Frontier announces fiber optics project
by Brent Shrum, Kootenai Valley Record
April 24, 2008
Libby’s telecommunications pipeline will be getting a huge boost this summer through a $1.2 million fiber optics project being planned by Frontier.
The firm hopes to complete a fiber optics link between Libby and Troy by late August, said Jason Moothart, local manager for Frontier. Troy is already connected to the outside world via fiber optics, so once the link between Libby and Troy is complete, Libby will be connected as well.
“As far as bandwidth, the sky is the limit, really,” Moothart said.
The 10-gigabyte pipe terminating at Frontier’s Libby office will give the Kootenai the same connectivity as Kalispell or Missoula, Moothart said. The new connection will take the place of a microwave system currently used to transmit data from Libby.
“Everybody’s going to be on that fiber, so no one will be on that radio anymore,” Moothart said.
Once the new system is up and running, customers can expect significantly more bandwidth for the same price they are currently paying for DSL service, Moothart said.
“We’ll be completely capable of providing anything that anybody in the country could provide here,” he said.
Moothart called the undertaking “a massive investment in the community.” The project has been in the discussion stages for about five years, he said, but didn’t really start to take off until last fall.
“Demand drives the business, and demand has hit the critical mass for us,” he said.
Frontier is currently adding 70 to 90 new customers a month, and its ability to provide DSL service to customers is nearing 100 percent, Moothart said.
Frontier’s plans prove the worth of a $300,000 study commissioned by a local group in 2004 with financing from the city of Libby’s $8 million federal economic development grant, said Kootenai River Development Council director Paul Rumelhart. While the study laid the groundwork for a locally owned communications network that was never built, it also demonstrated the demand for and feasibility of the project, Rumelhart said.
“To me, this is the culmination of that effort that paid a huge dividend,” he said.
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Editor’s Note: See the April 21, 2008 edition of the Kootenai Valley Record for the printed version of this story. The Kootenai Valley Record publishes once a week, on Monday, in Libby, Montana. They are a locally owned community newspaper, located at 403 Mineral Avenue in Libby. For in-county and out-of-county subscription information, call 406-293-2424, or e-mail kvrecord@gmail.com.
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