Bad Internet connections can ruin lives: this statement holds especially true during the COVID-19 pandemic where people are relying heavily on the Internet to conduct their daily tasks. Moreover, according to law and technology expert Andrew Tutt, technology will continue to dominate our lives and “lead to groundbreaking changes in transportation, industry, communication, education, energy, health care, entertainment, government, warfare, and even basic research needs.” To revolutionize the world through these means, however, the world will need a faster, more reliable Internet connection. That is what this company hopes to acheive:
The “Midco” Internet provider, founded in Glyndon Minnesota, is a modern technological company that specializes in fiber optics and networking. This company proposals to construct a 10 gigabit Internet connection: faster than any other Internet connection, as of November 2020. Although Midco is only in Stage 1 of the networking process, Director of Construction Cole Mack explains the current status: “Anywhere from 72-148 strands of glass are in the fiber optic cable. Improvement really is the tech riding on the fiber.” This part of the installation had started at the end of October and further updates are being reported by Mack
“This will be a brand new platform. A 10 gigabit Ethernet platform that feeds a service to customers”, says Mack. “The potential to have a 5 gigabit download and upload symmetrical packages is not heard of anywhere else in the Upper Midwest and most of the country.”
According to Midco, the hardest part of this installation is installing ISBE cables and increasing transmission rate through the connection of fiber optic cables. This is because ISBE cables cost a total of almost $5 million to connect across the country. These cables, however, are necessary to satisfy layers of the “OSI Model” which creates networking in the first place. No matter what obstacles must be succumbed, though, Midco will not give up until this connection is established.
The Midco company plans to join with the Verizon company in South Dakota to make such an Internet connection a reality. They plan to begin their installation on Highway 10 in Minnesota and work South from there. The company hopes to complete the connection in mid-December. “All the kids have electronic devices going on, home schooling, distance learning with COVID. Everyone is working from home,” says Glyndon City Council Member Dave Owings. “This shall be the next generation of high speed Internet.”
