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Faster Internet on the way to Greater Trail

The Columbia Basin Broadband Corporation looks to expand broadband.

The City of Trail is quickly stepping toward a future of faster and higher quality internet service.

The Columbia Basin Broadband Corporation (CBBC) request for proposal from fibre optic network contractors closed on Monday.

Duane Birnie, information system coordinator for the City of Trail, said that following the RFP, a construction schedule will be defined within the next three months.

“The project is another step in the City of Trail’s ongoing efforts to enable next generation communications,” said Birnie.

“By establishing high speed broadband capacity via fibre optics, the city is providing business opportunities that otherwise would not exist in a rural area.”

Birnie explained that the construction project will involve getting fibre in front of businesses so that they can access services.

To date, the fibre optic the city owns is designed to transport information across the city.

“This build is the distribution fibre that will connect the buildings in the downtown area,” said Birnie.

The project was initially approved in 2012, but deferred due to delays in securing permits to use pole mounts for some of the fibre installation.

The CBBC will oversee the installation as well as enhancements to the West Kootenay network as part of the project, said Birnie.

Once completed, there will be additional connector locations for end users throughout the downtown.

“This will enable further provisioning of enhanced internet service to private users throughout the CBBC and the city at a reduced cost,” he said.

What this means for the city is faster and higher quality internet service; and a greater capacity to send complicated and detailed information, said Mayor Dieter Bogs.

“E-commuting is becoming a bigger thing and something we want to foster,” said Coun. Sean Mackinlay.

“Theoretically, new fibre optics will support working from home, by providing improved internet service.”

The city’s cost for the project is $145,000, which includes a grant from the southern interior development trust.

The CBBC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Columbia Basin Trust, formed in 2011, in an effort to expand broadband in the basin.

An optical fibre is a flexible, transparent fibre made of glass or plastic, slightly thicker than a human hair.

Optical fibres permit transmission over longer distances and at higher bandwidths (data rates) than other forms of communication.

The field of science concerned with the design and application of optical fibres is known as fiber optics.



Sheri Regnier

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