Valley’s telecommunications soon to receive enhancement
Cache Valley’s telecommunications will receive needed enhancement under the proposed Cache Valley Initiative (CVI).
The Cache Chamber of Commerce sponsored the CVI last year to provide improvements in the areas of transportation corridors, telecommunications and the Logan Regional Airport, according to a brochure from the chamber.
The need to improve telecommunications in the valley was highlighted two years ago when a backhoe operator dug through the fiber optic line leading into the valley, cutting off the long distance communications for the valley, said Paul Campbell, telecommunications co-chair for the CVI. Creating another line has since become a major priority for local businesses that do long distance business and online business, as well as the long distance consumer, he said.
Redundancy is one of two issues Campbell addressed regarding telecommunication expansion in the valley.
“In the event of a line getting cut like that, to be able to fall over to a redundant line for continuation of service [would be important],” Campbell said.
James Derry, professor of mass communications at USU, compared adding telecommunications to the valley today like building a power plant in California two years ago. Did they need the power then? No. Do they need it today? Yes, he said.
“Redundancy is always good,” Derry said.
Derry said the telecommunications expansion in the valley is not only about redundancy, but also being able to handle any telecommunications needs in the future.
The second issue is what Campbell calls “last-mile bandwidth.” Last-mile bandwidth is bringing technology into people’s homes and the surrounding communities in the valley.
“I’m finding that there is an issue there in terms of what you get with an Internet connection, particularly if you are outside the Logan area, ” Campbell said.
Within the city limits, high-speed Internet access is available. In outlying areas, bandwidth or capacity is limited, Campbell said.
“It’s pretty limited geographically in the valley. And individuals and business from about Hyde Park north to south of Nibley is much more limited,” Campbell said. “Can better service be extended to some of these outlying areas in the valley to improve their access at a reasonable bandwidth?”
Barb Shelley of AT&T addressed the problem of bringing better telecommunications into the outlying areas of Cache Valley. For AT&T, upgrading telecommunications in the outlying valley is simply a matter of time and money.
“Utahns embrace computer usage and the Internet, and it just takes time,” Shelley said.
Shelley explained that AT&T has spent more than $250 million upgrading telecommunications along Wasatch Front. She said getting out to the more remote areas is expensive. People eagerly await the high speed data service in the greater Cache Valley area, she said.
The CVI is raising $1.3 million from local businesses and individuals to fund improvements. Campbell said he is optimistic about raising the full amount of money. He said that to this point, pledges from around the valley have almost reached $1 million.
“We want to be just like the Wasatch Front in terms of telecommunications access,” Campbell said. “With a redundant feed and improving some of these outlying areas, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to have as good telecommunications access as the Wasatch Front. That’s where we’d like to be.”