Rural Missouri to benefit from fiber optic cable expansion

Internet connections will move faster. Smart phones will work better. And perhaps thousands of people may be just a little bit happier.
With the help of federal and private funds, Bluebird Network is currently in the process of adding 1,000 miles of fiber optic cable to its existing 3,000 miles, creating a powerful, high-speed telecommunications network serving rural Missouri.
The cable routes will be the network backbone linking broadband and Internet traffic from all over the globe to Missouri businesses, public safety offices, government facilities, schools and hospitals. They will provide next generation bandwidth speeds up to 100 gigabytes per second.
“This is a big opportunity for us to impact the economic development of rural living by providing cost-effective broadband services,” say Bluebird CEO Eric Fogle. “Anyone who lives in northern Missouri will benefit from this, either directly or indirectly. Enhanced broadband services are essential for rural communities to be viable places to live and do business.”
The project, however, hasn’t been without complications. Arrow Rock resident Gary Fuenfhausen says sloppy workmanship has left him with an upturned yard and deep ruts in his asphalt driveway, which he had recently finished. Fuenfhausen is currently involved with the restoration of his 1850s-era home, which he is in the process of having listed on the National Register of Historic Places. He says the cable project has also caused problems such as water and phone outages for other Arrow Rock residents and business owners.
Ila Irwin, vice president of government and community relations for the Bluebird Network, says there are often misunderstandings in these sorts of projects regarding private property boundaries and public utility easements. She says the company’s directives are for contractors to notify landowners, identify utility easements and make every effort to leave property as close to its original state as possible.
In the case of Fuenfhausen’s property, the company bored under the driveway, a more expensive process than plowing, in order to be as least disruptive as possible. Installing 1,000 miles of cable requires considerable construction, however; and the soil can often take weeks to months to settle. After investigating the situation, the company says that it has met its obligations.
Fuenfhausen says he is aware of the utility easement boundaries, but that workers on several occasions encroached onto his private property. In searching for a resolution, he has spoken with numerous representatives from Bluebird, the subcontracting company and the government, but has yet to have his yard and driveway fixed. “It’s not even that it’s so expensive; but they need to finish what they were supposed to finish,” he says. “To my understanding, part of the job includes smoothing the land, laying down seed and covering it with hay.”
Headquartered in Columbia, Bluebird Network is a telecommunications company that was recently created via a merger between the Missouri Network Alliance, a consortium of rural phone and optic fiber cooperatives, and Bluebird Media, a telecommunications company funded with private investment, state in-kind donations and federal stimulus dollars. The company was the recipient of a $45.1 million grant as part of the American Recovery and Investment Act, issued by the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, to improve broadband affordability and accessibility in the state’s under served regions.
Adding to the Federal grant funds, Bluebird Network’s public-private partnership, totaling $65 million, includes the State of Missouriand private investors. The company is part of Governor Jay Nixon’s broadband initiative, MOBroadbandNow, which is focused on building Internet accessibility to 95 percent of Missouri households and businesses by 2015.