Byline: Susan Palmer The Register-Guard

Greater computer bandwith is headed to Florence but it may be awhile before locals have access to it. An Alaska telecommunications company has announced that it will run a fiber optic cable from the coastal town of Homer south to Oregon next year.

Alaska Communications Systems has filed applications with the state of Oregon and the federal government for permission to route a fiber optic cable on the Pacific Ocean floor. ACS representatives were in Florence on Tuesday to speak with community leaders about the $95 million project.

Fiber optic cable is made up of strands of glass, thinner than hair but as strong as steel, ACS spokeswoman Mary Gasperlin said. Each strand carries light waves that can transmit a huge amount of data - information that travels almost instantaneously.

ACS offers local telephone service, wireless, long distance, data and Internet services to business and residential customers throughout Alaska and to some Lower 48 customers. The new fiber optic cable they propose will be able to transmit 2.56 terabits per second, an enormous amount of data, and significantly more capacity than any other current links from Alaska, according to the company's news release.

The company chose to bring the cable ashore at Florence because the offshore conditions - the sea floor soil and the slope - were favorable, and the community welcoming, Gasperlin said.

This cable takes a different route from existing cables connecting Alaska to the Lower 48 and will safeguard communications in the event that accidents or disasters sever other lines.

It was easy for Florence to say yes to the cable because the city doesn't have any fiber optic network, said Public Works Director Mike Miller.

Once out of the ocean, the cable will be linked to ground-based cable and routed north to Portland and Seattle. The building housing the connections will be in Florence's Pacific View Business Park. Other business park tenants and community members along the cable's land route should be able to tie in to the network, Miller said.

While Florence does have Internet and wireless providers, none are as robust or as fast as that provided by fiber optics, Miller said.

"We'll get higher speed and the ability to transmit larger volumes of data," he said.

ACS won't be offering direct access to residential and business customers.

Instead, it will allow other telecommunications providers access to the cable.

According to the easement application ACS filed with the Oregon Department of State Lands this month, the cable will be installed on the sea floor to a water depth of approximately 4,800 feet and approximately 3 feet beneath the sea bed.

The shore crossing at Heceta Beach just off Meares Street will be installed by horizontal drilling, which will put the cable beneath the surf zone and the beach, according to the permit application.

The company plans to begin construction by May 2008 and finish by November.

The Federal Communications Commission and the state lands division must both sign off before work can begin.