Work began last week in Lutsen to bring broadband Internet service to Cook County. Workers from MasTec North America will take about two years to complete the groundwork and lay the fiber optic cable. Here they unspool fiber optic cable and get it ready to bury in the trenches they have already dug.
The underground construction for the Arrowhead Electric Cooperative Inc. (AECI) broadband project began on Tuesday, August 2, 2011.
Darrin Peterson, operations manager for MasTec North America, Inc. is in charge of about a dozen workers and he said the job would take about two years to complete. His crews started digging about three miles up the Caribou Trail where the pavement ends. One crew is headed west and the other crew is headed south, said Peterson.
On June 9, AECI ordered 85 miles of fiber optic cable and the company is prepared to purchase an additional 90 miles if needed for 2011.
Arrowhead Electric is partnering with Pulse Broadband on this project. Pulse, which has a long history of working in the industry, is providing the engineering.
Also in the mix is Northeast Service Cooperative (NESC). NESC also received a grant to install fiber optic line along the length of Highway 61 from Schroeder to Grand Portage. This grant is intended to provide broadband services to larger institutions like the hospital, school(s) and court house, but both AECI and NESC will potentially partner to help reduce construction costs and work together to provide the best services to Cook County residents.
The first areas to receive cable will be Lutsen, Tofte and Schroeder. So far 1,400 residents have sent in pre-registration forms that will allow them to get on a priority list when construction reaches their area.
In addition to the pre-registration, property owners in the West End received a postage-paid reply card that will give AECI permission to put in the fiber optic cable between the house and the electric meter. To date 1,475 cards have been sent back to Arrowhead Electric. This doesn’t mean the residents will have to sign up for services, but it will allow them to receive services if they decide to purchase them in the future without having the company come back and perform a physical hook-up.
“I am shocked at the overwhelming positive response we have received so far,” said Arrowhead Director of Member Services Joe Buttweiler.
According to the AECI website, “AECI is building a fiberto the-home network capable of delivering high speed broadband service, VoIP telephony, distance learning, tele-medicine, smart grid energy solutions and other advanced broadband applications to the residents of Cook County.”
The first area of construction slated for completion will be between the Caribou Trail and the AECI office. Once that short section is done, workers will begin heading to the Lake/ Cook county line.
Initially customers will receive Internet and telephone service while television service is still being evaluated. Phone packages and Internet packages still haven’t been finalized and prices for individual and bundled services still haven’t been set. And AECI is still looking at establishing prices for service for residential and commercial accounts.
While it is unknown when customers will receive services, the best guess is that the first customers will be switched on at the end of 2011.
According to Buttweiler, AECI will be responsible for repair and maintenance of fiber lines.
AECI director Jeanne Muntean said one of the main objectives of this service is to, “provide economic growth to the county.”
Plus, she said, “People are really excited about getting these services. We are receiving a lot of positive feedback. Preregistration cards and property hook-up cards keep coming in every day. It’s amazing to see.”
Currently anyone living “off-grid” is not included in the grant/loan broadband project, but Muntean said those property owners who want services would be considered for future expansion.
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