RED ROCK, Okla. – Power and speed for the Otoe-Missouria Tribe’s telecommunications system is on the way, Tribal Councilmember Wendell Bollinger said recently. Wendell is spearheading a drive to replace the tribe’s present copper wire system with up-to-date fiber optics.
Fiber optic lines are strands of very pure glass as thin as a human hair that, arranged in bundles called optical cables, carry digital information over long distances. Fiber optic cables have several advantages over traditional metal lines, like copper. They have a much greater bandwidth, which means they can carry more data; they are less susceptible to interference, and are much thinner and lighter.
The greater bandwidth means the tribe’s present computers will be faster once the fiber optic system is installed, Wendell said, and will allow the computers’ processors to work faster and more efficiently. In addition, the tribe’s telephones and computers can be on the same line, which will save money.
Last year, AT&T laid a fiber optic line all the way from Stillwater to Ponca City along Highway 177, which fronts the tribal offices. The tribe plans to run a cable off the AT&T box that comes into the tribal campus and cover all of the tribal buildings. Two buildings are already equipped with fiber optic lines, the Title VI and the head start buildings, but the project wasn’t completed at that time.
The power and speed of the new fiber optic system will also provide the tribe more ability for expansion, Wendell said. Right now several new buildings for the tribal campus are in the planning stages – a water treatment center, maintenance building, transportation building and a community building.
He also envisions the tribe being able to provide the same high speed Internet service to the families in tribal housing, which could help open opportunities to those of any age living there with their studies, including long distance learning. In addition, the Pawnee Tribal College has shown interest in working with the Otoe-Missourias in providing long distance learning opportunities to the surrounding communities. Providing computers in the tribal library, along with the high speed Internet access, could also assist those without home computers to further their education.
Wendell has been working with computers since the ‘60s; while in the U.S. Army, he took advantage of the opportunity to attend classes at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, where he studied programming languages.
Coming from the military – where everything is organized and in order – he was dismayed to find the tribe had a computer system that would go down sometimes two to three times a week. While the system has been improved considerably, the new fiber optic cables will modernize it.
