“Internet Freedom is here” were the words said as the ribbon was cut during a ceremony held at City Hall on Tuesday, Nov. 18.
Ideatek is an internet service provider, specializing in fiber. “In today’s day and age, connection to the outside world is imperative,” Economic Director Jim Zaleski said. “Ideatek is going to bring this to individual households in the city through fiber.”
Zaleski said that there is a big difference between fiber and wifi available through traditional cable or satellite.
Fiber internet is transmitted through fiber optic tubes, made of fiberglass, according to Matt Towne, an Ideatek account manager.
“Your cable internet runs over a copper wire; it uses an electrical signal that travels down the wire. Fiber uses laser light,” Towne said.
Towne noted that there are benefits to using fiber, such as increased durability and speed.
“It isn’t as affected by the weather like electricity can be. It handles the traffic and the stress of traffic very, very well. “So what you see are more consistent speeds, and the ability to provide higher speeds, past a gigabit on the download and well past the traditional limits of copper options.”
Towne said Ideatek offers symmetrical speeds, meaning the speed of downloading and uploading content to the internet is the same. Most copper internet options have higher download speeds compared to upload speeds. For most individuals or households, this is fine. However, those who live-stream or play video games online may see issues with their upload speeds. This problem decreases with symmetrical upload and download speeds and the increased capacity of fiber.
Fiber can be installed overhead on poles like other communications cables. It can also be installed underground, Towne said that in Parsons, Ideatek is doing a mix of both.
Towne noted that some areas in town are already live with fiber, other areas are still under construction, or construction is planned for the future.
While potential customers can check if service is available at www.ideatek.com, in areas where service is not available, filling out the form can help technicians determine where the highest interest is and prioritize those neighborhoods as they are expanding.
For areas already built for fiber, installation can take from a week to a month to complete; in areas that are still being built, the installation can take a couple of months, Towne said.
Towne said another benefit of fiber internet is the cost.
See FIBER, Page 3.
“Usually fiber for the value comes in not only at a lower price point, but more speed for the money,” Towne said. “So you get better bang for your buck with fiber, versus copper.”
Towne noted that Ideatek is a community-minded company. “We’re a local Kansas business that wants to be involved in the communities that we come into,” Towne said.
He said the company’s mission is to bring internet freedom to Kansans all over the state.
“We want to make sure everybody has the same access to broadband internet, to keep them competitive. Whether they are in a town like Parsons or a city like Wichita,” Towne said. “Not having internet means you can’t bank like everyone else. You can’t fill out job applications like everyone else. You don’t have access to the same level of education that you do with people that have online access. We want to make sure Kansans are competitive, no matter where they live, to keep Kansas strong, to keep us growing economically, and attract people to want to move here, and so our communities continue to grow, and that has driven our company for the last 25 years.”
Of Parsons, Towne said: “We’re very excited to come to Parsons. We love to partner with communities that are excited about us.”
Mayor Verlyn Bollinger said prior to Ideatek’s work, the only fiber available locally was in downtown Parsons for commercial or business customers.
“I think the fiber is a great thing for Parsons, and we look forward to working with them in the future,” Bollinger said.
