Rings of Power: United Completes Its Backbone of
Seven Rings of Fiber Internet to Better Serve Members
by MATT ARNOLD
Before United constructed the seven rings of its fiber optic backbone, co-op member Carmen Manwaring of Granbury did not have access to reliable, high-speed fiber internet. She said she had to rely on satellite internet for a time that, according to her, would go out for hours because of volatile weather such as a windstorm. Then, she tried wireless internet, which had its own issues.
“I stream a lot of TV with my Roku—Hulu, Netflix and Peacock,” Manwaring said. “I’ve had no problems with that now that I’m with United. The service has been good with no lag times. Before United fiber, I had wireless. The service was good, but I had to put a 20-foot tower on my roof on a pole, which is not what I had planned on when I moved in. I was not happy because, to me, it was like a big lightning rod on my roof. That was our only option. With United, I can get rid of the tower.”
In February, United Cooperative Services completed a significant milestone by implementing what it refers to as the “seven rings” or backbone of its fiber network. The backbone comprises seven physical rings of a redundant fiber network that transport traffic from the member’s home, through United’s network, and then out to one of six Points of Presence that contact hubs in Dallas, which then connect United’s network to the internet.
“The completion of the backbone is the culmination of many people’s hard work,” said United CEO Cameron Smallwood. “From the drafting board to the field, United has worked to provide the highest quality fiber network to our members. All along we’ve wanted our internet infrastructure to be scalable, with multiple built-in redundancies to be as reliable as possible for our members.”
The way the network rings work, according to Chris MacIntyre, vice president of internet services at United, is that information can flow in either direction along the rings. If there’s an interruption in one segment of the ring, traffic is automatically routed in the other direction, thereby minimizing the radius of outages, and ultimately providing more reliable service to the member.
“It’s important to mention that very few networks possess this kind of redundancy and that’s what makes United unique as well as one of the most protected networks in the country,” MacIntyre said. “Being fast, diverse, robust and different is what allows subscribers to have such a great online experience.”
United’s geographic service area spans from Ellis County in the east to Possum Kingdom and beyond in the west. To date, United has installed more than 7,000 miles of high-speed internet fiber cable to its ever-expanding network and has more than 24,000 active internet subscribers with more being added daily.
The total investment in the completion of the backbone topped more than $53 million and used 855 miles of fiber cable according to Clay Turner, United’s outside plant manager. Turner and his team, along with the assistance of the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative and Johnson Communications, were instrumental in completing the backbone.
“It took us four years to build the backbone along with the other 6,300 plus miles of fiber built to date,” Turner said. “Our backbone is 93 percent aerial and 7 percent underground. We are not aware of another cooperative to match this feat. It was definitely a team effort, and it took everyone buying in both internally and externally to get this done.”
United’s network is 100 percent fiber optic and can transmit across longer distances at higher bandwidths than other internet service provider mediums such as traditional DSL, cable, wireless and satellite. Traditional DSL is limited by distance and technological advancement. Coaxial from cable companies struggles with upload speeds, quality and reliability. Wireless and satellite have similar challenges, but for them, line-of-sight is the next biggest issue after speed and reliability. By contrast, United’s fiber optic lines offer download speeds of up to 1 gigabit (1,000 megabits) per second, making it far faster for the end user. United will be offering multi-gigabit download speeds soon, according to John Taylor, network deployment manager at United.
A fiber optic cable consists of individual flexible glass fibers that are approximately one-tenth the diameter of a human hair and can transmit information in the form of light from one end to the other. Because of its ability to carry information quickly across long distances without electromagnetic interference, fiber optic lines are considered superior to traditional electrical cabling and are unaffected by weather and water under normal circumstances or events.
“United’s fiber optic network is incredibly robust, resilient and redundant,” MacIntyre said. “The fiber United uses is from one of the three largest manufacturers in the world that delivers only the best-made glass so it’s not only durable but also made of the highest quality materials to protect the fiber. What this means to our members is that they get a faster, more reliable internet connection. We are honored that our members entrust us to build, operate, maintain and manage their network.”
As of now, United’s internet service subscriber take rate is more than 51 percent, and this number continues to remain strong as the cooperative expands its network, MacIntyre said.