Rich Brown

We are pleased to report that construction of the main fiber line and connections are nearing completion, and we started to connect customers on November 11th! The installation process will still take a while, and while we expect to move right along, we expect it to take until April or May of 2021 to reach everyone. 

We have started Installations from the hub location near the Common and are working our way out along the fiber routes. As we activate service areas, we will call you to schedule an installation in your home. While we make every effort to be flexible in the choice of days and installation windows available, it is important that we try to complete the installations in reasonable order. Someone over the age of 18 must be present for the 2-3 hour installation process. If we leave a message, please call us back right away, because if we are unable to schedule you when we are in the area, it may be months before we are able to return to do your installation. 

We are also very pleased to tell you that we will soon offer phone service to LymeFiber customers – and we should be able to do so beginning in December. The cost for this service is a one-time phone activation fee of $30 plus $25/month for residential service and $35/month per line for businesses (plus applicable taxes). Since this service was not available when you first subscribed for internet, we will waive any additional installation costs if we have to come back to install your phone. If you know you want phone service, please let us know so that we can install the phone at the same time as the internet. E-mail us at support@Lymefiber.net and include the number of lines and the service address. 

In all cases, this is very important: DO NOT contact your existing phone provider about terminating your service with them – or you may lose your current phone number. When we are ready to turn on phone service, WE will contact your existing provider to “port” your number over. 

Thank you again for becoming a LymeFiber customer! We are very excited that high-speed internet is getting turned on in our community, and we thank you for your support.

The work of building LymeFiber is moving right along. Here is an update.

We have signed a construction contract with Eustis Cable Enterprises, LTD, of Brookfield, Vermont. This is the company with the bucket trucks and experienced crews who will soon be out on our roads installing the fiber-optic cables. They are well-qualified, having been providing this service to ECFiber for years.

Most of the equipment needed for the project has arrived. This includes the electronics for the network hub and the fiber connectors and other hardware that is used out on the utility poles. The last big item, the fiber-optic cable itself, is scheduled for delivery this month. In the meantime the utilities have completed the make-ready work on the poles. Eustis is ready to begin construction. In fact, they’re already doing preparation work, and you may have seen their trucks with our LymeFiber logo around town.

The construction of the network happens in several phases. First a steel cable, called the strand, is installed from pole to pole along the entire route of the network. When that’s complete, the main fiber-optic cable, called the trunk, is hung from the strand throughout the network. In the next phase the cables from utility poles to each subscriber’s premise get installed. These are called drops. Then system-wide testing makes sure all the splices and connections are good. Finally, an installer visits each subscriber and connects – lights up! – their service. One take-away from all this is that even though you see a Eustis or LymeFiber truck working on the poles in your neighborhood, it may still be a while before your service is active. Nonetheless, we expect the first subscribers to come online in late October, weather permitting.

As we have described before, LymeFiber, LLC, has contracted with ValleyNet to oversee construction of the network and then to be its ongoing operating company. This is the same role they fulfill for the ECFiber network in Vermont. We have already sent our signup list to ValleyNet. Later this month they will be sending out emails or letters to everyone who has signed up for service. One email will be a request for you to confirm your subscription. A second will provide the results of the “drop survey” that was done at your site last fall. This will have all the details about what is required at your site to get the cable from the utility pole to your premise.

We know that some subscribers plan to have their drop run underground through conduit. The job of installing that conduit is the responsibility of the subscriber. To help, we are soliciting the names of contractors who can do this work. If you are such a contractor or you want to suggest one, please send the information to info@lymefiber.net. We will not be evaluating contractors, but we will make the list available to anyone on request. The technical requirements for the conduit are the same as those for ECFiber and are available on their website.

Finally, as LymeFiber becomes a reality, we will be transitioning some resources like our website and some functions like routine communication with subscribers from our initial LymeFiber team to ValleyNet. They are the professionals. But our team, as your neighbors, will still be here.

If you have questions, please contact info@lymefiber.net. Thank you.

Working closely with our construction and operations partners at ValleyNet, we continue to progress toward installation of LymeFiber in Fall 2020. The process for installation is remarkably complicated, both because of the legal/regulatory requirements plus the amount of work from various entities that must occur:

• You may have seen various telephone and electric company trucks working on poles in town. This “make ready” process involves teams from those companies preparing the poles and making space for our fiber optic cables. (The image accompanying this note shows Eversource crews moving electric service to a new pole near Post Pond, March 2020.)
• In parallel, we are obtaining licenses to install the fiber on the poles and across the Connecticut River, ordering the necessary fiber cable, installing the electronics for the network hub, and finalizing the construction agreement with the contractor that will install the fiber.
• Once all these details are complete, our contractor will begin to install the fiber backbone on the poles along the roads of town. As things stand now, this will begin in June.
• Finally, once all the electronics are in place and the fiber has been hung on the poles, the LymeFiber crews will begin to install the “drops” that connect the backbone to each home or business.

Delays in obtaining pole access, plus the fact that town roads are now posted for mud season, have put us about four to six weeks behind our original plan. Nonetheless our target is to provide service starting in October.

If you haven’t yet signed up for service, and plan to do so – it would be very helpful for you to SIGN UP NOW. We’ll be contacting subscribers/sign-ups soon to discuss connection details with customers. This will be for planning the sequence of individual hook-up areas. If we get late signups, they may be delayed in getting a connection. If you have questions, please contact info@lymefiber.net. Thank you.

Lyme’s own Steve Campbell and ValleyNet’s Carole Monroe were quoted in Saturday’s article about LymeFiber in the Concord Monitor. (The article also appeared on page A2 of Valley News for November 4.) You can read it at: https://www.concordmonitor.com/lyme-nh-fiber-home-internet-29874661

As a reminder, LymeFiber still accepting no-obligation signups. Go to LymeFiber.net, click Sign Up Now. We’ll get back to you for details about connections as we get closer to providing service in Summer 2020.

As of early September, all applications to attach wires to the utility poles in Lyme have been submitted – a total of 1,941 poles. The utility companies are doing their make-ready survey work in teams composed of a contractor from the ValleyNet office, the telephone company, and the electric company. The photo above shows one of the team members measuring the height of the wires. The lowest point must be 18 feet above the roadbed.

In addition, LymeFiber is conducting the pole-to-house survey work mentioned in the postcards we sent out last month. You may see our two contractors, Bob Driscoll and Bill Gragen, going around town. They both have IDs, vests and LymeFiber magnets on the vehicles. They will want to see how to connect to the outside of your house, but will not need to come inside.