Residents in the village of Millbrook have seen the Nexicom and R-Line trucks and technicians working in the area over the last few months. These are reminders that work on the installation of the new fibre optic internet network continues and is now well underway. The new network will replace the decades-old copper infrastructure with new, reliable connections that provide dependable connections offering dramatically faster data transfer. As more of us are working and studying from home, fast, reliable internet service has become more critical.
By the end of June, the firm expects to have successfully completed 95% of phase 1 of their fibre overbuild in the village of Millbrook. This Phase 1 involves laying the groundwork for the establishment of the backbone process, and requires locating all applicable hydro electrical and gas lines currently underground and tunneling of the fibre optic cable network, which will be buried roughly eight to twelve inches underground.
As the backbone construction phase winds down, the next phase of the project, called the “home drop”, has already begun. The home drop involves the physical connection of new fibre optic cable from the backbone network on each road to a newly installed Network Interface Device (NID) that is attached to the exterior of each home. This 4” x 4’”grey box will be affixed to the entry point on each home.
Once the full implementation of these phases is complete, the fibre lines will be connected together to form the complete backbone network. These lines will then be tested to ensure the splicing work has been effective and all lines are properly connected and sending a clear signal. At this point, Nexicom will be ready to contact each customer within the mew network to begin the installation of the fibre inside their home to enable access to the new network.
Once interior installation is completed, Nexicom customers will then be able to make the change from their current DSL connection to the new true fibre connection. Given the uncertainty of the COVID-19 virus and the government’s mandate for social distancing, Nexicom cannot provide an exact timeframe at this time. However, with field technicians working seven days a week, they expect by the end of August to have connected 50% of residents in the new fibre service area to be connected.
The new service will offer bandwidths with data download capacities from 15 to 1000 megabytes per second (mbps). For the uninitiated, bandwidth describes the maximum data transfer rate of a network or Internet connection. It measures how much data can be sent over a specific connection in a given amount of time. Current DSL capacity runs from 5 mbps to 50 mbps for downloading and 10 mbps for uploading. As a reference point, the popular Netflix streaming service requires a download capacity of 5 mbps to watch content in high definition. Other applications that use significant bandwidth capacity are on-line gaming, music streaming, social media sites like Facebook and video conferencing tools such as Skype and Zoom.
Demand for these tools has grown significantly during the pandemic as we find ways to use technology to replace activities that we used to perform in person. Even as restrictions ease, the popularity of some of the methods of remote communication we have come to rely on will continue, and for post-secondary students, bandwidth will be a prerequisite to access their courses. For them, a fall arrival of this new network dovetails perfectly with their timetable.
To determine whether or not your home falls within the new fibre overbuild catchment area visit Nexicom’s website at www.nexicom.net where you will find a map as well as a complete list of addresses located within the expansion area that will have access to Nexicom’s new fibre optic services. KG
