Springs: Spectrum Internet competitor soon to break ground.

Fiber-to-the-home Internet service will be tantalizingly close to some Saratoga Springs homes in just a few weeks — close but untouchable until next spring, or someday. SiFi Networks, which won a contract with the city to test their system, has submitted permits to the Department of Public Works and has met with city officials, especially those in DPW. This department oversees these types of construction matters.

“I’m working with them,” DPW commissioner Anthony “Skip” Scirocco said after Tuesday’s October 19 city council meeting with SiFi’s installation crews and engineers. “We’ve fixed some issues.”

In July, after a loud and rancorous discussion, the city approved a test of the company’s network over Scirocco’s objections. Scirocco said he was now generally positive about the process, although it is already about two weeks behind schedule. He isn’t sure yet if the system will pass the test and is holding out his verdict until next spring.

[Read more about the decision to test, here.]

His office has extended the start of the cable laying until October 31, two weeks later than originally planned.

The city and SiFi had agreed in July to test approximately 10,000 linear meters of cable at two locations. DPW helped SiFi choose the Buff Road and Evergreen Drive area on the western edge of the city, and the South Broadway corridor from Circular Drive to Adelphi Street. No clients will be associated with the system, but SiFi will test connectivity.

The test allows SiFi to install the basic network infrastructure. That includes burying cable in “micro trenches” along the roads and sidewalks and placing junction boxes at some utility poles and elsewhere.

The company is building a mesh system of cabling that will allow the internet signal to find the fastest way out of the neighborhood. If a cable is broken or a connection is slow on a street, the routers in the system will find another way to connect to the Internet, company officials said.

“We’ll probably know if a home has lost Internet connectivity before the homeowner does,” said Shawn Parker, SiFi’s vice president of business development and government affairs. He said they will send repair trucks soon.

The test will not only see how well the internet connection works, but also whether the cabling itself can handle the freezes, frosts and swells that occur during a winter and spring in the North.

For their part, SiFi officials told the city council that they were making progress and trying to build the system up properly. Their microtrench is about 1.25 inches wide and a foot deep, which is deeper than some other companies. It’s a relatively new process in the United States, but it’s been used in Europe for 30 years, officials said.

“We want to stay here in Saratoga Springs for a very long time,” Parker told the board.

Scirocco, who was skeptical of the system, said after the meeting that he is still concerned about road and sidewalk conditions after microtrenching and whether the cables can handle a Saratoga winter or not.

After their presentation, Parker and Knight said they knew the process in the city had been resentful and Scirocco had been skeptical, but they said the work in DPW went well.

“The conversation [with DPW and the city] continues in good faith,” said Bob Knight. He is SiFi’s PR representative for the firm of Harrison Edwards.

If the tests work and the city and company are satisfied, they will start connecting homes to the system in the spring.

SiFi Networks supplies the cabling to homes and businesses, but does not provide internet service. SiFi will build the network and collaborate with various internet service providers that will provide access to individual homes. There can be a challenge when connecting to some multi-family homes, especially if not all units want access.

The network and Internet service providers will compete directly with Spectrum Cable, the only ground-based Internet provider in Saratoga Springs.

City Council commissioners were pleased to hear that the process was progressing and believe that competition is needed to lower prices and improve customer service.

SiFi officials have said services on their network should run between $60 and $100 per month.