Bend Cable strings fiber

Many local residents will soon have the option of high-speed Internet access when Bend Cable completes its installation of a new fiber-optic telecommunications system in the Sisters area.

As part of the cable company's renewed franchise agreement with the City of Sisters, Bend Cable recently finished connecting a fiber-optic strand to its main switch off Camp Polk Road. The fiber line will replace the current microwave transmission system.

According to Bend Cable General Manager Paul Morton, residents with cable television access will be able to lease a cable modem from the company to access the Internet at speeds from 10 to 100 times faster than current telephone modems (see related story, p. 13).

Morton said the service will be available after the July 4 holiday.

"The fiber link will replace our AML (American Microwave Link) connection which is occasionally subject to interference," explained Morton. "(Fiber) is a much more stable and reliable link."

Coaxial cables currently connect local residents to Bend Cable's main distribution switch near the intersections of Camp Polk and Wilt Roads. Cable television is transmitted from the company's head office in Bend, via microwave, through these cables and into local residences.

Once the new service is ready, instead of transmitting information through the Sisters switch via microwave, the fiber-optic line will carry television and Internet signals to the company's control center in Bend.

Morton described the new connection as a "larger pipe" which carries more data, more quickly. The increased capacity of the "pipe" not only allows Internet and television to co-exist on the same line but also provides the capacity for higher speed Internet access than telephone lines.

Sending and receiving e-mail and large data files and connecting to the World Wide Web will be much easier once the upgrades are completed, Morton said.

When the physical transition from microwave to fiber occurs, some local residents may experience brief interruptions in their cable television service.

"During the early summer period, there will be some momentary outages," Morton said. "It may be a few minutes delay as we have to pull an amplifier to a neighborhood. The cable will flick to 'snow' and then come back on. We're going to do a lot of this in the early morning to not disturb people."

Morton said that once the main Sisters connection is complete, the company will begin the process of extending cable service to more of Sisters' outlying communities. He would not project a time line for this phase of the project.

"Our first goal is to get into Sisters," explained Morton. "Once we get through that, we'll begin to look at areas where we haven't been able to provide service."

According to Morton, nearly 1,800 Sisters-area residents currently subscribe to Bend Cable television service.