Fiber Optics
Microsoft to Help Expand Rural Broadband in 6 States
FARGO, N.D. (AP) — Microsoft announced Thursday it is teaming up with communities in six states to to invest in technology and related jobs in rural and smaller metropolitan areas. Company president Brad Smith launched the TechSpark program Thursday in Fargo, a metropolitan area of more than 200,00..
Peak 10 + ViaWest Data Center Chosen as US Point of Presence for Subsea Cable to New Zealand and Australia
Peak 10 + ViaWest today announced that its Brookwood data center in Hillsboro, Ore. was selected by Hawaiki Submarine Cable as its US point of presence. The cable will stretch more than 14,000 km across the Pacific Ocean and will be the first carrier-neutral, low-latency, fiber optic connection betw..
Utilities Oppose Expanded Use of 6-GHz Spectrum Band
Expanded use of mid-band spectrum by new wireless broadband services could interfere with critical utility networks used for the reliable operation of the nation’s electricity grid, the Utilities Technology Council told the Federal Communications Commission Tuesday. The FCC is inquiring whether it ..
In Appalachia, a Public Broadband Project Hits Snags
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky’s plan to build one of the country’s largest publicly owned broadband networks was touted as a cornerstone of the effort to save the Appalachian economy by bringing high-speed internet to some of the poorest counties in America. It was supposed to take a year to finis..
Sterlite Tech Launches Dense Network 1152F Cables for Mobile Backhaul
At the India Mobile Congress, Sterlite Technologies today announced the company’s FlashFWD 5G Solution can now be used with 1152F variant cables. FlashFWD 1152F is NABL certified and complies with the latest global standards of IEC.60794 series, ANSI/ICEA S-87-640, Telcordia GR-20, and ITU-T Recomme..
Peak 10 + ViaWest Launches 100 Gigabit Network Connectivity Across America
Peak 10 + ViaWest has launched a new core network backbone featuring 100 Gigabit (Gb) connectivity across nine of its data center and cloud node locations in the United States. This 100Gb backbone increases the company’s network capacity by five times and provides customers with network..
SummitIG to Extend Dark Fiber Network in Northern Virginia
SummitIG today announced it will expand its dark fiber infrastructure throughout Northern Virginia by 50 miles in 2017. The company also expects to increase its 61 on-net buildings to 70. SummitIG’s existing 500-mile fiber optic network includes unique and densely populated infrastructure stretchin..
Mississippi Firm to Expand Internet Offerings Across State
RIDGELAND, Miss. (AP) — C Spire says it will expand internet service in Mississippi. The telecommunications company says it will begin offering wireless internet in 46 communities by year’s end. Speeds will be up to 25 megabits per second, using signals from nearby cell towers. Ridgeland-base..
FCC Head: Storms Teach Lessons on Emergency Communications
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Ajit Pai has been to Texas and Florida in recent weeks to learn what lessons hurricanes Harvey and Irma have to offer about how to improve the nation’s emergency communication systems during natural disasters. Pai, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, sa..
Companies Set Subsea Industry Benchmark for Fiber Optic Cable Capacity Reach
Infinera and Seaborn Networks have completed a successful subsea field trial demonstrating the industry’s highest spectral efficiency on an ultra-long-haul subsea cable. The 8QAM trial demonstrated 4.5 bits per second per hertz on Seaborn’s Seabras-1 cable, with a distance of more than 10,500 kilome..
Telemedicine Connects Rural Nevadans to Specialty Care
PAHRUMP, Nev. (AP) — Visiting the doctor just got faster, easier and more useful in parts of rural Nevada. That’s because of the Nevada Broadband Telemedicine Initiative, announced Sept. 18 at Desert View Regional Medical Center in Nye County. The $19.6 million federally funded initiative aims to ..
Furukawa Electric to Expand Fiber Optic Cable Production Capacity
Furukawa Electric Company today announced plans to nearly double its 2016 fiber optic manufacturing capacity by 2019 and to also increase its fiber optic cable manufacturing capacity. Between 2014 and 2016, the company increased its global fiber production capacity by 20% and initially planned ..
Florida Senator Asks Telecom Companies to Provide Irma Rebates
(AP) — Florida Sen. Bill Nelson has asked the nation’s largest cable, telephone and internet providers for rebates to Hurricane Irma victims for service interruptions. The Democratic U.S. senator also asked them Thursday for a 60-day moratorium on late fees and other penalties. Nelson wrote to the..
Subsea Cable System Between the US and Brazil Ready for Operations
Seaborn Networks today announced its Seabras-1 subsea cable system is ready for operations. Seaborn’s Seabras-1 is a new 6-fiber pair, 72Tbps submarine cable system that is the first and only direct point-to-point system between São Paulo and New York. Seabras-1 is owned jointly by Seab..
OFS Expands the AccuRibbon® DC Fiber Optic Cable Family
OFS announced it has expanded the AccuRibbon® DC Fiber Optic Cable product family to include fiber counts up to 864. These gel-free ribbon cables will be available in dielectric and metallic/armored versions. Currently, AccuRibbon DC cables are only offered in fiber counts up to 432. OF..
Failed Communications Hampered Response to Wildfires Last Fall
GATLINBURG, Tenn. (AP) — Newly released records show failed communication systems hampered the response to deadly wildfires in Tennessee last fall. Records that Sevier County began to release Wednesday that wind and fire on Nov. 28 combined to disable cell towers, melt fiber-optic cables and di..
