Hamburg OKs fiber-optic cable installation

HAMBURG — The Hamburg Borough Council unanimously voted on June 2 to allow Cross River Fiber to run fiber-optic cable through the borough.

Hamburg will join Vernon, Lafayette, Newton, Andover, Hopatcong and many out-of-county locations in having the “dark fiber” installed.

Dark fiber, Cross River Fiber’s Fred Brody explained, is for commercial use only and serves to “connect companies that use a lot of bandwidth.” It differs from lit fiber in that there is no service provided with the installation.

“It’s an economic development-type thing,” he said, which “could potentially drive development” in the borough.

Businesses standing to benefit from the installation range from hospitals and radiology centers to banks and data centers, so long as they are “sophisticated enough to light [the fiber] themselves.”

The company will notify the borough when installation is set to begin.

The Hamburg Police Dept. will be hired to provide traffic assistance during the one to two-day installation process.