Internet is about to get faster in the Piedmont – a lot faster.
Google continues to make headlines by offering ultra-high-speed Internet service that shows the world what’s technically possible in residential broadband connectivity. Bypassing the local cable and phone companies, Google has spent months and an unknown amount of money pulling its own optical fiber through a two-state Kansas City region.
RST Global Communications (RST) in Shelby is trying to exceed that offering here in North Carolina.
RST announced last week that it has completed the first phase of its Real Fiber Network that includes backbone, middle and last-mile installations through a completely underground fiber-optic network. Businesses and consumers in North Carolina will be able to connect to the Internet with speeds up to 10G per second, more than 100 times faster than the average service offered by competing companies currently operating in the Piedmont region of the state.
RST Chief Technology Officer Randy Revels has worked in the industry for more than 25 years and talked about the impact this kind of network will have in the state.
“While the major cable and telecommunications companies are continuously upgrading their infrastructure, their claim of fiber-optic capabilities is misleading,” he said in a prepared statement. “Often the middle or last-mile segments are dramatically slower speed copper or coaxial cable; it’s not end-to-end.
“The cost to update these outdated legacy systems is astronomical,” he continued. “RST’s advantage is that we are not burdened with an outdated infrastructure and can deliver an all-fiber network that’s 100 percent underground, which means maintenance requirements and outages are significantly reduced.”
Unique to the industry, RST’s “core-out” network is comparable to Google Fiber but takes it one step further.
Unlike the Google infrastructure, RST’s Real Fiber Network is installed entirely underground at an average depth of 10 feet ensuring maximum security, reliability and weather protection.
The network currently serves the growing Piedmont region that includes Charlotte, west Mecklenburg, Gaston, Cleveland, and Rutherford counties.
The Real Fiber Network also provides broadband connectivity to serve the booming data center growth taking place in the Piedmont region, including global technology leaders like AT&T, Wipro, Google, Apple, Facebook, The Walt Disney Company, and others. With speed and reliability, RST’s network positions the region well as a prime destination for economic development, education, and ongoing technology opportunities.
“There’s simply an insatiable appetite from all types of businesses, content suppliers and consumers for increased high-speed and bandwidth capacity,” said Dan Limerick, RST’s CEO. “The evolution to all fiber networks is the perfect platform for content and digital transmission going forward. Moreover, ever evolving cloud computing requires superhighway transport pathways from the source to the consumer which is only possible on this type of network.”
MCNC Efforts
RTP-based non-profit MCNC also is expanding broadband to rural areas all over the state right now and saw an opportunity with RST to acquire dark fiber through an Indefeasible Right to Use (IRU), which is generally a 20-year ownership of the fibers in the owners’ cable sheath that helps to reduce upfront cost in order to get into a specific market quickly.
In MCNC’s case, the organization obtained fibers through the first phase of the Golden LEAF Rural Broadband Initiative (GLRBI) in order to provide service at Cleveland Community College and Gardner-Webb University. According to a GLRBI project manager, this was a “win-win” for both parties in that MCNC was able to obtain lower cost fibers instead of building and installing new ones, and RST will be able to generate revenue quickly off their network investment.
RST’s next phase to expand its footprint has begun and will offer broadband services to thousands of homes and businesses served by RST’s existing routes. Future expansion includes all-fiber installations throughout the I-85 corridor through North Carolina and South Carolina, which encompasses more than three million potential customers.
The company said it also is exploring partnerships to launch an LTE wireless service during 2013.
