Poplar Bluff is heading to the future. Circle Fiber’s installation of fiber optic internet is underway, and once completed the network will supply 13,000 business and residential premises with the highest possible internet speed, according to company officials.
“It’s kind of a big deal Poplar Bluff is (becoming) a gigabyte community,” said Eric Arnold, Circle Fiber’s general manager of the Poplar Bluff region.
According to Circle Fiber’s website, traditional internet service uses copper cables, which have limited bandwidth. Arnolds noted copper is alsosubject to interference from other devices.
Fiber optic cable is made of glass the width of a human hair and transmits particles of light instead of electrical signals. This allows for greater speeds and bandwidth, Arnold explained. Circle Fiber will be offering plans for 300 megabytes, 500 megabytes and 1 gigabit of bandwidth.
“The biggest thing about fiber that makes it so attractive is, it’s synchronous. Your upload and download are the same,” he said.
Copper-based networks cannot upload and download simultaneously, and he noted their uploading capabilities are usually somewhat less than downloading.
In total, around 200 miles of fiber optic cable will run across Poplar Bluff. The cables will be connected to houses and businesses using in-ground or aerial cables, depending on the neighborhood.
“It’s a big project,” Arnold said.
Slight delays set the project back from its original timeline, but marketing and communications director Allison Brune-Evans commended Circle Fiber's partners for their forward-thinking and prevention of the severe supply delays other large projects have seen. Arnold said contractors SDT Communications and Ervin Cabling “hit the ground running” on installation and he estimates the entire project will be complete in about five months. Circle Fiber will begin selling zone by zone as new areas are completed, so the first fiber optic internet could be available as early as mid-May.
“It’s coming together very quickly and it’ll be great for Poplar Bluff,” Arnold said.
The company will also create about 15 jobs once their retail center opens.
Circle Fiber intends to keep expanding across Southeast Missouri. The company is already installing in Jackson and plans to wire Cape Girardeau next, then build out into other communities from there.
“Fiber is the future,” Arnold said.