Through a competitive bidding process, SEMO Electric Cooperative selected Ervin Cable Construction (ECC), LLC, to build its area-wide, multi-million dollar fiber-optic network to connect substations and provide broadband services such as fiber internet to homes, farms, and businesses in southeast Missouri.
ECC, with corporate offices in Sturgis, Kentucky, began business in 1980 as a small construction company. Based on steady growth and continued reinvestment in its company, ECC has grown to build/upgrade over 15,000 miles of plant over the past few years projects.
SEMO Electric and ECC met on August 18 for a pre-construction meeting to outline details. Construction to install fiber-optic cable will begin on September 11 in the Miner area. ECC’s trucks will display signage to indicate that ECC is working on behalf of SEMO Electric.
Construction will begin by building the network, followed by bringing fiber to actual homes, farms, and businesses. Once we have the fiber to the home, farm, or business, we will schedule an installation to actually install the service inside the home or business. The installation will include all wiring and a powerful Wi-Fi router. From the first step, until the service is installed, you can expect the process to take four to five months.
Here is a simple outline of the process to provide you with fiber internet service:
- Design and engineer the fiber network route
- Complete make-ready work to prepare existing power poles for fi`ber construction
- Pull fiber overhead and underground from the substation to selected areas
- Splice and test the fiber network
- You sign up to receive fiber internet
- Install fiber service to the outside of your home, farm, or business
- Install fiber service inside your home, farm, and business for fiber internet
- You enjoy the Home internet experience
- You encourage neighbors and others to sign up
