Official ceremonies were held recently at Daniel's Summit west of Heber City to signal the connecting of fiber optic cables that will bring the information superhighway to northeastern Utah.
Uintah Basin Telephone Association and US WEST Communications each spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the technology and labor needed to make the fiber optic hookup a reality.Technicians and a number of dignitaries were on hand to witness the event. The splice is completed by computer technology using an "electrical arc," which essentially melted the two pieces of glass together. Onlookers watched on a video screen as the final splice took place.
"We're linked up now to something that gives us equal footing in every aspect of technology," said Tim Cox, chairman of the Northeastern Utah Telecommunications Committee. "We can compete economically with anybody because information is the key." A fiber strand - not much bigger than a human hair - is capable of handling several thousand transmissions at a time. The transmissions are sent by pulses of light at a rate just slightly slower than the speed of light.
The cable from US WEST runs along U.S. 40 to Whiskey Springs, where it joins with cable installed by Uintah Basin Telephone.
With the technology in place, Rep. Beverly Evans, R-Altamont, reminded participants that there is still work to be done. "We need to challenge the opportunities and work together," Evans said.
An important aspect of the project will involve educating the public on its uses and potential.
"The more we get excited, the more it's used, the more we benefit," said Cox.
The hookup links this area with the entire world and takes away the problems of isolation that have existed ever since the Uintah Basin was settled.
"This area has suffered from lack of a railroad and other transportation as well as from isolation. Now those barriers are gone with the link to the information superhighway. Very few people really understand the impact of what this will bring to us. Space age technology has arrived," Cox said.