Emery Telcom held a fiber launch party at the Museum of the San Rafael in Castle Dale. Brock Johansen, CEO of Emery Telcom, covered important topics such as what is fiber, why it is important and when and how it will be installed in the area.
“Fiber optic cable is glass that is capable of carrying large amounts of data at very high rates of speed,” Johansen explained. “In Carbon, Emery, Grand and San Juan county, every phone call, internet session and cell phone call travels across just two of Emery Telcom’s fibers to Salt Lake City.”
The initial service will be approximately 10 times faster than existing DSL internet services. Fiber internet service is very reliable and is not affected by outside factors like weather.
Johansen discussed why fiber is important for economic development. “Fiber is connecting businesses, hospitals, schools, banks and residences with the outside world,” he said. “This service will put our area on par with larger areas that have Google Fiber deployments, like Provo.”
Johansen also explained the various steps necessary for fiber to be installed in homes in the Castle Dale area. He explained that XL Cable, a contractor in the area, will be installing fiber drops from the street to the sides of homes. These fiber drops will be aerial where there are already overhead cables and buried in sections of town that do not have aerial facilities. Lastly, an Emery Telcom installer will make an appointment to install the fiber service within the home. The contractor will begin placing drops in December and the installation of the service should occur around the February 2015 time frame.
Once the fiber is installed in a home, all three services,voice, internet and TV, will be available and run across the single fiber line. Wi-Fi coverage was also discussed and the new service will offer superior wireless coverage in homes.
The fiber service has already been installed in Green River, Emery and the majority of Ferron. Installations are currently underway in Orangeville and Castle Dale will follow.
