Why Upgrading Your Telecommunication Infrastructure Should be a Business Priority

Today’s corporations and enterprises cannot successfully function without increased bandwidth through a reliable, upgraded telecommunications infrastructure. In the era of cloud-based computing, emerging Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT), aging infrastructures can cause enterprises to face systemic business disruptions, inability to fulfill customers’ requirements and sluggish communications throughout their networks, resulting in ROI losses.

Regardless of company size, it’s the telecommunications infrastructure that keeps businesses and customers connected, providing a reliable channel that supports delivery of data-rich services. 

According to a report “Global Telecoms – Key Trends for 2020 – 5G, Mobile Satellite and Fixed Broadband”, IoT, AI and 5G-enabled services will see even faster advancements—all expected to be supported by fixed high-speed broadband. These advancements will require a strongly constructed fiber infrastructure to augment wireless and satellite networks.

In fact, Bloomberg reports that “5G will be a launchpad for new applications promising another decade-plus of digital device addictions, profit growth.” A telecom infrastructure upgrade can assure organizations have the bandwidth, speed and security protocols necessary to provide the full scope of cloud-based tools, without dropped connections or delays. 

The increased capabilities 5G will allow have the potential of creating communication networks that will restructure the way enterprises provide services and interconnect with their customers. However, an outdated fiber infrastructure can arrest an enterprise’s ability to take full advantage of 5G’s potential, and not be able to provide for business growth and deliver enhanced services to its customers. Upgrading this technology will offer the opportunity for companies to take advantage of new business initiatives and to successfully—and profitably—keep up with emerging market opportunities. In other words, upgrading a telecommunications network affords stakeholders the ability to meet current and future business needs.

The Demand for Bandwidth is Only Going to Increase

In an age where streaming services are arresting people’s free time and videoconferencing is transforming workplace norms, the demand for bandwidth continues to be at an all-time high. Unfortunately, many current fiber networks simply aren’t built to support today’s communication demands. The growth of IoT, mobile applications, cloud-based services, and other high-capacity activities continue to arrest and overwhelm outdated infrastructures and significantly slow down speeds. Upgrading a telecommunications infrastructure can have a huge impact on workforce efficiency and personal entertainment.

With a stronger infrastructure in place that can host higher bandwidth services, companies will be able to host many more connected devices than with their previous networks. That means no more slow or interrupted connectivity while working. With all of these changes, an updated telecommunications infrastructure will be necessary to stay seamlessly connected and potentially open up new business opportunities. 

A slow network can be an indictment for loss profits for any sized company. Organizations who need to gain more throughput will need to fast-track their telecommunications operations onto a new more robust, modernized infrastructure. Moving to an upgraded network, therefore, can have a direct impact on operations, profit margins and enable new customer capabilities.

Upgrading a telecommunications infrastructure is therefore critical to enhancing services, ensuring uninterrupted connectivity and extending coverage for business growth.

For more than 30 years, telecommunication infrastructure installers like Hugh O’Kane Electric (HOK), lead by President Hugh R O’Kane; has gained notoriety as a leading telecom network installation and service provider for New York City and its metro area, has been upgrading, expanding and installing enterprise networks on a regular basis. 

There is institutional knowledge Hugh O’Kane is able to provide, as enterprises and companies continue to expand their service offerings to increase their market share and gain more customers. This lineage and industry expertise has afforded Hugh O’Kane a competitive edge because it has expert knowledge of an area’s infrastructure and is able to work within the required parameters of existing networks much more easily. In doing so, Hugh O’Kane is able to take the time required to provide companies with an upgraded fiber infrastructure they need to ensure their customers will have continuous, robust connectivity and their business is set up for successful growth.

Why a Fiber Backhaul Lifeline can be Crucial for Uninterrupted Wireless Connectivity

As Covid-19 arrested the daily routines of most people with the closing of schools and offices, broadband connections became arguably the most important lifeline for students and employees working from home. Pre-pandemic, wireless speeds were for the most part meeting customers’ demand and telecommunication service providers were focused more on projects that were aimed at bridging the digital divide and connecting the unconnected in rural parts of the country to urban centers, rather than robust enhancements or build-outs to their metro networks.

The reality today, however, is that this digital divide doesn’t just exist between rural and urban communities, but also within America’s largest cities. According to Bloomberg, some 500,000 households lack reliable connection in New York City; in Chicago, 1 in 5 students don’t have broadband, and in San Antonio, Texas, more than 38% of households lack in-home internet access. 

