In 1985, Auburn Electric became one of the first communities in the midwest to deploy fiber. At the time, the purpose was to improve electric and voice systems substation communications within the municipal utility. That investment laid the foundation for a municipal network that now encourages economic development and saves public dollars while enhancing services.

Auburn expanded its fiber network beyond electric systems in 1998. The utility began using the network to serve city and county government operations. It is not well known, but Auburn offered gigabit service to its public sector customers way back in 1998.

The benefits from the deployment prompted community leaders to develop an Information Technology Master Plan in 1998 that would answer the question of what other ways the fiber could serve the community? As part of the Master Plan, Auburn leaders collected information from other communities that were capitalizing on their own local fiber. While Auburn made no immediate plans, they kept an open mind, waiting until the time was right.

In 2004, Cooper Tire and Rubber (now Cooper Standard) was about to be sold from its parent company. The $1.6 billion auto component manufacturer needed a data center but bandwidth was insufficient and inconsistent in Auburn. Cooper considered leaving because the incumbents, Mediacom and AT&T, could not or would not provide the broadband capacity the company needed. If Cooper left town, an estimated $7 million in wages and benefits from 75 high-paying tech jobs would also leave. At the time, Auburn was home to 12,500 people.

According to Schweitzer, the City tried to persuade the telephone company to find a solution with Cooper but the two could not reach an agreement. Rather than lose Cooper, the City of Auburn stepped in to fill the connectivity gap in 2005.

In a 2007 interview with Public Power magazine, Schweitzer noted advantages in Auburn that facilitated the project:

In 1985, Auburn Electric became one of the first communities in the midwest to deploy fiber. At the time, the purpose was to improve electric and voice systems substation communications within the municipal utility. That investment laid the foundation for a municipal network that now encourages economic development and saves public dollars while enhancing services.

Auburn expanded its fiber network beyond electric systems in 1998. The utility began using the network to serve city and county government operations. It is not well known, but Auburn offered gigabit service to its public sector customers way back in 1998.

The benefits from the deployment prompted community leaders to develop an Information Technology Master Plan in 1998 that would answer the question of what other ways the fiber could serve the community? As part of the Master Plan, Auburn leaders collected information from other communities that were capitalizing on their own local fiber. While Auburn made no immediate plans, they kept an open mind, waiting until the time was right.

In 2004, Cooper Tire and Rubber (now Cooper Standard) was about to be sold from its parent company. The $1.6 billion auto component manufacturer needed a data center but bandwidth was insufficient and inconsistent in Auburn. Cooper considered leaving because the incumbents, Mediacom and AT&T, could not or would not provide the broadband capacity the company needed. If Cooper left town, an estimated $7 million in wages and benefits from 75 high-paying tech jobs would also leave. At the time, Auburn was home to 12,500 people.

According to Schweitzer, the City tried to persuade the telephone company to find a solution with Cooper but the two could not reach an agreement. Rather than lose Cooper, the City of Auburn stepped in to fill the connectivity gap in 2005.

In a 2007 interview with Public Power magazine, Schweitzer noted advantages in Auburn that facilitated the project:

In 1985, Auburn Electric became one of the first communities in the midwest to deploy fiber. At the time, the purpose was to improve electric and voice systems substation communications within the municipal utility. That investment laid the foundation for a municipal network that now encourages economic development and saves public dollars while enhancing services.

Auburn expanded its fiber network beyond electric systems in 1998. The utility began using the network to serve city and county government operations. It is not well known, but Auburn offered gigabit service to its public sector customers way back in 1998.

The benefits from the deployment prompted community leaders to develop an Information Technology Master Plan in 1998 that would answer the question of what other ways the fiber could serve the community? As part of the Master Plan, Auburn leaders collected information from other communities that were capitalizing on their own local fiber. While Auburn made no immediate plans, they kept an open mind, waiting until the time was right.

In 2004, Cooper Tire and Rubber (now Cooper Standard) was about to be sold from its parent company. The $1.6 billion auto component manufacturer needed a data center but bandwidth was insufficient and inconsistent in Auburn. Cooper considered leaving because the incumbents, Mediacom and AT&T, could not or would not provide the broadband capacity the company needed. If Cooper left town, an estimated $7 million in wages and benefits from 75 high-paying tech jobs would also leave. At the time, Auburn was home to 12,500 people.

