By Maggie Beamguard
Insider Editor
Ripple Fiber, a high speed internet company headquartered in Charlotte, has been laying the groundwork to bring a second high speed fiber internet provider to Seven Lakes. Spectrum has been the lone source of this same type of service for residents.
Ripple Fiber started placing fiber cables in Moore County prior to opening a West End location last year. Cable installation began in Oct. 2023 along utility right-of-ways in the Longleaf, Knollwood Heights, Arboretum, Talamore and Pine Grove Village areas.
Ripple Fiber describes fiber internet as a solution that transmits data through light pulses and is less susceptible to outside interference, making the fiber optic connections more durable.
“The Ripple Fiber team is honored to bring fiber internet to the Moore County community to provide residents with a better communications infrastructure,” said company CEO Greg Wilson at the January 2024 ribbon cutting in West End. “At the core of our business is our desire to bring cutting-edge technology to the places that need it, setting them up for the future of telecommunications.”
Residents in Seven Lakes North and South are the first of Seven Lakes’s gated communities to receive the new technology.
The process for that community has involved several phases, starting with the decision phase to let them come last summer and an information phase for residents. “We allowed them to have a couple of resident town halls where they paid for everything,” said SLLA Board President Heather Guild. “They paid for the use of the building. They paid for food. And then people could come and pre-signup, if that’s what they wanted to do.”
The presale lasted until September. Now installation has begun. “In October they started to do the install of the cable, just the laying of the cable,” Guild said. Since then they have had two crews working on each the North and South sides.
Aside from a few early communication hiccups things have worked well by Guild’s assessment. Ripple fiber organizes the installation by sections and informs the community which areas would experience impacts.
Hang tags are placed on doors to alert residents when crews would be working nearby. The tags strictly announce the presence of the crews and are not intended for solicitation of business. The tags also have a number to call Ripple Fiber if residents experience any problems.
“That’s been really good because the office has not been inundated with yeah you know phone calls,” said Guild.
The crews are nearing completion of two sections on each the north and south sides. They should start running the lines from the street directly to homes of Ripple Fiber subscribers in March.
Guild said regular meetings with the Ripple Fiber construction team has helped the left hand know what the right hand is doing. “After a couple of — which is to be expected, it’s a big job — hiccups, those lines of communication are working very well.”
There have been three water main breaks, two due to the failure of subcontractor personnel to follow directions and one due to a mistake marking the 50 year-old-lines.
But Guild says Ripple Fiber has been very good about taking swift action in each case. All damage has been repaired.
“For the most part, I think it’s gone pretty smoothly, ” said Guild. “They have been very neat and tidy. They have not left equipment and cables all over the place. They have not left holes overnight which was one of our biggest concerns because with no sidewalks people walk on the easements. And they have put down seed and pine straw.”
Guild anticipates the work will wrap up by the end of June, though the timeline may accelerate if an additional crew is allowed to work on each side.
With so many people working from home, reliable internet services with ample bandwidth for Zoom meetings and video streaming have become a critical part of infrastructure. Bringing a second provider to the area allows residents to have a second choice.
According to Guild, the availability of high speed fiber internet has a positive impact on home values. “Real estate agents will tell you that when a community has fiber optics it’s just one more enhancement the community has, and it’s just one more thing that that kind of either adds to the value of your home or or maintains the value at your home.”
Guild applauds the folks they have worked with at the management levels from both Ripple Fiber and their subcontractor management.
“Once we ironed out some initial communication, the lines of communication have been very good. They take ownership of issues. They resolve things very quickly, and they are, in my opinion, so genuinely trying to make the whole process as seamless as possible.”
That may be good news for residents of Seven Lakes West who will be next for the technology upgrade. Resident information meetings were held in January with representatives from Ripple FIber who answered questions ranging from the practicalities of installation at particular home sites to pricing parameters to larger infrastructure questions.
A document with the answers to these and many other questions is available on the Seven Lakes West community’s TownSq App.
According to that document, Ripple Fiber will bring in two crews to start. They will work in the same area along the same path. All of their infrastructure is in the utility right of way.
Frank Ingham, SLWLA Board President, said Ripple Fiber will start installing the cable once NC811 has completed utility marking.
Contact Maggie Beamguard at maggie@thepilot.com.
