NITCO Invests in Portage’s Future with Faster Internet and New Technology

NITCO Invests in Portage’s Future with Faster Internet and New Technology

Fiber internet is coming to Portage at the speed of light. Say goodbye to daunting upload wait times and spotty wifi connections. NITCO broke ground on their new project, and the promise of a new gold standard of service, late Thursday afternoon at AmeriPlex at the Port.

“[The impact to the community] will be massive,” said NITCO Senior Vice President Tom Carroll. “The people who have been asking for Fiber have never had it. They are industrial buildings, manufacturing. They use a huge amount of fiber capacity. With Fiber, they can keep expanding. There is no limitation based on internet speed.”

NITCO Fiber works by sending pulses of light through ultra-pure glass tubes instead of electricity through our outdated copper wires. These cables are filled with hair-thin fibers made of stretched glass. When a flash of light hits the fibers, they reflect it down the cable. Data sent this way can travel 60 miles before the reflected flash of light or laser starts to degrade.

That means NITCO’s Fiber system can transmit up to 10 gigabits of information a second, and that is just to start. What does 1 gb mean to the average consumer?

CEO Tom Long describes it as so fast you can download Monty Python and the Holy Grail in one second.

“High speed internet is a key ingredient for economic development,” said Long. “A few years ago you didn’t need much speed. Now it’s critical for business. It has to be fast, it has to be reliable. That’s Fiber. You are no longer limited by the speed of your internet, only by your imagination.”

Only 25% of the nation has Fiber coverage. To compete with other industries, there needs to be an internet connection with instantaneous transmission, 24/7 signal production, and the capacity to grow with future technological developments. Energy loss and electromagnetic interference have always been the biggest setbacks to communication transmission. Fortunately, Fiber optic internet systems do not have to worry about either.

Amy Parker, the Business Development Manager of the Portage Economic Development Corporation, said, “It’s all about opportunity. If businesses want to come here, if they want to expand, they don’t have to add anything. We have the ability to accommodate their needs. [NITCO Fiber] means new jobs, new opportunities. Portage will benefit from any infrastructure we add to it.”

The only downside to Fiber internet is its start up cost. It is a huge investment for the power company that implements it, so by bringing Fiber to Northwest Indiana, NITCO is making a commitment to our community and our future.

“I think it’s great,” said Holladay Properties’ Vice President of Development, Mike Micka. His company built, owns, and develops the AmeriPlex at the Port business park. “My role as developer is to bring in more tenants, more business. Data is just as important as any other infrastructure. It means more employment opportunities with high wage jobs. That’s what we all want for our people.”

The ceremonial groundbreaking was symbolic of the development happening in Portage. Fiber does not need a building, just a network of cables buried underground. NITCO is almost done placing them.

Service will start with all the commercial buildings in AmeriPlex at the Port and will expand outward. Someday soon it will extend to residential communities. Look forward to an era of record internet speeds- it will be here faster than you think.

For more information about NITCO and this incredible project, go to www.nitco.com.