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C Bar C to feature Endeavor 10-gig internet
CLOVERDALE — “Fast horses and faster internet!”
This is what the C Bar C Expo Center in Cloverdale will now be offering to visitors following a major upgrade to its internet capabilities.
Town officials and area business leaders attended an event at the multi-purpose venue Wednesday evening to celebrate its launch as one of the first locations in the region to offer 10-gig internet service.
The new service is being rolled out through a partnership between C Bar C and Endeavor Communications, which provides fiber connectivity to more than 12,000 customers in Putnam County and eight other surrounding counties.
“What I think about when we’re talking about 10-gig and the future of the internet, it’s not slowing down; it’s constantly growing,” Justin Clark, executive vice president and COO of Endeavor, told the Banner Graphic. “For us, it’s about continuing to set a precedent and stay up with the demand of what consumers expect from an internet perspective.”
Endeavor currently offers one gig of internet speed. This means that the cooperative is looking to increase this tenfold. Working with C Bar C is building on this initiative by expanding visitors’ ability to be on one network.
“By having 10-gig, it’s not so much about the speed as much as it is about the ability to have several users on a system at one time,” Clark said.
The caveat is that the technology currently available has not been designed to fully utilize 10-gig service. While different devices will perform at their optimal ability, being able to support 10,000 devices at one time is the key of this new setup.
“It’s allowing us (Endeavor) to transition,” Clark said. “Everything that you can think of is going to the internet. It’s not just your cellphones and your computers or your gaming systems anymore. It’s all of your different devices that are now connecting in the home.”
For C Bar C, he added, it is about marketing potential. It is about being able to get information about the venue and its different events out faster than before.
Though a definite timeline has not been established, Clark provided that two-gig capability could be rolled out to Endeavor’s residential customers within the next two years. Meanwhile, the idea behind offering up to 10 gigs is for bigger users to have options.
“It’s all about taking care of the customers that we have,” he said. “We are a cooperative and our members are the owners of the company, if you will. Again, we have the ability to offer up to 10-gig. We’re going to be able to offer businesses the speed that they need. As they grow, we grow.”
Endeavor emphasizes that it provides gig-size speeds in its rural areas including Cloverdale, while larger cities generally would not.
“Nobody would ever plan on being in a rural community like Cloverdale and having internet service of this caliber,” Carl Harlan, who co-owns C Bar C with his wife Cindy, told the Banner Graphic. “It’s a great business opportunity. It’s something for us to brag about.”
Harlan sees three elements that make Cloverdale stand out, one of which is being able to provide this service. Cloverdale Community Schools and the town’s police force, he said, also make for a thriving community possible. Harlan added that the proximity of Interstate 70 and Indianapolis International Airport were boons for the town.
“Here it all is right here, and internet is a really important piece of that puzzle,” he said. “I think most big manufacturing would not look at a town like Cloverdale normally, but they’ll look at them now because of those factors.
“You can call it icing on the cake,” Harlan added. “But it’s more than just icing. It’s a big deal. Here you’ve got a safe community. Your workers’ kids have great schools in a rural setting. (You have) access to an interstate, access to an international airport and fantastic infrastructure.”
Based in Cloverdale, Endeavor serves customers in parts of Putnam, Owen, Hendricks, Morgan, Tipton, Hamilton, Greene, Parke and Clay counties.