According to Schweitzer, the City tried to persuade the telephone company to find a solution with Cooper but the two could not reach an agreement. Rather than lose Cooper, the City of Auburn stepped in to fill the connectivity gap in 2005.

In a 2007 interview with Public Power magazine, Schweitzer noted advantages in Auburn that facilitated the project:

Westminster began its FTTP pilot project last summer and interest is high. Brett Lake from the Carroll County Times recently reported the project is growing. According to the story, the Mayor and Common Council voted in late November to spend city capital projects reserve funds to expand the pilot. 

During the engineering phase of the project, officials identified several opportunities to expand the footprint at nominal construction expense. The additional reach will include an industrial park and a residential neighborhood adjacent to Carroll Lutheran Village, one of the original sites. 

The Village is a continuing care facility of single- and multi-family dwellings. Project leaders hope to learn to serve both with the pilot project. Residents also receive healthcare services so the fiber network will facilitate onsite telehealth.

The city will also install a ring for redundancy within the Air Business Center to connect potential business customers. The business center is adjacent to the industrial park that will now be included in the pilot project.

Each location is near the Carroll County Public Network (CCPN). Westminster will take advantage of the proximity and will tap into the CCPN fiber to reduce costs. The entire pilot project is estimated at approximately $650,000.

Gary Davis, CIO of the Carroll County Public Schools and Chairman of the CCPN, spoke with Chris in Episode #43 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. The network serves government, schools, and libraries across the county.

Westminster began its FTTP pilot project last summer and interest is high. Brett Lake from the Carroll County Times recently reported the project is growing. According to the story, the Mayor and Common Council voted in late November to spend city capital projects reserve funds to expand the pilot. 

During the engineering phase of the project, officials identified several opportunities to expand the footprint at nominal construction expense. The additional reach will include an industrial park and a residential neighborhood adjacent to Carroll Lutheran Village, one of the original sites. 

The Village is a continuing care facility of single- and multi-family dwellings. Project leaders hope to learn to serve both with the pilot project. Residents also receive healthcare services so the fiber network will facilitate onsite telehealth.

The city will also install a ring for redundancy within the Air Business Center to connect potential business customers. The business center is adjacent to the industrial park that will now be included in the pilot project.

Each location is near the Carroll County Public Network (CCPN). Westminster will take advantage of the proximity and will tap into the CCPN fiber to reduce costs. The entire pilot project is estimated at approximately $650,000.

Gary Davis, CIO of the Carroll County Public Schools and Chairman of the CCPN, spoke with Chris in Episode #43 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. The network serves government, schools, and libraries across the county.

Westminster began its FTTP pilot project last summer and interest is high. Brett Lake from the Carroll County Times recently reported the project is growing. According to the story, the Mayor and Common Council voted in late November to spend city capital projects reserve funds to expand the pilot. 

During the engineering phase of the project, officials identified several opportunities to expand the footprint at nominal construction expense. The additional reach will include an industrial park and a residential neighborhood adjacent to Carroll Lutheran Village, one of the original sites. 

The Village is a continuing care facility of single- and multi-family dwellings. Project leaders hope to learn to serve both with the pilot project. Residents also receive healthcare services so the fiber network will facilitate onsite telehealth.

The city will also install a ring for redundancy within the Air Business Center to connect potential business customers. The business center is adjacent to the industrial park that will now be included in the pilot project.

Each location is near the Carroll County Public Network (CCPN). Westminster will take advantage of the proximity and will tap into the CCPN fiber to reduce costs. The entire pilot project is estimated at approximately $650,000.

Gary Davis, CIO of the Carroll County Public Schools and Chairman of the CCPN, spoke with Chris in Episode #43 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. The network serves government, schools, and libraries across the county.

Westminster began its FTTP pilot project last summer and interest is high. Brett Lake from the Carroll County Times recently reported the project is growing. According to the story, the Mayor and Common Council voted in late November to spend city capital projects reserve funds to expand the pilot. 

During the engineering phase of the project, officials identified several opportunities to expand the footprint at nominal construction expense. The additional reach will include an industrial park and a residential neighborhood adjacent to Carroll Lutheran Village, one of the original sites. 

The Village is a continuing care facility of single- and multi-family dwellings. Project leaders hope to learn to serve both with the pilot project. Residents also receive healthcare services so the fiber network will facilitate onsite telehealth.