Clearfield's Fiber Optic Technology Now Telcordia Certified
Clearfield, Inc. today announced that its fiber termination process used to manufacture Clearfield LC/UPC 900 μm 1.6 mm and 2.0 mm jumpers and fiber assemblies have been tested by an independent test lab compliant to the Telcordia, GR-326-Core requirements. With the Telcordia GR-326 achievement, the..
Better Broadband Coming to 7 Vermont Towns Thanks to Grants
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — People in seven rural Vermont communities will be getting better broadband internet service thanks to a series of grants through Connectivity Initiative distributed by the Department of Public Service. The Connectivity Initiative works to expand high-speed broadband service s..
BICSI Revises, Updates Telecommunications Project Management Program
BICSI, a worldwide association committed to advancing the information and communications technology (ICT) community, has released its newly revised Registered Telecommunications Project Management (RTPM) Program. The role of an effective project manager is crucial to the outcome of any successful p..
CommScope Completes Acquisition of Cable Exchange
CommScope, a global leader in infrastructure solutions for communications networks, has completed its acquisition of Cable Exchange, a privately-held, quick-turn supplier of fiber optic and copper assemblies for data, voice and video communications. Cable Exchange, based in Santa Ana, Calif., manuf..
Amphenol Telect Unveils New Fiber Distribution Chassis
Amphenol Telect has launched the C2LINX 1RU, a high-density fiber distribution chassis with cable management features designed to fit hyper scale networks in a variety of network environments, including enterprise, telecommunications and cable TV. “We’ve developed a panel that hits the high-den..
Ubiquiti Networks Launches Plug and Play Fiber Optic Technology
Ubiquiti Networks, Inc. has launched the UFiber GPON Platform, consisting of the company’s UFiber OLT and the UFiber Nano G Optical Network Unit solutions. The UFiber Platform is designed to enable internet service providers to quickly build high-speed fiber internet networks for many users and ove..
Clearfield Quadruples Manufacturing Capacity in Mexico
Clearfield, Inc. has quadrupled its manufacturing capacity at its Tijuana, Mexico facility. The expansion will enable the company to lower its cost of product manufacturing while ensuring it continues to provide customers short lead times and on-time deliveries. “Our Mexican manufacturing facilitie..
French Cable Station Museum Is Link to the Past
ORLEANS, Mass. (AP) — Lucien Ozon came to Orleans when he was 15, when his father, Clement, moved his wife and seven kids from St. Pierre and Miquelon for a job with a French cable company. The Ozon family represents a pocket of French culture — among about 10 families in town today — that dates fr..
Cable ONE Business Eyes Mississippi for Piranha Fiber Launch
Cable ONE Business has announced it is currently considering Mississippi for its next launch of Piranha Fiber – Ferociously Fast Internet, which offers 2 gigabits per second of symmetrical internet speed. “Piranha Fiber would be the first 2 gigabit shared fiber optic internet service available to b..
Frontier Communications Partners with Coriant to Enhance Broadband Services in Connecticut
Coriant, a supplier of packet optical, IP, and SDN solutions to Tier 1 global service providers and web-scale Internet operators, today announced that Frontier Communications Corporation will deploy the company’s technology to modernize its fiber-optic transport infrastructure across Connecticut. Th..
Registration Opens for Contractors' Fiber Forum
Clearfield, Inc. today announced registration is open for the Contractors’ Fiber Forum, which will take place at ISE Expo 2017. As part of the forum, leading contractors, engineers and consultants will convene at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida on September 12 to examine the ..
Utility & Communications Construction Business Update
By Daniel Shumate Director, FMI Capital Advisors Inc. EDITOR’S NOTE: The past 25 years have seen many changes in the underground utilities universe. Technology advances, regulatory activity and environmental requirements have dictated major alterations in the way companies are managed. Rating as on..
Fiber-Optic Cable Cuts Affect Mediacom Customers in 3 States
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Thousands of Mediacom internet and television customers have experienced service interruptions in Georgia, Illinois and Missouri after a pair of large fiber-optic cables were accidentally cut. Mediacom Communications spokeswoman Phyllis Peters says a mower for a road crew..
Fluke Networks' LinkWare™ Live Reaches Industry Milestone
Fluke Networks today announced that its cloud-based LinkWare Live service has reached a significant milestone – contractors and cable installers have uploaded more than five million test results to date. “In developing LinkWare Live, we looked closely at the daily challenges that installers were fa..
- Intrepid Fiber breaks ground on fiber optic network in Superior, Colo.
- Excavator collides with I-95 overpass in Henrico, Va., causing multi-vehicle crash
- Shrewsbury, Mass., expands sewer inspections and cleaning efforts
- Authorities investigating trench collapse that killed worker in Ashburn, Va.
- Katy, Texas passes moratorium on fiber-optics projects after damage to water lines
- Maryland lawmakers push to curb BGE pipeline spending, citing safety and cost concerns
- Illinois overhauls Peoples Gas pipeline program, mandates focus on high-risk pipes
- Ameren Illinois to invest $140 million in natural gas pipeline replacement program
- Charlottesville, Va., to begin work on 24-inch water line for Rivanna River crossing
- Mass. governor slams Trump for ‘dangerous delay’ of $50 million in lead pipe replacement funds