By Kate Klimesh,
R&S Fiber Optics Services’ Adam Ramseth presented a report to the Board of Supervisors Monday, Sept. 25, on fiber optics installations happening in Winneshiek County, due to State and Federal grants to help provide reliable internet service to all of Iowa.
Ramseth noted many projects were in play for the next year’s construction cycle, laying and installing fiber optics cable and services to northwest Winneshiek County not covered by Mabeltel, to the east of Highway 52, and north of Decorah, to bookend the projects on the northwest and East. This should help fill in holes in internet service availability, but not completely eliminate them for some residents.
With the grants covering up to 70 percent of the cost of installation, the service providers were expanding their markets into areas that would not have been possible due to the limited number of customers there.
Ramseth added, “There may be someone stopping by wanting you to sign you up for their service,” from companies MiBroadband and AcenTek, which are currently performing the installation of fiber, “when you sign up now, you aren’t expected to pay for installation to your home due to the grants they are working through, so the fiber will be brought to your house at no cost to you. You don’t have to take their service to say yes to having them install fiber to your home if you don’t already have fiber access.”
To see the areas that are eligible for future fiber installation, funding and/or grants, visit ocio.iowa.gov/broadband-availability-map-version-5.
It was noted that Hawkeye Telephone would be building up the fiber optic network in and near Calmar next year.
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