MetroNet official: Fiber-optics project will work

MetroNet representative Steve Biggerstaff reported Wednesday that the Evansville-base company’s engineer and feasibility studies indicated that installing fiber-optic services to houses would be profitable here.

When completed, MetroNet customers will have access to faster Internet speed, more interactive TV choices and digital phone service, Biggerstaff said, noting that the first customers could be hooked up by February.

“It will bring the latest state-of-the-art technology,” Biggerstaff said, “even into the entertainment with the IPTV. So many applications.

“You essentially have unlimited bandwidth and capability. The key is what it does for the future. I think it opens up the door for telemedicine to the home and to the small business, distance learning to the home, telecommuting.

“It opens up a whole new entertainment — interactive TV.”

But Biggerstaff admitted Wednesday to the West Lafayette Redevelopment Commission that MetroNet’s profit margins will not be as wide as its investors initially believed.

Installing the fiber-optic cable will be more expensive than originally predicted because 40 percent of it will have to be installed underground, instead of overhead on utility poles, Biggerstaff said.

“We expected about 30 percent underground and 70 percent on overhead, which is what we’ve been typically seeing,” Biggerstaff said. “What we found is that we have about 40 percent underground and about 60 percent overhead. So the underground being more expensive than overhead by a ratio of 3 to 1, it’s a fairly significant difference for construction costs.

“As a result of the increased underground, the numbers were not exactly what our investors were expecting. Even though the margins may be a little thinner, the project works. So the project is a go from our side and from our investors.”