Velocity Telephone of the Twin Cities says it became the nation’s first Metro Ring Fiber to the Home/Business (FTTX) network provider after breaking ground on the Eagan Community Fiber Network Monday.
“Only optical fiber offers high-speed, high-quality, high-capacity bandwidth to accommodate today’s technology needs and the needs we envision for the future,” said Jim Hickle, president of Velocity. “As an innovator in telecommunications and Internet Protocol services, we are proud to be the first provider in the country to establish a community-wide Metro Ring fiber network that is sure to improve the quality of life for residents and businesses throughout the city of Eagan.”
While millions of American homes and businesses currently benefit from direct optical fiber connections, Hickle says the Eagan Community Fiber Network will be the first Metro Ring fiber network in the country. With a Metro Ring, individual fiber lines will connect homes and businesses to form interconnected circular networks throughout the city. Such redundant construction significantly reduces deployment costs, increases the reliability of the network, and minimizes repair costs, said the company.
“High-speed Internet is essential in today’s fast-paced, media-heavy world, which is why high-speed Internet access for all Eagan residents and businesses is among the City Council’s top priorities,” said Eagan Mayor Mike Maguire. “We’re very excited that Velocity chose Eagan as the first community to extend this fiber-optic offering to and that Velocity is the first telecommunications provider to capitalize on making this competitive step forward in our community.”
FTTX relies on optical fiber – a hair-thin strand of glass specially designed to transmit light pulses – rather than traditional copper telephone wires or coaxial cable to carry and deliver a communications signal. Fiber is unique and growing in popularity because it is the only type of cable able to carry increasingly higher bandwidth signals over long distances without signal degradation. Upon completion, Velocity’s Eagan Community Fiber Network will have the ability to connect every home and business within Eagan’s 34.5 square miles with speeds of up to 1,000 megabits per second (Mbps) — 10 times faster than anything available on the market today.
