Nick McWilliams reporting – Fiber start-up company Omni Fiber will be traveling to the other side of the Tuscarawas River to begin construction in New Philadelphia.
The company, which recently completed a 100-percent rollout of services in Dover, is currently building north in Fremont and Tiffin, and will now also start construction in July for New Phila.
Director of Business Development Bryant McAfee told council members that the project is fully privately funded, and that once work is complete, the infrastructure footprint in the city will be minimal.
“You won’t see pedestals in neighborhoods with our network. Not everything requires electricity. There will be one active cabinet in your community that we will build, just like we did in Dover. And that’s all the electricity that’s needed with that one location, because it’s through the speed of light over glass.”
He added that cities like New Phila are not eligible for federal broadband funding due to broadband service by cable already being in place, but no tax dollars will be used since the company has already been backed from other sources.
Mayor Joel Day said that McAfee was invited to speak about the construction process after some snags the city has hit during other fiber installation processes.
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