It was made public last spring that the Town of Ponoka was partnering with Telus to improve services with fiber optics and members of the Ponoka and District Chamber of Commerce heard first hand on Tuesday Nov. 25 from a Telus representative how they can actually benefit from the improvements.
The cables have already been installed in some areas of Ponoka and completion of the project is slated for next summer. “We’re really just getting started in Ponoka, it’s going to be constructed in a staggered fashion,” said marketing project manager Larry Vanderveen.
In the past, companies such as Telus have used copper wiring but the technology has reached its limit in comparison to the new demand created by the technological advance.
“The technology of copper wiring has been an incredible piece of wizardry for us,” said Vanderveen.
As data transfers became larger and larger, compression would have to occur to efficiently transfer it through the wires. “We’re reaching the end of that compression story, we can’t cram much more down that line,” said Vanderveen.
Fiber optics will allow larger amounts of data to flow at higher speeds without signal degradation due to resistance from the copper metal.
The faster technology will feed into the Information Age by allowing businesses to manipulate more data at higher speeds. “We want everything faster, we want it in high definition and we want it yesterday,” said Vanderveen.
In the long run, fiber optics will be more cost effective than trying to fit already installed copper wiring into everyday needs because the optic technology is a one-time build with a greater capacity to stretch.
Businesses will directly benefit from the speed as well as reliability in their Internet connection.
“It’s kind of a game changer for a municipality of this size, because you’ll be able to hit above you weight,” Vanderveen explained. With the new technology, Ponoka’s connection would rival those found in cities such as Calgary or Edmonton.