Authored By chloe.morrison

EPB announced the world’s first 10-gig communitywide fiber optic network yesterday, and they immediately got questions about the practicalities of getting that speed to homes.

Leaders said that generally the speeds should be accessible on newer computers that have compatible equipment after EPB installs upgraded fiber optic wiring and a special optical network terminal to the home.

1-gig customers EPB has about 76,000 customers and about 6,300 of them pay for 1 gig, which costs about $58 per month.

“It’s so cutting-edge that there is still not a [router] device on the consumer level that can measure that kind of speed,” EPB spokesman John Pless said. “There’s not a router available, so you’re going to get lesser speeds if you go wireless. If you go directly to the machine, then you’re cooking with grease.”

Older computers might need an extra card to make it work, EPB CEO and President Harold DePriest said.

“We tested a very low-cost computer and added a $250 card, which is a lot of money, but it made the computer run at about 9.7 gigs,” he said. “So high speeds are available on relatively low-cost machines.”

EPB also announced that it bought a drone to help identify power outages from the air.

DePriest said that when there’s a major storm with a lot of downed trees and power lines, crews usually have had to identify affected areas via car.

“If we can send a drone and run high-speed video back, we can get our crews out there much quicker and we can do repairs much quicker,” he said. “It’s a very smart way of doing things.”