Crown Point Telephone Co. President Shana Macey and Bridge Point Communication Outside Plant Foreman Ken Ladeau unveil the logo created for Bridge Point. The subsidiary is building a fiber optic network in Ticonderoga starting within a week.

PRESS REPUBLIC | Mar 18, 2012

A project bringing high-speed fiber-optic communications to Ticonderoga starts this week.

Starting with the business district and major roads this year, the installation will offer broadband Internet and data connections to business, educational and municipal users.

Crown Point Telephone Co. President Shana Macey said they’ve created a subsidiary, Bridge Point Communication, to carry out the enterprise. They’ve been working on the fiber-optic plan for the last year, she said.

“It will revolutionize the way our region communicates. Ticonderoga was chosen as our first point of entry, the link to local businesses that will make our rural communities as competitive as any major city in the world.”

She said their mission is to enhance the economic climate of the area.

“Our new company, Bridge Point, will bring fiber-optic broadband to our area. There is virtually no limit to the amount of Internet bandwidth it can provide. In the future, businesses will require greater and greater bandwidth, to support applications such as voice-over-Internet, high-speed networks connecting branch offices, and video content.”

TWO PHASES

Fiber-optic communication is a method of transmitting data by sending pulses of light through an optical fiber cable. The light forms an electromagnetic carrier wave modulated to carry digital information. It is considered faster and more reliable than either analog or digital communication over copper wires.

“Bridge Point will be able to provide its fiber-to-the-door infrastructure to businesses in two phases,” Macey said. “Phase I of the fiber route will be under construction in the summer and fall of this year. Starting (this) week, you will be seeing our trucks in our community. Phase II will begin the following year, in 2013.”

The second phase is installing fiber-optic lines in the Ticonderoga hamlet area to reach residential customers and more businesses.

The fiber optics will connect back to another Crown Point Telephone subsidiary, Crown Point Network Technologies, located on Porter Mill Road in Crown Point. The company’s Internet trunk is located there.

The new firm has eight employees, Macey said. She said they don’t have cost estimates for the project, but the total is expected to be well under $1 million.

CHAMBER SUPPORT

Lake Placid has fiber-optic cable, but most Adirondack communities are limited to Internet access via cable-television providers or phone company digital subscriber lines.

Macey said their fiber-optic service will be competitively priced.

Ticonderoga Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Matt Courtright said the chamber is supporting the project.

“Crown Point Network Technologies is moving into a new market, placing fiber-optic cables throughout downtown Ticonderoga and surrounding areas. They’re focusing primarily at this time on commercial use.”

Among potential customers are International Paper’s Ticonderoga Mill, the North Country Community College Ticonderoga Campus, Ticonderoga Central School District, Inter-Lakes Health’s Moses-Ludington Hospital, Hudson Headwaters Ticonderoga Health Center and others.

For more information, call 597-9999.

The company has arranged with other utilities to place the fiber-optic lines on existing poles.