As we move into 2019, we wanted to give our customers a look back at some of our biggest highlights of 2018. We hope you enjoy taking a behind the scenes look at our busy and productive year! We are already looking forward at what we will have to highlight at the end of this new year.
Advanced Tower Climbing Safety & Rescue Certification
After completing an intense Tower Safety and Rescue class, we have multiple crews available for tower work that includes, but not limited to equipment installation, maintenance and emergency response.
Intensive Fiber Training
We knew Fiber construction was going to be a major emphasis on our year. With that being said, we knew we needed to make sure our crews that were going to be helping get our customers connected to the Fiber network were going to need extensive training. We met with several of our distributors and manufactures and held many hands-on training sessions, learning the ins and outs of the material and products we would be using. Rather than relying on outside contractors, we wanted to make sure we kept all our work inhouse so we could continue to provide the best possible service and customer support possible.
Initial Deployment of New Wireless Equipment
With the addition of new tower sites, researching and deploying new equipment and technology has allowed us to bring higher speeds, more bandwidth and increased reliability to our customers. The deployment of this equipment is continuing daily and we are excited for what we have planned for the near future.
Increased Capacity to Tower Sites
Major upgrades took place at several tower sites in the past year that have increased the capacity to main tower locations. These upgrades have helped keep pace with the bandwidth increases and growing customer count. Coupled with new tower locations, equipment and now increased capacity at our tower locations, plans are already taking place to deliver higher speeds and more bandwidth to our customers.
IT Crew Visits Austin, TX
DattoCon, a Manager Service Provider Conference, was an opportunity for OACYS technicians to learn from and network with other MSP’s and vendors regarding Managed IT. It provided our technicians with training on how to best utilize the tools they are currently using as well as educate them on up and coming technology that improvement management of customers’ networks.
Management Team Attends Wisapalooza
Our management team attended the annual Wispalooza conference in Las Vegas, that is hosted by WISPA (Wireless Service Providers Association). Service providers and manufactures that support fixed wireless broadband including equipment suppliers, support services, and other components needed to run a successful business come together to discuss the latest technology and updates in the industry. We always want to make sure we are providing the best possible service to our customers by staying up to date with the latest technology and regulations within our industry.
Summit Estates II Goes Live
At the end of 2017, we found a new subdivision being built on the southwest side of town. We decided it would be a perfect opportunity to build out our “fiberhood”. As utility trenches were opened up, we ran conduit along the streets, and micro-conduit directly to every lot in the neighborhood. As the houses were being finished, new residents had access to Porterville’s first FTTH (Fiber to The Home) Internet connection. Our goal of making Summit Estates II as the first of many Fiberhoods in Porterville was accomplished.
New Tower Built in Exeter
Keeping with the “construction” theme for the year, we completed a new and improved tower in Exeter on Rocky Hill. This new tower location increases the quality of service in the area, gives us more capacity and stability to our service area in Exeter and the surrounding areas. It also allowed us to increase our capacity to surrounding microsites, which in return, improved the capacity and stability to our customers that weren’t directly connecting to our tower site on Rocky Hill.
Fiber Ring Construction in Porterville Begins
In June, ground broke for the first major leg of our Fiber infrastructure around Porterville. Nearly 3 miles of underground fiber would be run from our office on Porter out through the southwest part of Porterville. This is the first step to building a full Fiber network around Porterville, which will allow us to deploy speeds of 1000Mbps or higher to neighborhoods throughout the city. We aim to do further similar projects in the near future in order to provide service into new areas.
Fiber Internet Announced to Public
On August 1st, our plans to deliver Fiber Internet in Porterville was formally announced to the public. We had been putting the plans in motion well in advanced and the excitement and anticipation of revealing our plans to the public was hard to contain. As soon as we broke the news, we could see that the public was just as excited us, to have a local company investing in the community to bring the best Internet connection available to the area. This is the dawn of a new era for new possibilities that Fiber Internet means to our local community and our excitement and dedication to be able to bring this type of service to Porterville is sky high! In 2019, we are looking forward to continuing the expansion of our Fiber Internet deployment, alongside the other services we are offering throughout our local communities.