The work to bring fiber optic broadband Internet to homes and businesses throughout the county began this week. Arrowhead Electric Cooperative Inc.’s fiber to the home (FTTH) project began October 19 as Pulse Broadband workers started assessing AECI’s power lines on the north and south ends of the Gunflint Trail in Grand Marais.
Arrowhead’s Joe Buttweiler said workers will be measuring utility clearances and collecting GPS data about the lines. The Pulse Broadband workers are driving vehicles with AECI identification.
Buttweiler said that Pulse Broadband decided to begin its assessment on the Gunflint Trail as that area has the most hard-to-reach power poles. “They started there to try to get that done before snow falls,” said Buttweiler in a phone interview on Wednesday, October 20.
Buttweiler said the goal is to assess the entire AECI system by Thanksgiving. “Theydo one circuit at a time. Right now they are working on the five circuits out of our Maple Hill substation.”
Buttweiler said that even though the assessment began on the Gunflint Trail, it does not mean that construction of the FTTH will start there. That is yet to be determined.
Although AECI has yet to receive its grant and loan funding from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Recovery Act Broadband Infrastructure Program (BIP), Buttweiler said the work has begun because it is important to complete the assessment before there is too much snow as the terrain needs to be taken into consideration as engineering and design work begins. It is hoped that design work can be completed over the winter so actual installation of fiber can begin in the spring.
Once the engineering is done, AECI, with the assistance of Pulse Broadband, will issue a request for proposal for the FTTH project. Buttweiler said it is likely that work will start on AECI overhead lines first, since snow and/or road bans could delay underground line installation. The entire project calls for 600 miles of fiber to be installed within the next three years.
AECI members with questions or concerns about the FTTH project are encouraged to contact Buttweiler at (218) 663-7239.
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