POWELL - While politicians spend the next month leading up to Election Day splitting hairs, Dennis Vrooman will work at the painstaking task of joining them, two hairs at a time.

Vrooman won't be linking actual hairs, but he will be splicing flexible glass fibers thinner than a human hair as he and about 50 others are working to complete Powellink by the first week of November.

"It's tedious work," Vrooman said Thursday, as he used a device called a fusion splicer to align and melt together two fibers, completing the connection of another home to the growing network of what will total about 2,600 residences and businesses.

Others are installing fiber optic cables underground or along power lines, and still more workers are connecting the citywide network's 13 zones through a series of junction cabinets located along streets and sidewalks.

By the first week of November, around Election Day, every residence and business within the city limits will be hooked up to the network, although no one is obligated to subscribe to the Internet, telephone or TV services it will offer.

"This fiber will be here to benefit the community for decades to come," said Ernie Bray, project manager for Powellink.

Bray said the project is progressing on schedule and may come in slightly under budget.

Under a unique agreement approved by the Powell City Council, private investors have put up $6.5 million to fund construction and initial operation of the network, which will be owned by the city after 20 years.

Basin telecommuncations firm TCT will serve as the anchor service provider for six years, after which the network will be open to additional operators.

Competing telecom giants Qwest and Bresnan Communications have criticized the deal as anticompetitive, while others have questioned whether it will succeed, citing fears the city may have to help fund the venture.

But Bray said he is confident that Powellink will work. He said about 35 percent of those 2,600 connections must subscribe over the first few years to make the venture profitable.

Scott Landwehr, a drafter for an engineering firm, stopped by Thursday at Powellink's Bent Street office to ask about the project, and said he is likely to sign up when services become available next month.

"We just had our house built, so I came down to find out when they're going to be hooking us up. I've seen them working around the city," he said.

Landwehr said he is interested in being able to use a high-speed Internet connection to log onto his company network and retrieve large computer files, making it easier to work at home.

TCT has not yet announced pricing plans, but is expected to offer phone, TV and Internet, with a discount rate for those who sign up for all three.

Bray said the network could also host community service channels or Web sites, along with other communications opportunities that could benefit health, education and economic development around Powell.