With equal parts precision and power, churning through nearly 200 feet of clay beneath sidewalks, driveways and the occasional tree root turned into a routine day at the office for Eric Vogel.
Vogel, of KwiKom Communications, was manning a Vermeer D10x15 horizontal directional drill, a key tool used for the companys ongoing fiber-to-the-home project in Iola.
The 8,000-pound drill the smaller of two used by KwiKom in Iola gouged a nearly 2-inch-wide hole along a horizontal route, roughly 3 ½ feet below the surface. A remote, hand-held sensor followed along, ensuring the boring followed the curvature of Northwestern Street.
We can be off a couple of inches, as long as we stay within our right-of-way, noted Michael Peres, one of KwiKoms founders, who was manning the sensor while the drilling was underway.
There was no need to worry. Within an hour, the drilling reached its designated stopping point at the intersection of Northwestern Street and Northwestern Circle, at which point a spool of orange conduit was attached to the end of the drill bit. This allowed the conduit to be pulled through the hole as the drill bit was extracted.
The final stage, which should be done soon, is to insert a braided hair-thin fiber-optic cable through the conduit, capable of bringing reliable, high-speed internet service to every home on the block.
The fiber-to-home project is about to enter its next phase.
Eric Vogel of KwiKom Communications mans the controls of a Vermeer horizontal directional drill to bore a hole along Northwestern Street this week, part of a fiber-to-the-home project.
Crews are in the midst of obtaining the necessary permits to extend fiber optic cable to downtown Iola, an effort that could begin by the end of the year.
By the end of 2020, the company hopes to have fiber service to anyone in Iola who wants it, noted Zach Peres, Mike Peress son and company vice president.
FOUNDED in 2010, KwiKom up until recently specialized exclusively in wireless internet service. Its reach has grown steadily across eastern Kansas, encompassing more than 11,000 square miles, from St. Marys to Elk City and Emporia to Hume, Mo.
Our goal is to bring good, high-speed internet wherever we can, particularly for rural areas, Zach Peres said. Fiber is the next step, he said. You hear people talk about Google fiber, but they dont think they can do it in a little town like Iola, Kansas. But were doing it.
The fiber project has allowed KwiKom to expand its internet speeds for everything from video broadcasting to gaming.
The actual fiber strand is about the width of a hair, Peres explained. They can transfer as much data through the fiber as the electronic devices at either end allow.
With its 1-gigabit service, a user can easily stream a high-definition movie on every computer in his house and still have enough access left over to browse Facebook.
