By Joshua Mills
mills@newsroom.byu.edu
Spanish Fork telecommunications network will offer improved cable TV and high-speed Internet for residents in spring 2001.
The Spanish Fork Community Network plans to install coaxial and fiber optic cables in homes in the city to deliver better telecommunications services, according to the Spanish Fork City Web site.
The SFCN's improved services will help residents get competitive rates for cable TV and high-speed Internet, according to the Web site.
'Right now you can only buy your cable service from AT&T,' said John Bowcut, director of Information Systems at Spanish Fork.
SFCN's improved service will likely improve cable TV and Internet connection quality, Bowcut said.
'The incumbent provider sees the competition and upgrades its service,' he said.
Spanish Fork is also currently testing a wireless Internet connection service for residents in a few neighborhoods, Bowcut said.
Nate Crow, a Spanish Fork resident and geographic information systems specialist for the City, is using the test-version of the wireless Internet connection and said the connection is convenient and fast.
The service will soon be offered for residents in areas that do not have overhead power lines, he said.
The cable television network will provide school, community and business programming, according to the Web site.
The business-oriented programming is designed to help residents become aware of local businesses, Bowcut said.
'We want to let them know of the types of services that are here in town,' he said.
People go to Provo for their business needs because they do not know of businesses in Spanish Fork, Bowcut said.
The community network will be successful because of partnerships with local organizations, such as the Nebo School District, he said.
SFCN and the school district are building a TV broadcasting facility near Spanish Fork High School designed to be a classroom for the students and a local cable TV station, Bowcut said.
'The students will get to go over there and use the studios and get the exposure to these kinds of technologies that otherwise they wouldn't be able to,' he said.
Bob Wadley, director of secondary education at the Nebo School District, said students will use the studio to take technology and broadcast classes.
'We feel that will be a good educational experience for them,' Wadley said.
The studio will likely be available for students in fall 2001, Wadley said.