The Ripon City Council recently gave the green light to Frontier California, Inc. for the installation of high-speed fiber optic cables in town.

Once done, residents and businesses in the City of Ripon’s right-of-way could benefit from the faster, more reliable telecommunication services.

According to the staff report from the Feb. 14 meeting, Frontier Communications will be able to do just that by using their own fiber optic network – “The current infrastructure providing these services is slower than other providers and can be unreliable at times,” the report noted.

Associate Engineer Christiana Giebb said that the plan calls for Frontier to install 70 miles of fiber optic cables throughout the City, with some of the encroachment permits having already been submitted.

Staff decided it would be best to create an installation agreement to ensure that the project is completed in the best way.

Giebb indicated that some of the work by Frontier would include installing about 40 miles of new underground conduit along with fiber optic cable on existing utility poles and pulling cable through existing conduit.

Other work would consist of various trenching options including in the middle of the roadways similar to that in Manteca. Giebb said she spoke to the City of Manteca and “they were happy with the outcome” of the work.

She added that Frontier is estimating a nine-month construction. “But staff feel that it will take longer,” she said.

City Administrator Kevin Werner said staff will have a hand in controlling how many permits are issued at one time on the project in order to keep up with inspections and control the disruption, if any, to residents.

Frontier is hoping to start construction in the third or fourth quarter of this year.