The coming of fiber optics to Hurricane in 2022 can be likened to the coming of the C&O Railway to Hurricane in 1873. With the C&O, came the telegraph and vastly improved communications.

Fiber optics is a vast improvement over the lines that currently carry electronic transmissions. A fiber optic strand is less than a tenth as thick as a human hair and can carry 25,000 telephone calls. Fiber optic communication is more efficient and less expensive than the cable.

The conduit which Frontier Communications is installing will serve as a protective casing for the strands of optical fiber. Hurricane City Manager Andy Skidmore stated that the fiber will be threaded through the conduit and placed in service before the end of 2022. Skidmore stated the cost will be significantly lower than cable.

Skidmore said that the optic fiber which the county is installing will allow for even lower costs to residents.

Fiber-optic cables are now the main way of carrying information over long distances because they have big advantages over old-style copper cables:

There is less signal loss, allowing information to travel 10 times further before amplification is necessary. This makes fiber networks simpler and cheaper to operate and maintain.

Unlike with copper cables, there’s no electromagnetic interference. Optical fibers transmit information reliably with better signal quality. Fiber-optic cables carry far more data than copper cables of the same diameter.

The arrival of broadband Internet has made cloud computing possible. Data can be stored remotely using online services instead of a home or business PC. Fiber broadband is typically 5–10 times faster than conventional DSL.