Major fiber optic project underway in Bluford
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Sentinel Photo/TRAVIS MORSE
INSTALLING FIBER – CAT 5 Construction Service, on behalf of Charter Spectrum, is installing roughly 19 miles of fiber optic cable in and around the Village of Bluford. The project started about two weeks ago, and construction officials would like to be able to turn on some of the homes by the New Year. Pictured are CAT 5 workers Marlon Jimenez, CENTER RIGHT, and Isaiah Alvarado.
Village officials are excited about the new initiative
By TRAVIS MORSE
Sentinel Photo/TRAVIS MORSE
LARGE PROJECT – A major, large-scale fiber optic installation project is underway in the Village of Bluford, which should give residents access to high-speed internet and high-speed data for TV and cell phone service.
Sentinel File Photo
FRANCHISE AGREEMENT – The Village of Bluford signed a franchise agreement with Charter Spectrum in April, to bring fiber optic cable services into the village for residential use. Pictured, FROM LEFT, are Village President Michael Bullard and Charter Communications Director of State Government Affairs LeeAnn Herrera.
BLUFORD — A major, large-scale fiber optic installation project is underway in the Village of Bluford, which should give residents access to high-speed internet and high-speed data for TV and cell phone service.
CAT 5 Construction Service, on behalf of Charter Spectrum, is installing roughly 19 miles of fiber optic cable in and around the village. The project started about two weeks ago, and construction officials would like to be able to turn on some of the homes by the new year, said Carlos Trevino, construction coordinator for CAT 5.
“I think it’s going as planned,” Trevino said Monday of the project. “Our first section should be almost done. We’ve got it set up in four phases. The largest phase is being done now, and it will service about 85 homes in the section we’re working on now.”
One of the biggest hurdles facing the project is getting permits from railroad companies to install the fiber near three railroad crossings in town. It can take time to secure these permits, Trevino said.
“We’re going to be up against the railroad permits,” Trevino said. “I’m thinking by the new year, we should be able to turn on some of the homes, maybe a quarter or a third of them.”
Bluford Village President Michael Bullard said that there is a lot of excitement from village residents about this project.
“It’ll provide high-speed internet, high-speed data for internet, TV and telephone depending on what the resident wants,” Bullard said. “It would be high speed throughout the village. What they’re installing actually extends outside of the village quite a ways. All together, they’re going to be installing about 19 miles of fiber optic cable.”
The installation involves boring underground and pulling the fiber optic cable through the holes that are bored. In some places, where there are existing power poles, workers can hang the fiber optic cable on the poles instead of having to bore in the ground, which makes the installation easier and less expensive in those cases, Bullard said.
“Because they don’t have to get utilities located and work around that when they’re boring,” Bullard said, adding that CAT 5 has been very careful about not hitting utilities so far in the project. “In our experience, they are very conscientious in how they’re doing their boring.”
Trevino said that he has also heard from village residents that they are excited about the fiber optic project and the high-speed internet that it can provide. In some cases, residents may be able to work from home when they couldn’t before, because of the improved technology.
“They’re going from antiquated to creme de la creme,” Trevino said of the village’s service.
Bullard said that he personally is looking forward to finally being able to watch Cardinals baseball. Currently, he has dish satellite service, but they do not cover the Cardinals games.
Bullard added that high-speed internet will make Bluford a more appealing place for people looking for somewhere to move.
“I stay in contact with area realtors,” Bullard said. “I do that to basically learn about when people look for a place to move to, what they are interested in. I use that (to help develop) our goals for how we pursue growth in the village. When someone looks at a piece of property to build on or live in, one of the first things they ask the realtor is how fast is the internet. Especially if they have kids.”
Bullard said that he has been working on getting the fiber optic technology in the village for about four years. But then several months ago, Charter Spectrum came to him and said that they would like to install fiber in the village. The village then signed a franchise agreement with Charter Spectrum in April to let them install the fiber.
The main focus of the franchise agreement is to provide high-speed fiber that will have a tiered billing method, based on the resident’s need for internet, television, special programming and telephone services. This is primarily for residents within the village limits, Sentinel archives state.
For more information on this project, contact the Village of Bluford.
Sentinel Photo/TRAVIS MORSE
VILLAGE IMPROVEMENTS – Workers are in the midst of a major fiber optic project in the Village of Bluford.
