Frontier to build private fiber-to-the-home network in Weaverville; county staff to monitor impacts

Frontier Communications presented plans April 5 to install fiber-to-the-home service to about 1,600 residences and some businesses in the Weaverville area in a privately funded project the company expects to complete by year-end.

Doug McAllister, vice president for Frontier, told the Trinity County Board of Supervisors the company expects to begin construction in June for a southern phase and start turning up service in August for households reached in that phase, with a goal of completing the overall build by December. McAllister said the build will be “mostly aerial” — over existing utility poles where Frontier already has copper lines — and that the project does not use grant money; it is financed by Frontier’s corporate investment.

Why it matters: the project would bring symmetrical gigabit-plus service to homes and businesses in parts of Trinity County that currently rely on copper-based lines. County staff said the county could benefit at some facilities if the network reaches county properties.

What Frontier told the board: McAllister said the company is deploying “fiber from our central office all the way to the side of a house or a business” and described the service as “future-proof” compared with copper and DSL. He said the company…