RST Fiber has begun to install conduit and fiber optic cable in one subdivision in Wake Forest and is close to completing the 14-mile connection between the town and a service point in Raleigh.
The installation is underway in Crenshaw Manor and the plans are to begin construction in the neighboring Crenshaw Hall subdivision as soon as the first installation is complete.
A note in the town manager’s monthly report to the commissioners says that RST is also signing up residents in the Waterfall Plantation subdivision which is outside the town limits. “Fiber installation will proceed roughly from west to the east of town; however, service in downtown will be available soon.”
“A tremendous amount of work is being done right now,” Dan Holt said in an email. He is a member of the task force the town commissioners set up to bring high-speed internet to town. “Take a drive through Crenshaw Manor between Monday and Friday and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Connecting neighborhoods will be an ongoing process. This will not be an overnight task by any means.”
RST continues to accept preregistrations for service. Find it at www.wakeforestfiber.com. After you register, RST will call or email you if you are in an area they plan to service. “Once your zone reaches 30 percent, an installation fee of $225 will be required to activate service.”
There are two residential service plans. “Nifty Fifty” will provide internet speeds of 50mbps for both downloads and uploads at $59.95 per month, while “Gigabit” speeds will be 1,000mbps for downloads and uploads at $99.95 per month.
The registration also asks potential customers if they are interested in voice service with unlimited domestic calling at $34.95 per month and/or television service on an a la carte basis: pick the channels you want.
Even though Holt says it will take time to get the internet service across all of Wake Forest – or at least to those neighborhoods where there are a lot of customers, the events thus far have occurred rapidly.
In January the town commissioners heard from town resident Joe Freddoso, who urged them to consider bringing high speed internet to town. Freddoso is the CEO of the MCNC broadband fiber optic network across the state. When he spoke, he was backed by two men whose firms represent the future for Wake Forest, Holt with 3 Phoenix and Larry Steffan with the Wireless Research Center of North Carolina. The commissioners responded in February by appointing Freddoso to head the Fiber to the Home & Business Task Force and Holt as one of its members.
The task force did consider Google and other services, which were not interested, but then found RST Fiber in Shelby. By early April RST CEO Dan Limerick was meeting with town officials and the first boring for the main conduit and cable took place in mid-April.
Since then Limerick has held three information meetings where he described the network and answered questions.
