WISCONSINREPORT.COM (07/17/08) - Lemonweir Valley Telcom of Camp Douglas, Wisconsin has announced that construction has begun on a multi-million dollar project to deploy state-of-the-art fiber optic communications infrastructure throughout Lemonweir Valley Telcom’s serving area. The first phase of the project will extend optical fiber cable directly to homes and businesses within the City of New Lisbon, Village of Camp Douglas and Village of Hustler. The thin glass fibers will allow the company to offer advanced services to customers in that area.

The new Fiber-to-the-Premise (FTTP) infrastructure will use thin glass fibers, rather than copper, as the medium through which communication signals are transmitted as pulses of light.

“Fiber-to-the-Premise is an opportunity to bring advanced communication services to our customers,” said Jim Costello, Lemonweir Valley Telcom General Manager.

“This is really the Next Generation Network in four contexts – the next generation of people, community, economy and echnologies,” Costello explained.

Because of the fast connections and tremendous download and upload speeds, FTTP supports multiple high-band applications at the customer’s premise. This makes it an ideal choice for the convergence of voice, Internet, television and other high-speed data communications.

Lemonweir Valley Telcom, which celebrated its 100th year of operation in 2007, currently provides voice, Internet and digital television services.

"WSTA salutes the hard work, dedication and commitment Lemonweir Valley Telcom and its employees have made in serving west-central Wisconsin for more than 100 years, providing the most advanced communications technology at the best possible prices,” said Bill Esbeck, WSTA Executive Director.

“We especially applaud this unique and innovative project and the $3.0 million initial financial investment they are making to their network, which will provide state-of-the-art technology and offer the highest quality telecommunication services to the citizens of New Lisbon, Camp Douglas and Hustler," Esbeck noted.

"WSTA member companies continue to provide the infrastructure needed to keep the Wisconsin economy and job market competitive in a global economy," Esbeck said.

“This investment will provide future opportunity for economic growth in this part of Wisconsin,” said state Representative Sheryl Albers (R-Reedsburg), who attended the event and represents New Lisbon, Camp Douglas and Hustler in the state Assembly.

“We have a wonderful inventors and entrepreneurs club that regularly meets at the Lemonweir Valley Telcom office and it is great to know that this new technology will help them as they develop businesses and will assist in encouraging them to stay or locate in the area," Albers said.

"Families, businesses and even tourists will benefit from this project. It’s a winning opportunity,” Albers said.

An increasing number of communication services will be facilitated through the fiber optic system.

- An unlimited number of High Definition (HD) televisions;

- Ultra High-Speed Internet (with speeds up to 20 MG or possibly higher);

- Video-on-Demand capabilities;

- Support for multi-player on-line gaming and graphics;

- Off-site residential and business data back-up services; and

- Smart Home technologies with remote capabilities and home security.

“I applaud Lemonweir Valley Telcom for taking this giant leap forward,” said state Senator Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center), who represents New Lisbon, Camp Douglas and Hustler in the state Senate.

“Extending fiber optics to homes and businesses in a rural region is the gold standard for state-of-the-art telecommunications services, and Wisconsin thanks them for making this investment,” Schultz said.