The Fiber Optic Files - Wilson, NC

Yes. DVRs are digital video recorders that are really efficient, even addictive in my house.

They record digital television and replace your old VCR. You can set them to record your favorite programs on a recurring basis. In fact, I don’t even know what night some of my favorite shows come on. I just check the DVR queue and they’re waiting there.

My favorite feature is that you can pause live TV. As a parent, I really appreciate this. I can pause the show, put the kids to bed, then come back and resume watching.

The DVRs record and playback HD channels also.

As interest in Greenlight continues to grow I hear this question more and more.

The City of Wilson will offer three services: high-speed Internet access, cable TV and phone service.

The Internet speeds will be faster and more reliable than anything currently available. Speeds of up to 100 Mbps will be available to homes. By comparison, your speeds typically max out at around 5 Mbps from the cable supplier in Wilson.

Footnote: the cable company has been trying to speed up its Internet service lately but it still won’t be as fast as Wilson’s network because the company is using an older technology.

Wilson will also offer cable TV services and telephone services (including long distance).

All customer service will be local.

Greenlight fiber will be turned up to a few dozen Wilson houses this week as we verify that all of the services are working. The tech trial allows us to provide content to a specific small number of homes and then get feedback from the homeowners. It will last several weeks.

The tech trial is in a small area because of technical reasons.  They’ll tweak signals, gauge usage and  gather information that can then be used for the rest of us.

Once the tech trial is complete we’ll be able to sign up paying customers for cable, Internet and phone services. It won’t be available to all of the city of Wilson at once. The services will be rolled out to various neighborhoods from the center of town out toward the edges. Services should reach every neighborhood within the next year or so, depending on demand.

Your community-owned fiber network continues to attract attention from outside the community. The latest to mention it is Jane Smith Patterson, Executive Director of the e-NC Authority, which is tasked with improving access to broadband throughout our state.

In this article on WRAL’s Local Tech Wire she explains that broadband is a necessity in our global economy.

Wilson will have the fastest Internet speeds in NC (up to 100 Mbps to homes, up to 1Gig to businesses) and some of the fastest in the world.

Here’s what she had to say about Wilson’s network.

As local policy leaders begin to understand that public-private partnerships are a surefire way to encourage telecommunications deployment, we are also seeing individual communities take independent steps to get broadband to their citizens. A great example is in the City of Wilson, where the municipality itself is deploying fiber directly to the front steps of its homes and businesses. Wilson recognized at some recent point along the way that their community was slipping into a digital crevasse, so they have instituted their own public-private partnership to get the job done. Other communities are now following suit.

Wilson’s network is a public/private partnership between our community and Momentum, our dial-tone provider. The network is also being built by numerous private crews that specialize in fiber buildouts.

Salibury voted last week to build a fiber to the home network. Expect others to follow.

We’re up to 288 channels and counting. Wilson Greenlight customers will have access to the same channels they’ve grown to enjoy on the other cable provider.

Because the contracts are still being signed I’m not able to mention specific channels, except for channel 14. Instead of the cable company’s corporate-owned news service, we’ll have WRAL’s NewsChannel on channel 14. You’ll see WRAL’s team of journalists updating news and weather every 15 minutes, 24 hours a day.

We will also offer HD channels and DVRs. If you have a DVR, you know how great they are. You can pause and rewind live TV. Great feature for watching that sports play again or if you have to pause the show to put the kids to bed.

Once the list of channels is complete, I’ll post it here.

The City of Salisbury has announced plans to build its own fiber optic network. City officials were in Wilson last week checking on the status of Greenlight’s network. They’re a good bunch of folks and we wish them well.

Here’s an article their local paper (The Salisbury Post) wrote. The reporter did a good job explaining not only how but why Wilson is building its network.

Here’s an excerpt: “What’s happening in Wilson now will be taking place in Salisbury within the next two years, maybe sooner. Other cities in North Carolina are in the cable business, but Wilson and Salisbury are leading the way in building a fiber-optic cable system from scratch. Their city officials believe they have to provide citizens with increased bandwidth now or face the prospect of seeing their communities fall far behind in what their residents and businesses will be demanding.”

Good luck to our friends in Salisbury.

Greenlight will be tested during the next six to eight weeks in a specific area of Wilson. Essentially, it’s a trial to make sure the services are working and how or if anything needs to be adjusted. Everything’s running off of one hub, so the tech trial is limited to one area only.

Once the tech trial is complete and all the modifications are made, services will be made available to the city’s first customers. It will be rolled out in phases over the course of the next several months.

*corrections to the Wilson Times story from this weekend.

First, the paper said our Internet speeds would vary from 5Mbps to 100 Mbps. The 100 Mbps part is correct, the 5 Mbps is not correct. We have not determined yet what the minimum speed will be.

Second, the article stated that as many as 150 channels would be available. The accurate number is closer to 300 channels.