Tekniam expands emergency backup Internet on Ocracoke

The Tekniam emergency internet backup system recently was

expanded with the addition of 30 more distribution modules and

Starlink dishes around Ocracoke village.

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This is the final phase of completing this wireless service, said

Ocracoke’s county commissioner Randal Mathews.

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He got the Tekniam system, based in Lenexa, Kansas, in place

in 2022 after several fiber cuts up the beach that year cut phone

and internet service on Ocracoke.

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Tekniam modules are located at the Hyde County Sheriff’s office,

the Community Center, the Pirates Chest, the Ocracoke Volunteer

Fire Company, the Harborside Motel, the community ballfield, the old firehouse where WOVV broadcasts, and several other locations throughout the village.​​​​​​​​​​​

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When an outage occurs, islanders can go to any of the buildings listed above, or just go outside, and search for Hyco-PubEmgyAccess and no password is needed.

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However, this system is for WiFi calling, emails and text messages only, Mathews said. It does not compete with existing providers, such as Brightspeed, and so it cannot be used for web surfing or watching videos.

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“A lot of people used it,” Mathews said about the backup service when a fiber outage occurred from about 11 a.m. until about 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 2. 

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Mathews said that as NCDOT workers were moving sand along NC12 between Frisco and Hatteras, a Brightspeed fiber vault was not in the location it was supposed to be and the DOT worker accidentally struck the box, disrupting the fibers.

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Then, it took Brightspeed workers a while to get the fiber splicing trailer on location to fix it.

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Mathews said the Tekniam modules are best accessed outside since they do not include indoor modems.

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“It was made for people to use outside, within sight of the module,” he said.

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The Starlink sites have inside modems that can be accessed inside buildings, such as the Ocracoke United Methodist Church where several people went to access the Internet.

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Mathews also said that fiber optic is coming to Ocracoke and the mainland sometime in the first quarter of next year.

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​To view the original article, please visit https://ocracokeobserver.com/2024/12/28/tekniam-expands-emergency-backup-internet-on-ocracoke/