Construction continues on Nex-Tech’s $1.7 million fiber optic expansion project in Great Bend. Earlier this week Nex-Tech placed its new central office at 3700 10th Street, which will house the network electronics and fiber terminations.
Nex-Tech Engineering Manager Terry Peterson said crews are installing conduit from the central office to 10th Street, and then extending the conduit west along 10th Street. “We will also be building our fiber network to the industrial area around the Great Bend Municipal Airport as well as south along Patton Road,” Peterson said.
“Business customers along the fiber route are now signing up for the service,” Peterson said. “Actual customer hook-ups to the gigabit fiber network will begin early next year,” he added.
Construction will be focused on and around a 2-and-one-half mile stretch of the 10th Street corridor in Great Bend. When completed Nex-Tech will be able to offer one-gig symmetrical broadband speeds up to 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) to business customers in the network expansion footprint.
Nex-Tech’s 1 Gbps service is up to 100 times faster than the average national broadband speed of 10 megabits per second (Mbps) or less, according to industry reports. Business customers will benefit from the quick upload and download speeds, as well as the low latency streaming that will make video conferencing and online collaboration easier than ever.
 “With virtually limitless capacity, fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) is a great asset to communities like Great Bend, looking to attract new businesses and retain and support existing enterprises,” said Steve Riat, Nex-Tech Regional Sales Manager.