Seeking a net gain

To the editor:

I read with interest Finn Hartnett’s article Jan. 8 on fiber Internet. I have worked in the electrical, teledata, security and related low-voltage industry since 1992. I remember my first pager and when the Internet was a new thing. 

I currently am reading about Chinese backdoor infiltration of our most basic infrastructure (electric, gas, water, and sewer) as well as Internet, cellular, air traffic control, train companies. and more.

Of course, we are doing it, too, but the point is that much of our infrastructure is vulnerable.

Back in the early 1990s, we didn’t think much of the Internet or networks, but now everything runs on a network of some kind. And it all requires electricity. We have to invest in, manage, and safeguard the electric grid, the Internet, and the cellular grid and devote more resources to maintaining and improving these assets.

If I were young, I would dive into that market head first. But I’m not, so I am concentrating on doing what I can to create redundant capacity for my home and family.

This includes installing a generator, new fiber optic feeds to my house, and UPS backup to protect from shutdowns, surges, and spikes. I also pay a small amount for backup cellular Internet.

Fiber eventually will reach the vast majority of homes. A network with a fiber trunk transitioning down to a Cat 6 branch or a coaxial tributary is only as good as its weakest link. You experience data loss at every break point, and your throughput is only as good as your “last mile.”

All this talk about faster speeds is irrelevant if your immediate connections and equipment lag. Over time, everything will be upgraded, just as no one uses Windows XP or Me anymore. 

Communities should be evaluating every available offer to stay on top of current trends.

Business communities in even the smallest towns should work together to develop more and better services that benefit all.

Local governments should work to develop data centers to whatever extent they can. The largest data farms in the U.S. are in Oregon, Wisconsin, Georgia, Texas, and Virginia. Why not central Kansas?

Instead of worrying about the US-Mexico border, I’m concerned with building our local economies to offer good jobs that keep young people in their home communities.

The multiplier effect of data farms is immense: design, construction, maintenance, the list goes on. Every company pays employees, buys from suppliers, and operates trucks, and all those people buy gas, groceries, cars, trucks, boots, furniture, diapers, fishing rods, and more. It ripples across the country.

We need to quit pitching our bitch about what we don’t like and get organized to build all these things that we do like.

Doug Gambrell
Bay Village, Ohio