The city will also install a ring for redundancy within the Air Business Center to connect potential business customers. The business center is adjacent to the industrial park that will now be included in the pilot project.

Each location is near the Carroll County Public Network (CCPN). Westminster will take advantage of the proximity and will tap into the CCPN fiber to reduce costs. The entire pilot project is estimated at approximately $650,000.

Gary Davis, CIO of the Carroll County Public Schools and Chairman of the CCPN, spoke with Chris in Episode #43 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. The network serves government, schools, and libraries across the county.

Westminster began its FTTP pilot project last summer and interest is high. Brett Lake from the Carroll County Times recently reported the project is growing. According to the story, the Mayor and Common Council voted in late November to spend city capital projects reserve funds to expand the pilot. 

During the engineering phase of the project, officials identified several opportunities to expand the footprint at nominal construction expense. The additional reach will include an industrial park and a residential neighborhood adjacent to Carroll Lutheran Village, one of the original sites. 

The Village is a continuing care facility of single- and multi-family dwellings. Project leaders hope to learn to serve both with the pilot project. Residents also receive healthcare services so the fiber network will facilitate onsite telehealth.

The city will also install a ring for redundancy within the Air Business Center to connect potential business customers. The business center is adjacent to the industrial park that will now be included in the pilot project.

Each location is near the Carroll County Public Network (CCPN). Westminster will take advantage of the proximity and will tap into the CCPN fiber to reduce costs. The entire pilot project is estimated at approximately $650,000.

Gary Davis, CIO of the Carroll County Public Schools and Chairman of the CCPN, spoke with Chris in Episode #43 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. The network serves government, schools, and libraries across the county.

Westminster began its FTTP pilot project last summer and interest is high. Brett Lake from the Carroll County Times recently reported the project is growing. According to the story, the Mayor and Common Council voted in late November to spend city capital projects reserve funds to expand the pilot. 

During the engineering phase of the project, officials identified several opportunities to expand the footprint at nominal construction expense. The additional reach will include an industrial park and a residential neighborhood adjacent to Carroll Lutheran Village, one of the original sites. 

The Village is a continuing care facility of single- and multi-family dwellings. Project leaders hope to learn to serve both with the pilot project. Residents also receive healthcare services so the fiber network will facilitate onsite telehealth.

The city will also install a ring for redundancy within the Air Business Center to connect potential business customers. The business center is adjacent to the industrial park that will now be included in the pilot project.

Each location is near the Carroll County Public Network (CCPN). Westminster will take advantage of the proximity and will tap into the CCPN fiber to reduce costs. The entire pilot project is estimated at approximately $650,000.

Gary Davis, CIO of the Carroll County Public Schools and Chairman of the CCPN, spoke with Chris in Episode #43 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. The network serves government, schools, and libraries across the county.

We last took a look at Palm Coast’s FiberNET over two years ago when Broadband Communities featured the open access fiber network along Florida’s upper east coast. Due to its initial focus on community anchor institutions and incremental build out, FiberNET serves as an outstanding example of how to justify a network investment with cost savings. We recently spoke with Courtney Violette who created the initial business plan for FiberNET under his previous role as Palm Coast’s CIO; he is now a Managing Partner with Magellan Advisors, an international broadband planning firm.

A presentation on the Palm Coast government website shows how FiberNET generates hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual cost savings for the City of Palm Coast, Flagler County School District and Florida Hospital. The data is impressive. The City of Palm Coast alone saves around $160,000 per year by switching to FiberNET for its networking needs.

Flagler County School District is likely the biggest beneficiary of cost savings in the community. Before FiberNET came onto the scene, the District paid Bright House Networks more than $500,000 per year for network services over a hybrid fiber-cable network. Now Flagler County School District pays around $300,000 for faster, more reliable services over FiberNET’s all-fiber network. These savings paid for the schools’ initial cost of connection after just one year.

Florida Hospital and its affiliates are also saving big. Affiliated doctors’ offices and clinics are required to maintain a 10-Mbps (minimum) connection with the hospital. Before FiberNET, these connections cost around $900 per month from the local incumbent. FiberNET now offers them for $250 per month. Similarly, the Hospital itself saves tens of thousands on its annual networking costs by switching to FiberNET.