MetroNet Begins Construction on Fiber Optic Network in Tallahassee

MetroNet Begins Construction on Fiber Optic Network in Tallahassee

MetroNet recently announced that the company has started construction of its fiber network in Tallahassee. Initial construction began at the corner of W. Tharpe and Old Bainbridge Road.

The announcement marks the start of a multi-year construction plan in the city of Tallahassee. Customers in the initial construction areas can expect service to start as early as this summer.

MetroNet provides fiber optic communication services, including high-speed Fiber Internet, full-featured Fiber Phone, and Fiber IPTV with a wide variety of programming. The company started in 2005 with one fiber optic network in Greencastle, Indiana, and has since grown to more than 100 communities in seven states.

“We are thrilled to break ground in Tallahassee and we’re ready to get to work bringing high-speed fiber internet to these communities,” stated MetroNet Executive Vice President Kevin Stelmach. “The Tallahassee community has been incredible to work alongside and as we begin to set up the infrastructure that will be the foundation for fast, reliable fiber-optic internet, we hope to continue connecting with those in this community.”

The company plans to create a fiber network spanning Tallahassee, including the South City, Frenchtown, and Bond neighborhoods. Total construction and installation costs are estimated to be approximately $100 million. Ultimately, MetroNet projects serving around 70,000 Tallahassee homes and businesses.

MetroNet’s entrance into Tallahassee was made possible when the City Commission voted on October 16th to change the City’s Joint Use Agreement. The change allows fiber attachments on City utility poles and opens the door for companies like MetroNet to begin creating fiber optic network infrastructure.

“This is going to be really great not only for economic development but for our educational system,” said Commissioner Dianne Williams-Cox after the vote.

MetroNet has plans to establish a retail storefront in the community to meet customer service needs as well as provide more information about services available in Tallahassee. Residents can sign up early for residential services by visiting www.metronetinc.com

12 Responses to "MetroNet Begins Construction on Fiber Optic Network in Tallahassee"

  1. Horrible experience so far and to be worse than ComKast is saying something. They are laying fiber in our neighborhood for the past month and today (on a holiday) disconnect our neighborhood from ComKast. Calls to Metronet were made where they hung up on me rather than transfer me to a supervisor (twice). I’m done. I will not be using there service and recommending to anyone what a poor experience it has been. ComKast has its problems too but I’m not going to trade down to save 10$.

  2. I looked into utility competition while working for the Florida Public Disservice Kommisariat many moons ago, before I went off to the real world. Then updated my bibliography (books, magazine & econ journal articles) again in the 1990s, tweaked it a little a few years back. IMO opinion, professor Primeaux (U Texas at Austin, later UIUC not far from Chicagoland) had done about the best work on it. Steve & a few others might be interested, so I made my non-portable rtf into a pdf:
    http://www.kermitrose.com/jgo/Family/Ancestors/UnnatMonopolyBiblio2011.pdf
    (this & neighboring temporary files are subject to erratic deletions).

  3. Again, unless they are running cables to every computer in the world, your internet will still likely be running through the same telephone companies lines that Comcast uses. You may see some benefit if you live in a congested area town, but likely not. Think of it like they are replacing your driveway or neighborhood road with a highway. Monroe will still be slow.

    1. Yeah, I had Comcast Business and I would swear that, I had more problems and it was a bit slower then what I had at Home.

      1. Yeah, this story would be better if their tech specs were listed, and how they compare to KomKast on promised throughput.

  4. It is good the city commission didn’t spend millions on fiber optics last year like they wanted to ! When the private market can do it without local tax payers money!

  5. Just in time for DAS.

    KLISTED NEWS
    BP TO TURN SMART CITIES INTO 24/7 REAL-TIME LISTENING DEVICES USING FIBER OPTIC CABLES
    Published: March 10, 2020
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    FEEDNETWORK
    SOURCE: MASS PRIVATE I

    credit: Fotech

    A recent article in Offshore-Technology revealed that British Petroleum (BP) bought a majority interest in a fiber optic innovation company called Fotech.

    Why would anyone care about BP buying Fotech?

    Because Fotech “uses artificial intelligence and edge computing in its products, covering areas such as surveillance, transport management, cable monitoring and rail management.”

    Roughly translated, they use fiber optic cables to surveil vehicles, people, pipe lines, public transit, etc.

    Fotech’s “products” page reveals how they plan to turn smart cities into real-rime listening devices using “Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS).”
    “Distributed Acoustic Technology converts thousands of kilometers of optical fibers already in place in our cities into millions of acoustic and vibration sensors. DAS converts cables into a network of state-of-the-art sensors. This allows cities to send and receive information with the benefit of providing anonymity to its citizens, but also to monitor city infrastructure continuously – in real-time and on a much more detailed level.”
    “Using fiber optic cables that are often hidden from view, Fotech’s DAS technology can monitor international borders automatically, giving you an enhanced understanding of in-situ (on-site) activities, and gather intelligence on events and patterns in and around your border.”

    1. Much of the earlier fiber-optic cable was for 1. the universities (Felonious State stretched a line from Enervation Pork to the main campus back around 1990, just as the old coax was dying, as new computer network back-bone), 2. Sprint, 3. cellular phone towers 4. K-12 schools.

      Here’s an odd kicker. MetroNet is based in a little rural town maybe 4 times the size of Sopchoppy, out West of Indianhopeless. So, what did/does Tallyburg & Quincy & Sopchoppy & Monticello… lack that we don’t have such a firm based in this area? Or what do we have that blocks such ventures?

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