“Fiber Ring” for GoSEMO Fiber project gains steam

Fiber RingTeam SEMO and SEMO Electric Cooperative’s website fiber contractors Conexon website and Ervin Cable Construction (ECC) website continue to work on Phase One design, make-ready, and construction in the Miner area.

Team SEMO has been working on the fiber ring, which will connect SEMO Electric's substations into a fiber backbone. Think of our substation ring as a redundant, ring-shaped backbone network, through which we can route broadband traffic in either direction if there is an outage on the line. The substations are then our jumping-off points to build laterals and service drops to connect homes, farms, and businesses. The process is similar to our electric delivery system. So getting the substations connected with fiber is the first order of business. Our fiber huts in Sikeston, Miner, and Dogwood have been delivered and we are starting to install the electronic equipment. We have 14 more fiber huts that need to be delivered and prepared to complete the fiber ring.

To date, EEC crews have 30 miles of strand and nearly five miles of fiber in the air for the Miner area backbone. Once we get the backbone, we will start to work on service drops to homes, farms, and businesses in January.

Like you, we are excited about the project. We are being prudent as we move forward to ensure a quality network build so that our infrastructure can reliably deliver Internet, TV, and voice services to you. Thank you for your excitement and patience.