Construction finally began on July 5th on the long desired second fiber optic cable into Humboldt County, with completion expected by year end.

As first reported in the Humboldt Beacon by their newest ace reporter (Mary Bullwinkle), construction on the cable, which is owned by IP Networks, is currently taking place on the Humboldt County side, between Eureka to Bridgeville. From there, it will more or less parallel Highway 36 entirely on PG&E’s right-of-way, ending at Cottonwood, where it will connect with the national fiber networks.

The entire project runs 121 miles and is estimated to cost $15 million, up from the original $10.5 million estimate. The project will be financed mostly by the telephone and internet companies which will utilize the cable, plus up to 40 percent coming from a California Advanced Services Fund grant. The project has already received grant approval for $4.2 million, and an application for an additional $1.2 million is being pursued.

When completed, the new cable will provide internet capacity for several small towns along the route, such as Bridgeville and Dinsmore, with last-mile service to be provided by Southern Humboldt’s own 101 Netlink. Humboldt Bay area businesses and residents will receive backup fiber capacity (which should minimize future disruptions to internet service and e-commerce), as well as increasing YouTube downloading speeds. Long term, this is being viewed as a major step towards attracting high tech businesses to relocate to Humboldt County.

The project hotline number is (415)962-9520.