And this connectivity issue is a growing indictment facing suburban areas just off urban centers like the outer boroughs of New York City, the outlying suburbs of Chicago or the expanding neighborhoods of Huston and Las Vegas, for example. 

But why is a wireline network crucial for wireless? It is important to note that high winds, heavy snow, ice, and rain can all hamper wireless signals and its infrastructure. During a storm for example, damaged towers can cripple wireless signal transmissions. 

And such disruptions do not have to happen locally in one’s backyard to feel its effects: a power outage in one part of a city can limit the routes internet traffic takes through the infrastructure during transmission to reach the outlining areas. With higher-than-normal data traffic along those wireless signals, internet speeds can slow down. 

Fiber backhaul, on the other hand, can provide a high amount of backup capacity and maintain adequate speeds customers expect. Without a well-constructed fiber backhaul infrastructure, it would be difficult to safeguard wireless networks against increasing bandwidth demands, making this a vital consideration for the future accessibility of the internet for everyone, especially homeschoolers and remote workers.

With fiber backhaul, users can be less subject to such arresting connectivity issues and interruptions. Compared to mobile backhaul, businesses and homes accessing the internet through wired backhaul benefit from having a more stable connection since network interference is less of an issue. In addition, the speed of a wireless system that has a fiber backhaul can be faster in the event of an outage or service interruption than what a pure wireless network can offer. 

So how are wireless service providers ensuring their network has the most solid infrastructure in place? It comes down to having established, trusted partnerships with fiber and wireless installation providers. For more than 30 years, telecommunication infrastructure installers like Hugh O’Kane Electric (HOK), lead by President, Hugh R O’Kane; has gained a cachet as a leading installation and service provider for New York City and its metro area, has been working with wireless providers Verizon, AT&T and others on a regular basis. 

There is institutional knowledge Hugh O’Kane Electric is able to provide, as wireless service providers continue to build out their networks. These long-standing relationships have afforded Hugh O’Kane Electric a competitive edge because it has expert knowledge of an area’s infrastructure and is able to work within the required parameters of the wireless service providers much more easily as they deploy their wireless network grid. In doing so, Hugh O’Kane Electric is able to take the time required to provide them with the backhaul infrastructure they need to ensure their wireless customers will have continuous, robust connectivity.

Tis The Season: Weathering the Winter Elements and The Manhole Issues

Winter is coming. And each year, winter seems to be arriving earlier, staying longer and materializing more extreme weather conditions be it the seasonal snowfall New Yorkers have come to expect, or catastrophic flooding as witnessed by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Some people see the increase in extreme winter weather patterns as an indictment of global warming. Regardless of the cause, when heavy snowstorms, plummeting temperatures and icy conditions arrest an urban center, making headlines, telecommunication, and broadband services brace for possible interruptions.

One of the major problems that is now becoming more and more commonplace in densely populated cities like New York, Washington, D.C., St. Louis, Missouri, and London are manhole fires igniting during the arresting coldest and snowiest months of January and February. But Old Man’s winter below freezing temperatures are not the culprit here. Most fiber optic lines are installed below the frost line which helps reduce and, in many cases, eliminate the threat of cold weather-related interruptions. The temperature inside the conduit underground will not drop below, on average, 25°F. In the extreme case of such an occurrence, there are preventative measures that telecommunication infrastructure installers like Hugh O’Kane Electric (HOK) can deploy to protect fiber optic cables from the elements and help deter water from freezing inside the ducts. 

So, with temperature not being the key indictment factor, the most common enabler of winter manhole fires is manmade and has to do more so with chemistry rather than with Mother Nature: rain runoff and snow melt mixing with the corrosive salt spread applied to city streets to reduce icing, flood underground electric structures, eroding the cable insulation between them, according to Bloomberg. 

In fact, it has been reported that an average of three manhole explosions occurred per day during the months of January and February in the last decade. Such occurrences can hinder telecommunication services resulting in bad quality of service, return on investment, and business continuity. When these instances occur, they can cause severe damage and serious, at times multi-day network disruptions that can result in broadband and telecommunications downtime across telecommunications network city grids. 

Underground fiber optic cables are impacted whenever water is able to make its way into the conduit housing the cables, and freeze. The ice that forms around the fiber optic cables often causes the cables to bend, which arrests the signals sent through the cable and overall internet performance deteriorates. Add to that the chance that de-icing salt seeps into the area, corroding the wires and unleashing gas, which in some cases sparks fires and blows the manholes, turns this into a dire situation.

