After several weeks without updates or information about their plans for high speed fiber internet in Wake Forest, Dan Limerick, the CEO of RST Fiber, responded to an email from Deputy Town Manager Roe O’Donnell to say the company intends to return to Wake Forest as soon as possible.
The email from Limerick reads: “Roe, The only hold up at this point is expansion funding, which we are working on. As a private company, sometimes it’s difficult for everyone to understand that public projects and private ventures are two different beasts. My only comment is, please know we are doing our best to get premium broadband to the Wake Forest area as soon as we possibly can. We’re as anxious to get up there as everyone there seems to be for us to get there. I’ll keep you updated as things develop. Best Regards, Dan”
Seven months ago, on Tuesday, April 15, a small crew from RST Fiber, a company based in Shelby, dug a hole at the corner of Wait Avenue and Cardinal Drive to begin constructing a connection to Raleigh for the high speed internet network in town. The firm had been mapping distances in town to locate high demand areas based on an interest survey on the town’s website for fiber to the home. The town had also set up a task force to advice the town board about high speed internet and how to provide it widely in town.
RST had begun installing lines in at least one Wake Forest subdivision and had concluded agreements with the town to attach equipment to town-owned power poles and an easement for an equipment shed near town hall.
But then in midsummer work stopped because RST was waiting on a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to cross the Neuse River near the Falls Lake dam with its conduit holding the fiber cables.
The permit was finally issued in late August but by then RST had moved its crews and equipment to other locations to work on “private buildout income producing jobs,” Limerick said in late July.
CenturyLink is installing fiber network cable to some new subdivisions and new sections of existing subdivisions but refuses to discuss which subdivisions or the speed of its network with the Gazette.
