financial and operational experience across a wide range of indus..

Lawmakers Wary of Cost to Fund Kentucky Broadband Project

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Sending inmates to private prisons and building a high-speed internet network dominated the second day of budget talks Monday as lawmakers sought to resolve initial disagreements on how to spend more than $70 billion in public funds over the next two years. Lawmakers agreed to..

Comcast Business Invests $1.7 Million to Expand High-Performance Fiber-Optic Network in Pennsylvania

Comcast Business today announced it has invested $1.7 million in an expansion of its fiber-based network in Harrisburg, reaching more than 600 additional businesses directly and benefiting hundreds more by making the network more accessible. Capable of delivering up to 100 Gigabits-per-second (G..

North Dakota State Broadband Network to Be Upgraded

As part of a contract extension with the North Dakota Information Technology Department, the Dakota Carrier Network (DCN) and its 15 owner companies will upgrade the internet service of all North Dakota K-12 schools, higher education institutions and government to one gigabit by August 2019. The upg..

IEEE Publishes 25 Gb/s Ethernet Standard for Enhanced Enterprise and Metro Network Applications Over Fiber

IEEE today announced it has published IEEE 802.3cc-2017—Standard for Ethernet Amendment: Physical Layer and Management Parameters for Serial 25 Gb/s Ethernet Operation Over Single-Mode Fiber. The new amendment to IEEE 802.3™ represents the first available industry standard developed specifically to ..

Future Uncertain for Kentucky Broadband Network

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Frustrated with repeated delays costing taxpayers millions of dollars, the Kentucky Senate has voted to effectively end a project that would bring high-speed internet capability to one of the poorest states in the country. But officials in Republican Gov. Matt Bevin’s administ..

Report: North Carolina Cities Need Powers to Aid Broadband

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The association representing North Carolina’s cities and towns says new legislation is needed to develop partnerships between local governments and private broadband providers so areas still lacking high-speed internet are covered. The North Carolina League of Municipalities re..