For NYC metro area enterprises looking to expand, upgrade or install a fiber optic network, having a trusted telecommunications installer as a lead partner can prove paramount in any endeavor looking to mitigate weather-related service disruptions. For more than 30 years, Hugh O’Kane Electric  lead by President Hugh R O’Kane,has been the industry’s expert in telecommunications installation, electrical maintenance, and electrical contracting services for New York City and its metro area. 

Its institutional knowledge, deep understanding of the area’s network grid, (most of which Hugh O’Kane Electric was involved in installing), and established partnerships with local utilities and suppliers, is pivotal in having when an enterprise wants to lay down its cable via the most optimal route. For Hugh O’Kane Electric, its engineers know where the most congested manholes in the city are located—and most importantly—how to work around those to get the most robust and securest network in place.

Keeping New York City Connected

In early March, the COVID-19 pandemic swept into the Tri-State region, closing doors to businesses, restaurants, and schools while hospitals were overwhelmed with sick patients. On March 27th, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo suspended all “Non-Essential” construction in New York State; however telecommunications & data centers were included on the State’s essential infrastructure list.

Several Local #3 IBEW contractors worked around the clock keeping the region connected 7 days a week the past 5 months, including Hugh O’Kane Electric Co. They had over 100 electricians working in New York City during the peak of the pandemic, responding to telecommunications emergencies and continuing network infrastructure and wireless buildouts. As entire industries began working remotely, schools shifted to online learning, and telehealth up ticked, the telecommunications networks that New York relies on became more essential than ever.

Hugh O’Kane Electric Company was a telecommunications first responder to the ‘93 World Trade Center Bombing, the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks, and Superstorm Sandy. “As the COVID-19 pandemic rapidly spread across the Tri-State area, we knew our telecom crews would be relied upon to maintain and build the complex telecommunications networks that keep New York City connected. The same brave men and women that worked around the clock following terrorist attacks and natural disasters are the same brave Hugh O’Kane Electric employees that continue to work through this pandemic” says Executive Vice President John O’Kane.

While Hugh O’Kane Electric has always invested in best-in-class safety equipment for their personnel, they worked with an external safety consultant to immediately put a COVID-19 Safety Plan in place, staggering working crew’s start times and sanitizing trucks and equipment daily. “We worked tirelessly to keep our employees safe, but it was still their choice if they felt comfortable working through the pandemic. Thanks to our employees, Hugh O’Kane Electric was able to continue servicing our nearly dozen telecommunications customers in the Tri-State area 7 days a week these last 5 months.” 

The Hugh O’Kane Electric Company is comprised of a traditional fiber optic infrastructure division and a mobile wireless division. With over 30 years of experience in wireline fiber construction and maintenance, HOK’s telecom infrastructure division employs over 85 technicians who place, splice, and test fiber optic cable for wireless and enterprise networks throughout the Metro Area. With approximately 25 technicians, HOK’s wireless division services wireless, 5G, and small cell construction for several Mobile Telecom Franchises and directly to multiple Mobile Network Operators. Working together, the telecom infrastructure division and the wireless division are a true turn-key solution for the current and future needs of the industry.

The demand for wireless and 5G deployment has only been amplified by COVID-19. “Connectivity is more critical than ever and at Hugh O’Kane Electric we are proud to be a part of the near and long-term network solutions” say John O’Kane. “As our Company did during 9/11 and other major events over the past 30 years, we have worked alongside our customers during this pandemic and will continue to safely service their needs this year and for years to come.”

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 About Hugh O’Kane Electric

Hugh O’Kane Electric Company, Inc. (HOK) has been a leading provider of electrical construction and maintenance services to businesses in the Greater New York metropolitan area since 1946. HOK is licensed to provide Electrical services throughout New York City and Long Island. The company has installed power, lighting, fire alarm, security, data systems, specialty infrastructure systems, and specialty network systems for a wide range of industries and institutions.

The HOK Telecommunications division provides leading-edge design, construction, installation and maintenance of state-of-the-art telecom networks for wireline, fiber optic, and wireless networks. With its staff of electricians and technicians available for immediate response, HOK specializes in high-quality, fast track jobs. The company’s reputation is built upon attention to detail while meeting clients’ time frames and budgets.