Underground Construction - December 2022 - 20

FIBER
Strategic Partnership Brings Affordable,
Reliable Fiber to Rural Communities
According to a 2021 study from
BroadbandNow, at least 42 million
Americans do not have access to broadband
internet.
Access to affordable and reliable
broadband in the 21st century is largely
considered a critical infrastructure necessity,
just like transportation, electricity
and water. Extending broadband to rural
America is crucial for nurturing robust
economic growth, enriching educational
opportunities, expanding access to health
care through telemedicine, improving
public services and safety, and increasing
civic engagement.
The need for fiber connectivity in
rural America was only exacerbated by
the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly every
element of day-to-day life turned virtual.
Those without access to reliable internet
have been left out since March 2020. But
how do communities make the jump to
fiber, when coaxial cable internet connections
from the 1990s and 2 megabits-per-second
download speeds are
often the only option available?
Quality tech to all
Most major telecom providers overlook
rural parts of the United States where
there are not enough people to sustain
a robust network. These providers don't
want to risk cutting their margins by making
investments in smaller communities.
This means that for the roughly 60
million people - or one in five Americans
- living in rural America, there is generally
only one, if any, internet provider option.
In fact, BroadbandNow released an
interactive National Broadband Map that
shows the disparities in access to broadband
providers between rural and urban
communities across the United States.
This gap is where Bluepeak comes
in. Bluepeak is a cable internet provider
with a plan to bring fast, reliable internet
access to rural America. The company
offers top-tier technology, so customers
in small to mid-size communities have
competitive provider options.
" The size of the community shouldn't
determine the quality of the technology, "
said Jesse Granger, director of communications
at Bluepeak.
Community members, Bluepeak and Mears
personnel, all gathered for a momentous
groundbreaking ceremony that brought fiber
to the rural community of Perry, Okla.
20 DECEMBER 2022 | UCONonline.com
Several members of the Bluepeak
executive team grew up in rural communities
yet spent their careers building
fiber networks across urban areas of
the United States, and even the world.
With the gap COVID-19 created, now
felt like the perfect time to go into small
communities and bring fiber to those
who need it most.
" There are a lot of underserved communities
in Oklahoma. It's antiquated
technology. A lot of people had been
promised the moon, " explained Joel
Deason, director of construction and engineering
at Bluepeak, as he illustrated
the impetus of the company's decision to
build its fiber network in rural America.
Over the course of 2022, Bluepeak
has been working to launch fiber in
nearly 20 markets across Oklahoma
alone. The first was Perry, Okla.
Desi Stoops, vice president of market
development at Bluepeak and a Perry native,
said the team looked throughout the
state and realized there were anchor markets
- or centralized places from which
the service provider could reach multiple
markets - that weren't connected to
Oklahoma City and Tulsa, two of which
being Stillwater and Enid. Perry happens
to fall right between those two, making it
an ideal location for such a fiber project.
Cultivating community partners
With the decision made to bring fiber to
rural America, Bluepeak needed a strategic
construction contractor to make this
vision a reality.
Rather than solely focusing on installation
speed, Bluepeak knew a project
of this size and magnitude needed a collaborator
who would truly be a partner
to these tight-knit communities. With
this at the top of mind, Bluepeak select
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Underground Construction - December 2022

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