Fiber optics deliver internet connections at the speed of light
You might think of your internet connection as metal wires connected to your house and a little box plugged into your wall that provides Wi-Fi.
However, for the more than 80% of Golden West subscribers with a fiber connection, there’s a lot more to it. Fiber-optic cables deliver faster-than-ever speeds with the best connection available. 
Fiber-optic connections are wired connections that use flexible strands of pure glass sending pulses of light over long distances. Since this data transmits using light, it is capable of higher speeds, fewer interruptions, and dedicated networks.
Faster Speeds
The light-speed connection allows (symmetrical) download speeds up to 1 Gigabit per second. For reference, that is fast enough to download the entire Back to the Future movie in under ten seconds in high definition. The increased upload speeds mean you can upload your home videos on Facebook with a snap of your fingers.
Fewer Interruptions
Enjoying the speed is nice enough, but fiber-optic cables also maintain this speed without interference. Fiber-optic cables are buried in the ground. They are safe from wind, snow, ice, rain, and thunderstorms.
Dedicated Line
On top of being immune to weather conditions, you enjoy your own fiber-optic network. In fact, each household has a dedicated fiber strand that connects the house or business to a central office. Your home is not connected to a large neighborhood of shared connections.
Golden West upgrades thousands of subscribers to the fiber-optic network each year, with 750 miles of fiber-optic cable being put in the ground in 2023 alone. The cooperative is dedicated to giving communities in the service territory the brightest future possible with this infrastructure.
To meet the growing needs of members across the state, Golden West will upgrade more communities in the years ahead with fiber-optic connections. After Golden West installs fiber-optic cables, they are positioned for delivering faster speeds in the future as upgrades to above-ground equipment occur. Although Golden West can’t predict the future, we know it is coming at the speed of light!
For more information, visit the helpful overview here.
Sources: CNET
