Bright House cable goes underground

BROOKSVILLE –
People traveling down Wiscon Road on Thursday saw scores of utility workers digging trenches along the side of the highway.

Crews also were spotted down California Street.

It’s all part of Bright House Networks’ plan to supplement its aerial cable with underground fiber optic lines.

Steve Cason, a utility locator with United States Infrastructure Corporation, said Bright House Networks is installing the lines in various parts of the county so that if there is a power outage, service to customers would be uninterrupted.

Eventually, the cable lines will extend down Wiscon Road all the way to U.S. 41, Cason said.

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Joe Durkin, Bright House senior director of corporate communications, said the new underground lines will enable the company to be better prepared for potential hurricanes or other natural disasters.

“By taking the fiber optic lines and burying them underground, they’re hardened and protected from any torrential winds and storms that come through,” Durkin said.

The aerial lines will remain and the underground network will serve as a kind of back-up.

Bright House is doing a similar project in Orlando, Manatee County and other parts of its service area.

Durkin did not have a date for project completion.

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