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wiredInUSA - April 2014
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RST Fiber has activated a 3,100-mile
fiber optic broadband network,
claimed to be the first privately owned
100GB IPv6 backbone network in the
US.
RST built the North Carolina network
with some of its own fiber, and some
acquired from the state's NCREN
fiber network, which has expanded
recently to reach all 100 NorthCarolina
counties.
Gigabit Internet speeds provide
service at around 100 times the speed
of standard cable Internet but, while
common in many parts of the world,
are still relatively rare in the US. RST
CEO Dan Limerick explained that
some locations will be close enough to
the physical fiber to tap right into the
100GB pipe, but other locations will be
wirelessly connected to the network.
New wifi technology allows for those
wireless connections to maintain
gigabit speeds, he added.
The network already reaches from
the mountains to the sea, but Limerick
says RST intends to continue to expand
its physical fiber lines to make more
connections possible. "I call it, for lack
of a better term, a spider web," he
said. "We're building the network like a
spider builds its web, slowly expanding
from the core out. In this case, the
core is the backbone line that we're
announcing now."
100GB fiber
network
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