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'motion picture. 1h iid ¢ Port Perry St OFFICE CENTRE "985-7383 CLASSIFIEDS PORT PERRY, ONTARIO - TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1994 985-0170 1-800-361-0216 REAL ESTATE Information Highway Compton Cable set to enter the world of "fibre optics" By Cathy Olliffe Port Perry Star Life may be a highway in the language of rock 'n roll, but in the communications industry, hair-thin strands of glass are the highways on which most infor- mation will soon be disseminated. They're called 'fibre optic' cables, and they are the fastest highway in the world for moving information. Ron Compton, owner of Compton Cable TV, the com- pany which supplies cable to areas of Scugog and Uxbridge townships, says fibre optics are the key to unlocking virtually limitless potential in data communications. In the future, they will make the world small- er. No longer will office workers on Bay St. have to commute two hours a day to and from their Port Perry homes. In the future, their office will be a cozy nook in the basement, or the spare room, and their computer will con- nect them with the world. Instantaneously. In the future, you will be able to order movies from the comfort of your own living room and have digitized versions delivered in micro-seconds to your TV set. Instead of being forced to watch it at a time set by the broadcaster, you can watch it at any time you want; you can back it up, move it forward, just as if you were watching it on the VCR. What's more, the sound and picture quality will be a 100 per cent duplication of the original "I'm talking perhaps a little futuristic," Ron Compton says. "Maybe three to five years." And that is just the tip of the iceberg. Fibre optic communica- tion will likely change the world. But Scugog will not have to wait five years for the won- ders of fibre optics. They are here now, and sometime before Jan. 1 rolls around, Compton Cable will throw a switch bringing the old 'analog' cable TV system into a brave new world. "Our industry is being consumed by this tidal wave," he says. "I want to steer away from frightening people who are over- whelmed by new technology, and I think the exciting part is they're going to see data communi- cations and not realize it." For example, Ron says television sets in the near future won't look any different, but they will be remark- : ably different in their capabilities -- more like comput- ers than anything else. But, "when they go to the store, they think they're just buying a television." It's rather like subscribing to cable. On the surface, you're just paying for cable TV -- albeit, clearer, distor- tion-free TV with almost zero chance of interruption. Above and beyond that, cable can be the communication tool linking you to the world. But that's all down the road. In the meantime, Compton's new fibre optic system will mean your cable will likely never go out again (barring some extreme event). That's an important promise to people who enjoy tel- evision. Anyone who has had the cable go out in the middle of an absorbing movie, a compelling soap opera plotline or the last few minutes of a baseball game, knows how frustrating a cable interfuption can be. The old system's originating point, or 'head end', is the Compton Cable office in Utica. Using satellite dishes and a myriad of antennae, Compton reigns in signals from all over, at great cost, and then channels them to "When their television's out, seconds count," Ron peoples says. "If it ever goes out, the phones around here ring homes. The constantly. They never stop." old route is His company has spent $2.8 million to ensure, fraught among other things, people can enjoy TV uninterrupted. with pro- That's how much he says it blems just has cost to install waiting to 40,000 happen. metres of The fibre program- ming is sent via buried analog cable from the head end, and then boosted by amplifiers, every 450 metres, to overcome the loss created by travelling. There are 16 amplifiers between the head end and Port Perry. Also dotted along the way are power stations. At every one of these points is the potential for problems like power failures or simple mechanical break- downs. Not to mention the fact that each amplifier distorts the picture quality. "As you load more channels, the distortion increases," Ron says. With consumers demand- ing more channels, and the CRTC demanding cable companies supply more Canadian cont- ent channels, the load on the old systems is growing. " ) J Compton's new system is state-of-the-art. "We have built a fibre optics system for our subscribers I know for a fact is the most advanced fibre optic cable television system in Canada," Ron says. Like the old version, the new one starts 1t the head end, where Compton has recent- ly installed a $30,000 diesel generator to be used in case of power outtages. From there, the fibre optics cable follows a route, five feet underground, directly to Port Perry, Uxbridge and Goodwood, where it will be connected to other cable systems (and from there, satellites and 'the world'). The cable is not interrupted with amplifiers or power stations. It looks just like any other cable from the outside -- inside are 72 glass fibres, thinner than human hairs, with the capability of transporting 500 channels in each fibre. "There is absolutely zero distortion of picture," Ron says. "The stability of the picture is rock solid. We bought probably the best equipment manufactured in the world." And while the cable has the ability to transport thousands of channels, Ron says that isn't likely to Ron happen. , i; Compton, "The reality is, do we really want to offer two to = president of three hundred channels?" Compton Cable TV Instead 5 his company will be sending surveys to customers asking what channels they would like to see aired. Realistically, Compton will soon be able to off- | er 50 channels. "We want to give them options," Ron says. While other, bigger cable companies are slowly re- building their own systems, Ron says Compton Cable is the first to have it so close to completion. "The whole North American continent is going through re-builds," he says. "There is so much demand for cable, the two major manufacturers ran out." For cable subscribers the new technology may be confusing, but if it means the cable wont go out during the next World Series (if there ever is another World Series), then it's worth its weight in beer and peanuts. Now, if someone could invent a clicker that doesn't hide under the couch, we'll be all set... optic cable, and get the system up and running. While the system has been in planning stages for years, the actual work of laying cable was done over the summer. That's stage one: lighting up the fibre optic line. Step two is energizing the new 'analog' portion of the plant into people's homes. And step three will likely occur in six months, when actual lines inside people's homes are switched over. C onfused? It's easy to be overwhelmed by technology. Talking to Ron Compton, who speaks quickly and throws out words most people have never heard of before, is an exercise in listening. But the bot- tom line is easy: Out with the old, and in with the new. The 'old', Ron says, "is a technology that was used by all cable companies all over the world." Ad Ar . XO ZL, --~ 0 17 [J AWN 0 Se": " 3 1, Pa NON rs NI vin, ama rr lo od,