You’re undoubtedly accustomed to seeing all kinds of telecommunication towers, particularly in densely populated areas. We use towers to distribute the energy we use in our homes and to send the signals we need to communicate with one another. It’s likely you’ve noticed cell phone towers and internet towers in your area. But you might not have given much thought to how those signals are sent and received.
If you live in an area with a smaller population that’s more spread out, you might be more familiar with the frustration associated with lack of service and connectivity. And while the U.S. Department of Agriculture invested around $85 million in 2015 in order to improve internet connectivity in that country’s more rural areas, that doesn’t always mean everyone has a crystal-clear connection. And even if you do, you may not realize what’s behind that improvement in connectivity. The same thing happens in Latin America.
The answer here for this kind of inconvenience is a robust fiber optic (F.O.) network. When you refer to wireless internet or the 5G network you have on your smartphone, it’s important to know that those connections don’t simply appear out of thin air. Many people picture satellites or other forms of connectivity you might not be able to readily see. But actually, fiber capacity is the secret of great telecommunication services.
F.O. acts as the foundation of towering. Cell phone and internet providers might build new towers all the time in order to expand their coverage areas. But they won’t be able to achieve those goals if they don’t have strong fiber optic network with internet connections. In order to provide wireless internet, fiber optics are needed. They might not get a lot of the glory, but without fiber optic services, your wireless network would cease to exist. Fiber optic operators are required to either lay new fiber or make use of existing fiber to provide a connectivity source. This source is then used to create wireless connections.
Really, wireless internet is the thing that links your device to a fiber optic network; it’s the “middle man,” of sorts, that bridges the gap. Towering can be a great way to bring reliable internet service to those who live in more remote areas — but building more towers won’t do a thing if a solid F.O. network isn’t part of the equation. Whether you’re talking about wireless internet for your laptop computer or the cellular wireless connections you utilize with help from your smartphone, they all need dependable connections (in the form of fiber optics) to work as they should.
Today’s towers are built with fiber optics in mind; rather than being retrofitted for F.O. technology, the infrastructure for fiber optic networks is planned from the start. This evolution has vastly improved the performance of mobile networks while making these towers more architecturally appealing. Keep in mind, of course, that many telecommunications companies and network operators will develop their own towering services equipped with the best fiber optic capacity available.
Now that you understand the role of fiber optics in today’s towering needs, you may be wondering whether towering is necessary for your business or your municipality. To learn more about our towering services or about the fiber optic internet services we provide, please contact Ufinet today.
