The Town of Drayton Valley is going
the last mile. Every home, business or premise will have the ability to connect
to fibre optic internet. This information superhighway allows citizens of
Drayton Valley to be world leaders in internet connectivity, innovation and
communication. It will change the way we
experience knowledge and access information. Marshall McLuhan
said the medium is the message. When the
medium is a fast, sleek strand of glass carrying bits and bytes of reflecting
signals, Drayton Valley is a bold stepper.
Jack Mackenzie’s company installs
fibre optic cable and the conduit pipe it rests in. He was working beside a
back-hoe with a few guys installing kilometers of the four-inch orange plastic
tubing from a six foot high roll, three feet underground. I approached gingerly
in case he was too busy for conversation, it was nearing the end of the day and
beginning to rain. Oh, the contrary. Jack went to his truck, grabbed a chunk of
fibre optic cable and let me examine it. He showed how 144 glass fibre strands lie
parallel in a hose with the diameter of a dime. He said be careful. If a piece
of glass breaks off and gets into your body you could never find it, it’s so
small. Jack’s crew from 4C Telecom Inc. will install the conduit. Then the
fibre optic cable will be ballooned through the pipe by attaching a parachute
to one end and blasting.
I asked David LeDrew, IT specialist
at the Town of Drayton Valley, how fibre optic technology works. In fact, I
asked him about four times, and he always patiently explained it to me. He said
10 gigabit Ethernet works fast because in Ethernet, the medium of transmission
is light instead of electrical pulses. Theoretically, with no friction the
maximum speed that the bits could travel would be the speed of light! The speed
of light, people! The cable Jack gave me was made of 144 strands of glass.
Dynamic wave division multiplexing (DWDM) allows the light to move on different
wavelengths in each strand of fibre in the cable. The bits go so fast you can
view content almost instantaneously. There’s nothing slowing the signal down.
So what is the last mile? The last
mile refers to making fast internet available all along the network to reach
people’s homes and businesses. This example shows the problem with not going the last mile: if internet
going past your house is fibre optic cable, but from the node to your house the
line is copper, information cannot get through to your house at as great a
speed as on the fibre. Or take the example of fibre optic tv. If you don’t have
fibre all the way to the house then the fastest the signal can go is as fast as
your slowest connection. Slow internet is frustrating. Many rural communities
notice the problem with retaining people and businesses if their internet is
not satisfactory. An example is found in The
Stettler Independent. It seems that the community is losing out on business
and other opportunities as a result of poor technology infrastructure. Olds was
the first community in western Canada to go the last mile, but their method of
going about it was different than in Drayton Valley. In Drayton Valley, the
municipal government and Telus have arranged for the infrastructure. Ensuring
the town is completely serviced in fibre is a big step in providing the
conditions that will allow community and business to thrive, innovate and
diversify.
What does the last mile mean to the
Drayton Valley Municipal Library and our community of supporters? Right now
there are not very many towns that are totally connected by fibre. Having
complete fibre connectivity will offer great potential for research into
physical and digital technologies, as well as research into understanding the
social realities and limits of technology. For example, such research could
include exploring the physiological changes which happen to the way our
brains processes information in a digital world. Or what is the best way to
mediate the digital divide between those with and those without information
fluency? Or what is the best and most comprehensive way to make this technology
accessible in the library? Or what programs and services could we offer in
relation to technology and community?
The powerful tool of fibre optic
connectivity to every premise makes the focus of Drayton Valley Library’s
literacy outreach even more important. We still have to know how to read and
write. We still have to maintain continuity of knowledge, even if our very
brains change in relation to technology. Change is not bad, but adapting to
change is a skill. Basic literacy must still be nurtured and enhanced with
training and awareness of communication processes and the skills to know how to
search for information, evaluate information and collaborate with others. A
most logical role for the library in this is to ensure all people have access
to information and information skills. We can foster training in information
fluency through the library. We can provide physical access to those who are
visitors or who do not have their own technology at home. Literacy is still key
and we will make the most of the transformation in the way we learn and know.
The library can promote discussion
about how to ensure that as a town, we support intellectual freedom and that we
remain committed to ensuring all people have equal access to knowledge and
information regardless of situation, income or ability. We might not even be
having this discussion in Drayton Valley right now if fibre optic cable spools
and the conduit tubes were not being dropped on every corner. As we speak the
installation is soon to be complete. I hope that Drayton Valley Municipal
Library, the first rural library in Alberta to provide dial up Internet access
to the community in the early 1990’s, will continue to step boldly – continue
to be on the forefront of providing access to knowledge and information,
fostering community engagement and belonging, and helping promote literacy of
all kinds. Drop by the library and ask to see my piece of 144 and watch for
upcoming library programs that will help us learn more about how to make the most of all that digital media technologies have to offer.
By Gayle Sacuta, September 8, 2014
This
article is my attempt to explain fibre optics in plain language. Please excuse
any errors or omissions. Thanks Dave, Nesen, Jack and Sandy for helping with details. I referenced information in the post through the
following sources:
Drayton
Valley Library http://www.draytonvalleylibrary.ca/
Federman,
Mark. What is the Meaning of The Medium is the Message? http://individual.utoronto.ca/markfederman/article_mediumisthemessage.htm
Internet
everywhere - Is Internet access now an essential service for all Canadians?
Should it be free and everywhere? CBC Cross Country Checkup | May 18, 2014 |
1:53:00 http://www.cbc.ca/player/Radio/Cross+Country+Checkup/ID/2457741039/
Internet
shortage frustrates Stettler-area residents, March 19, 2014.
Wavelength-division
multiplexing. Wikipedia, accessed September 5, 2014.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wavelength-division_multiplexing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wavelength-division_multiplexing
