By Gary Dickson garydickson@siouxlandobserver.com

Dakota Dunes drivers heading off to work Tuesday morning may have noticed groups of workers in florescent green vests digging holes and trenches in the parkways along Dakota Dunes Boulevard. The workers are part of crews employed by FiberComm, a Siouxland telecommunications company, building a fiber-optic internet in the Dakota Dunes community.

FiberComm’s webpage describes fiber-optic internet as “cutting edge” and extremely fast at speeds of up to 1 gigabit. The industry refers to fiber-optic as fiber-to-the-home internet, abbreviated as FTTH, that uses fiber optic cables made of tiny strands of glass, each one thinner than a strand of hair. “These glass fibers transmit data using light pulses, which are much faster than the electric signals used by traditional copper coaxial internet cables,” the website states.

FiberComm claims this fast-moving data means a customer’s connection is “nearly instantaneous”, and trumpets download and upload speeds from 200 Megabits up to 1 Gigabit (1000 Megabits). In other words, a customer could download a 2-hour movie in just 10 seconds. 

The company, as well as the fiber broadband trade industry association it belongs to, claims that FTTH will give you an edge in the real estate market when it’s time to sell your home. They say the new technology will increase the value of your home by 3.1 percent. Go to this story in The Siouxland Observer to see what we found out about that claim.

You’ve seen the holes and trenches being dug today. What still needs to be done to bring to all the residences in Dakota Dunes? According to FiberComm, the construction process looks like this:

1. Locates: The city and utility companies will locate existing utility lines on your property using spray paint and/or small flags. This will occur up to 12 days prior to the construction start date. Please do not remove the flags or paint until after construction has started.

2. Pot Holes: A few days after the utility lines are located, the FiberComm construction crew will dig a few holes to verify the depth of the utility lines in various locations along the construction route. These holes will be fenced off with orange construction fencing and will not be open for more than 5 days. 

3. Boring: FiberComm construction workers will then begin the boring process. The boring machine will make small holes and run plastic conduit underground. The conduit will house and protect the fiber optic network cables. FiberComm uses this method to install our conduit because it minimizes the damage to your property. The construction crew will also lay large rubber mats under the boring machine to help prevent ruts in the grass and cracks in sidewalks and driveways. The mats help to distribute the weight of the machine evenly over a large area. 

4. Setting of Vaults: Once the boring process is complete, the FiberComm construction crew will install utility vaults and cabinets. These units hold the network connections and equipment below ground so that technicians may access it if needed. FiberComm attempts to set these between property lines or next to other utility facilities on your property. 

5. Restoration: Now that the majority of the physical construction is complete, the FiberComm construction crews will begin the process of restoring your impacted lawn. Crews will fill holes with at least 6 inches of black dirt and rake the area to make sure the area is level. Next, grass seed and fertilizer will be spread over the impacted areas. The homeowner will need to continue to maintain by watering the reseeded area. 

6. Pulling Fiber: FiberComm construction crews will now pull the actual fiber optic cable through the conduit that was installed underground. This is the fiber optic cables that will connect each home to one of the most technologically advanced networks in the area. The fiber optic cable contains strands of glass, thinner than a human hair, that carry digital information using pulses of light. 

7. Splicing Fiber: The next step requires FiberComm technicians to splice the strands of fiber optic cables together. This will connect the newly laid fiber optic cables to each other and to the network. This takes the skill of a surgeon to connect each individual strand of fiber, which is thinner than human hair. One individual stand will go to each household, giving them an individual connection to the network. 

You may have noticed a miniature forest of flags on wires appearing in the parkways along the streets of Dakota Dunes. Those are markers for underground utilities like gas, electric, and other telecommunications lines. There are five or six locator service companies spread throughout the community right now with workers finding the utilities, marking their locations with spray paint and then sticking flags in the ground.

One worker for USIC locator services of Sioux Falls was walking down Bison Trail Tuesday morning dropping flags in the parkway grass. “I’m locating gas lines today,” Dustin Lickteig said. “But we locate gas, Century Link and electric lines out here.”

Lickteig said he thought FiberComm had about two months to complete the cable installation project in the Dunes. “I think they are supposed to be done in December,” he said.

For more information regarding FiberComm’s construction project, contact the company at their Sioux City office phone number at 712-224-2020. Questions regarding the community of Dakota Dunes can be directed to the Dakota Dunes Community Improvement District at 605-232-4211.