Company plans fiber-optics expansion in Floyd

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com 

A broadband fiber optics project scheduled for the city of Floyd this summer will increase entertainment and communications options for the community and provide new business opportunities, according to the company behind the project.

OmniTel Communications announced this week that it plans to install a fiber-to-the-home system to all the residences and businesses in Floyd.

Gary Schotanus, director of sales and service for OmniTel, said all the property owners in Floyd will be contacted in the coming weeks about having a service drop installed.

Even those people who do not subscribe to OmniTel services will be encouraged to allow a service drop to be installed.

“They might decide to get services later, or it’s an added value if they ever sell their home,” he said. “It’s easier for us if we do as much of it as possible when we’re installing the network.”

The new network will offer “super high-speed” internet service, with speeds up to 1 gigabit per second, Schotanus said. That’s roughly eight times faster than the 120-megabit-per-second service that is available in Floyd now.

The network will also allow OmniTel to expand its television service in the community, offering more digital channels and more high definition channels. Digital telephone service will also be available to all the homes and businesses.

“It’s a great opportunity,” Schotanus said. “They’re going to have the latest and greatest technology.”

He said access to a fiber optic network allows rural areas to compete with the rest of the world and should increase business opportunities in northern Iowa.

OmniTel offers service in Floyd, Rudd, Rockford, Marble Rock, Nora Springs, Greene, Plymouth, Rock Falls, St. Ansgar, Stacyville, Riceville and other communities, Schotanus said.

Some of those towns and some rural areas have been upgraded to fiber already, and OmniTel has a 10-year plan to get all its service areas upgraded to fiber-to-the-home, Schotanus said, although he cautioned that unforeseen circumstances, including government regulations, could have an impact on that plan.

Ron Laudner, the CEO of OmniTel Communications, said in a news release that the planned Floyd fiber-to-the-home network will replace aging infrastructure in the town with a state-of-the-art system.

“It’s part of OmniTel’s commitment to bring next-generation communications technology to all of our customers and the communities we serve,” Laudner said. “Because of its capacity for virtually unlimited bandwidth, this investment ‘future proofs’ our network for services that will become available in the future.”