Perryville Industrial Park becomes certified AT&T Fiber Park

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- In the 1800s, railroads changed the local economy by connecting Perryville to Ste. Genevieve, Mo., and Chester, Ill.

Today, high-tech communications serve a similar function, AT&T president John Sondag said Thursday at a ribbon-cutting for the company's new certified AT&T Fiber Park.

"Knowing that we have the infrastructure here that's needed ... I think will go a long way toward helping to sell this area," Sondag said.

As one of 14 certified AT&T Fiber Parks in Missouri, the Perryville Industrial Park will have an edge in attracting businesses to the city, Sondag and Scott Sattler, executive director of the Perry County Economic Development Authority, said.

The designation basically means the industrial park has a fiber-optic cable system in place, and the company has committed to maintain and expand the system as necessary to meet the needs of companies that locate there, Sondag explained after the ceremony.

The system provides virtually unlimited bandwidth, he said.

"You can add multiple strands. We can add the capacity that we need," Sondag said. " ... We can scale it to whatever is needed here in the park."

Speaking at his first public event since he took office Tuesday, newly elected Perryville Mayor Ken Baer -- who identified infrastructure as a priority during his campaign -- thanked Sondag.

"Cities are built on water, waste disposal, energy and transportation infrastructure," Baer said. "Cities of the future will also need enhanced communication technology. We thank you for investing in us."

The investment, part of $2.55 billion the company has spent on its networks in Missouri over the past four years, will benefit AT&T, Sondag said.

"More business, more jobs -- that's good for everybody," he said. "It's good for the state, and kind of self-serving, it's good for us that are going to provide the services."

During the past four years, Sondag said, the amount of data being transmitted across the company's systems has increased 20,000 percent, largely because of the increasing popularity of smartphones and other mobile devices.

"People use these little things for a lot of things," he said. "It's changed their lives. It's changed the way they communicate. It's changed the way businesses do business."

For instance, Sondag said, some Missouri farmers use smartphones to check the weather and coordinate deliveries, while Girl Scouts pair them with mobile credit-card readers to boost cookie sales, and musicians in the St. Louis Symphony use them to tune their instruments.

epriddy@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

Perryville Industrial Park, Perryville, MO