Internet service to every home in Middlesex County is moving ahead as fiber optic lines are currently being installed on the “Middle Mile” portion of the project, which runs along the main roads of the county that currently do not have fiber optic lines.
The project consists of 57-miles of fiber optic cable that will serve nearly 1,000 residents and businesses. Dominion Energy is responsible for the middle mile fiber, most of which is in the Jamaica District of the county, the most rural area of Middlesex and the district with nearly half of the geographic land mileage in the county.
When the Middle Mile is complete cable contractors will be “turned loose” to start the “Last Mile” of fiber. “Middle Mile fiber is like the highway between cities,” said Kevin Gentry, executive director of the Middlesex Broadband Authority (MBA). “It’s the part of the network that moves data over long distances, connecting different towns and regions. Think of it as the backbone that carries information across vast stretches.
“Last Mile fiber is like the local road to your house,” said Gentry. “It’s the final stretch that directly connects to your home or business. This is where you plug in your modem or router to access the Internet. So, while the Middle Mile handles the big journeys, the last mile brings the Internet right to your doorstep,” he said.
“We are slated to begin that Last Mile construction in September 2024 and the plan is to deliver broadband service to project locations by the first quarter of 2025,” he said.
MBA plans to schedule a groundbreaking sometime in June to recognize the start of the Middle Mile portion of the project, said Gentry.
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