Telecommunications

Controlling the 901 miles of high-voltage transmission lines in western Iowa is the full-time job of the NIPCO system dispatchers. They use a computerized control system and a telecommunications network to provide the reliable electric service consumers need in the 21st century.

With an eye to the future, NIPCO Development Corporation (NDC), a wholly owned NIPCO subsidiary, has installed more than 500 miles of fiber optic wire on the cooperative's existing transmission system. This fiber cable supports the communications backbone for NIPCO's core electric business as well as a Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) to provide a variety of telecommunications services throughout western Iowa.

NIPCO employs all of the talented people it takes to install, operate and maintain this complex telecommunications network. NIPCO has been a leader in using the network for load management, remote meter reading, digital networks and control technology.

NIPCO's role has always been to help rural Iowans. The members cooperatives of NIPCO revolutionized the rural economy more than 60 years ago by bringing electricity to homes. Now NIPCO is bringing telecommunications services to western Iowa.

Fiber Optic Capacity Available

NIPCO provides fiber optic capacity through its subsidiary, NDC. Telecommunications services are available into the cities of Omaha, Neb.; Sioux City, Iowa; and Sioux Falls, S.D.

Among the services included are T1, DS3, OC3 and SONET interconnectivity.

NDC's fiber optic rings consist of approximately 550 miles of cable. Fiber optic telecommunications are monitored 24x7 from NIPCO's network operations center near Le Mars, Iowa.

View the map of the fiber rings and their proximity to western Iowa communities.

Read more about fiber splicing and management services.