Work continues on O-NET's three remaining service areas yet to be connected to the company's fibre optic network in Olds.
According to O-NET president Bill Dunbar, progress is being made on Service Area 7, located in the Winter Lake area.
“The construction's still going on. We were doing some areas in the SA 7 area around the lake,” Dunbar said. “We should be finished that one section in a couple weeks.”
Dunbar added that work is starting in Service Area 2, located in the northeast part of town, west of 50 Avenue and north of Highway 27.
Construction is also commencing in Service Area 6, located in the neighbourhoods north of Ecole Deer Meadow School and south of Highway 27, he said.
A service area map on O-NET's website states the target finish dates were: July 15 for Service Area 7, Aug. 20 for Service Area 2 and Oct. 15 for Service Area 6.
In the July 8 issue of the Olds Albertan, O-NET's director of accounts Nathan Kusiek said Service Area 7 would have been completed within two to three weeks.
At the town council meeting on Aug. 25, councillors briefed each other on committee and board meetings they attended.
Coun. Harvey Walsh reported back from the Olds Institute for Community and Regional Development's Technology Committee meeting and said contractors responsible for trenching pipes have been busy with other jobs.
“They're the ones that are promising it by year-end but they didn't provide a schedule on (when) certain sections will be done. All they're saying is, we'll have it done by year-end, now it's not done by the end of July,” Walsh said after the council meeting.
Walsh said contractors will complete the job — it's just a matter of when.
“It got delayed. The people who are the main contractors have other jobs. They signed a contract saying they'd have it completed by the end of the year and they say they're committed to that,” he said.
“But sometimes they take their crews out of the town. Even though they're committed to the contract and they're fulfilling it, for the O-NET side, we'd like to see it go a little faster but the contract is the contract. You can't dispute that.”
On the sales front, Dunbar said O-NET is aiming for 1,000 customer sign-ups by next year.
In council on Aug. 25, Walsh said the company had 618 as of two weeks prior, though not all have received service.
Walsh later said O-NET is also trying to increase its staff, particularly in sales.
He added that O-NET can connect customers in the winter as long as a drop — conduit that runs from the property line into a building — has been installed.
However, people looking to sign up should do so soon before the ground freezes and drop installation is not possible.
“Let's say you're in Service Area 6 and you want service from us and you haven't let us know. You should do so, so that we can then make sure that your drop gets put in now before the freeze-up and we'll be able to install service as soon as we have the completion of the distribution,” Dunbar said.
During the council meeting, Walsh touted O-NET's service and asked councillors to spread the word about it.
“There's a few of us that have that service and we're just experiencing excellent TV, excellent Internet service,” he said. “It's an excellent service for our community and I'm just plugging that tonight.”
