Our society is always connected to the rest of the world, free to communicate and interact with the stroke of our fingers. We live in a world where dozens of devices connecting to the internet is not an uncommon sight in today's household. With our constant need for faster internet speeds and the ability to send and receive large amounts of data, fiber internet may very well be the solution the world has been searching for.
"Fiber is a miracle product," says NITCO Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing Thomas Carroll. "All it is, is a simple piece of glass that allows an incredible amount of data to be transferred, much more than anything else out there." It's amazing how much data can be transferred back and forth."
NITCO has been ahead of the competition since the 80's, with the company producing fiber based connections since 1985.
"We currently support 185 miles of fiber for both businesses and residents," says Carroll. "We initially began exploring fiber as an alternative option to the copper wires that were being used for phone services. We found that by doing this we could reduce the copper interface and increase the transmission of data."
Fiber utilizes a laser device to transmit information and data at fast speeds while maintaining a stable and consistent connection even in rural areas. With speed tiers of up to 100 mbs, NITCO has speed options for anyone from an average internet user to a heavy streamer and downloader.
"We constantly have people call us asking us the same questions of 'when can I get higher speeds?'," says Carroll. "There is such and incredible demand for faster speeds and higher data caps due to our hyper-connected lifestyle."
While many residents would see the immediate benefits and uses of fiber, many business are also demanding its usage, leaving many towns and cities, including Valparaiso, preparing for the inevitable widespread usage of fiber.
"We have talked with distributors of fiber cables and we once asked a representative who exactly was purchasing these fiber cables," says Carroll. "His answer was that everyone from businesses to cities was purchasing fiber products at an incredibly fast rate. This is something that isn't going to be slowly adopted over time, but rather a large wave of change is already happening."
Carroll credits Valparaiso as being wise in their embrace of fiber internet, feeling that by preparing for the future now, makes the city more accessible and more desirable to outside entities.
"Valpo was very smart for moving forward with fiber now and their desire to connect," says Carroll. "When larger businesses come to Northwest Indiana looking to set up, the first questions they're going to ask is what is the capability of your infrastructure and how can our business function with that infrastructure, You do not want to be the last community onboard with technology as you'll just get left behind."
Carroll and NITCO are also heavily in favor of fiber and all of the benefits that it can bring Northwest Indiana and more specifically, its rural areas.
"A majority of the state consists of rural areas, and in those areas it's often up to smaller companies rather than larger corporate conglomerates to supply the residents with internet access and given the right situation, fiber could finally provide the strong and consistent internet access rural customers could previously only dream of.
"There is some debate occurring currently within our government on how to proceed with wide access internet but once that settles and if companies like NITCO get access to provide wide-spread fiber technologies to rural residents, the world will be truly caught up and connected," says Carroll.
For fans of Netflix binge watching or Skyping with friends on the other side of the world, fiber internet is the digital savior users have been seeking this whole time, and if NITCO has its way, will be giving to anyone who wants to be part of the next stage of global connectivity.
"We're excited to work with the city of Valpo and residents of Northwest Indiana involving fiber," says Carroll. "We're ready to connect them and give them the connection they deserve."
To find out more about NITCO's Fiber options, please visit their website.
