Shana Macey, Crown Point Telephone president, and Tony Macey, Crown Point Telephone vice president of operations, have announced a project to bring fiber optic service to Ticonderoga.
THE SUN | MARCH 16, 2012
Crown Point Telephone formed in 1896 when larger companies failed to meet the needs of local residents.
Now, 116 years later, the company is again stepping up to serve a neglected market.
Crown Point Telephone and its subsidiary Crown Point Network Technologies has formed Bridge Point Communication. The new firm will begin installing fiber optic cable next week that will serve the Ticonderoga business community this fall.
“We’re very excited,” Shana Macey, Crown Point Telephone president, said. “Every person in our office is excited; you can feel it when you walk in the door. Everyone is involved in this project.”
Macey made the formal announcement during a Ticonderoga Area Chamber of Commerce “After Business Mixer” March 15, which was held at the Crown Point Telephone office.
The fiber optic service will provide Ticonderoga businesses with state-of-the-art internet and phone services, explained Tony Macey, Crown Point Telephone vice president of operations.
Fiber optic service transmits information through pulses of light, Tony Macey said, with virtually limitless bandwidth. The service will be much faster and more dependable that existing internet services available in Ticonderoga.
“In order to compete in today’s business world, employers require faster and greater connectivity to the internet to access Email and corporate information, exchange very large and sophisticated files such as X-rays or architectural drawings, and /or create virtual private networks to increase productivity,” Shana Macey said. “Providing fiber optics is essentially giving small and medium-sized businesses access to all the services and abilities enjoyed by larger Fortune 500 companies.”
The installation of fiber optic cable this spring and summer is Phase 1 of a larger project. Bridge Point Communication plans to provide the new service to the Wicker Street, Montcalm Street, Champlain Avenue area by fall, Tony Macey said. The firm plans to expand to other parts of Ticonderoga and offer residential service in 2013.
“It’s a major project,” Tony Macey said. “Any time you’re putting actual infrastructure in place there are significant costs — the cable, transportation, labor,” he said of phasing in service to Ticonderoga. “Also, we want to make certain everything is working properly and there are no issues before we expand. We need to do this in phases.”
Besides offering faster, improved internet and phone services, Shana Macey stressed Bridge Point Communication will proffer local technical assistance.
“What we offer more than anything is local service,” she said. “We’ve been here 116 years. We’re invested in the community. We’re not going any where.
“We understand that people do business all hours of the day and night,” she added. “They need assistance at all times. We understand that and will provide help at any time.”
Tony Macey agreed.
“Customer service is key,” he said. “If a businessman is working on a report at 2 a.m. at the Best Western in Ticonderoga and the internet goes down we’ll be available to fix the problem immediately.”
Shana Macey said the fiber optics project is a major investment for her company, although she declined to say how much money is being spent.
“There are so many aspects,” she said. “It would be really tough to quantify an amount.”
It’s a smart investment, she said.
“It’s not going to lose its value,” Shana Macey said. “Throughout the years our company has always made strides to keep up with new technology. When telephones changed for the better, we changed. Fiber optics is the next step. Fiber will always hold its value. It will be the major venue for quite some time to come.”