BPU General Manager, Kris Sellstrom, gives city council an update on the broadband fiber network installation. P-J photo by Sara Holthouse

The Board of Public Utilities’ work on building a broadband fiber network in the city is continuing forward, and the Jamestown city council received an update on the work that has been done and what is still to come during Monday’s work session.

General Manager Kris Sellstrom discussed the work with the council, saying door tags will be hung around the community for service drops. Sellstrom also brought along a “show and tell” including boxes that will be placed on the poles outside people’s houses and cables that go with them, all to be set after the door tags go out. The boxes and installations begin about two weeks after someone receives a door tag.

“We’re making really good progress on the project,” Sellstrom said. “We’ve got the majority of the aerial fiber done. Of the 173 miles of fiber that need to be hung over 153 miles of it are complete, so we’re cruising along.”

Sellstrom presented one single strand of the fiber to the council, showing what those look like and saying that one cable has 144 strands inside. The fiber has a ton of data capacity, allowing the BPU’s service to operate at two gigabytes per second.

Besides the aerial work, drop installers are also being scheduled to come out, and Sellstrom added that if someone, including a business, does not want the service, there is a QR code on the back of the flyer, allowing for opt-outs.

“We’re recommending that nobody does that because right now we have the funding to do all of this work,” Sellstrom said. “We’re hoping people will take the service. They don’t actually have to do anything to get this, they just have to not opt-out. Then they get all of this infrastructure, and one of these packages is around $300 each, plus labor to get it installed so it’s a really good time to get it done and paid for and get it on your house or business.”

The BPU is also able to do more than originally planned, with only about 5,000 drops planned at first. In total, they will be doing 14,000 drops.

Downtown design is still being worked on to minimize the amount of digging that needs done, and places in neighborhoods where there are no poles on the street will have the install happening underground. Sellstrom explained how that will work, and also went over splicing and the color codes of the fiber strands in each cable bundle, something that he added is still on the way and is one of the big hurdles left to do. The splicing also needs to be done before the drops, though some areas are set and ready to go.

A question and answer section is on the website, and Sellstrom asked that the council let them know any questions they may hear because not all questions make it on the website. He noted they are also very happy with their contractors, and that they are at the point now where people will start getting service soon.

Some early adapters and testers have the service already, and so far Ellen Ditonto with the BPU said they have received positive comments overall, including about speed and the cost. It was noted that the cost is cheaper than a lot of other internet providers, and there will be 90 days of free service available.

“So customers when they get those door tags can sign up for service if they want,” Sellstrom said. “Otherwise they don’t really have to do anything at all. They will get the drop installed and if sometime in the future they do want service, all they have to do is sign up on the website to get a home install.”