questions & answers
Frequently Asked Questions
The City is confident it will be able to achieve all its goals for this network. Those goals are outlined by the Mayor on the front page of this website and include the following:
Lowering the cost of internet access for residents and businesses.
Significantly increasing the speed and reliability of internet access.
Creating real competition to give residents multiple options in selecting a service provider - on demand and in real time.
Building a state-of-the-art network to stimulate economic development, foster innovation and increase property values.
Improving services provided to the City by way of public safety, transportation, healthcare, education, emergency communications, and new services that will become available by leveraging this advanced network.
The City is currently researching the costs involved in deploying a fiber network. Information related to costs per home will be shared as soon as we have this information.
No - Property owners who choose not to particpate will have the option to opt-out of the network.
Once the infrastructure is paid off, that portion of the costs goes away and the monthly cost to subscribers drops by that amount.
The total monthly cost is separated into three main cost categories -
1. Infrastructure Cost.
2. Monthly Maintenance & Operations of the network (M&O).
3. Cost of Subscribed Services (Internet) - Paid directly to the ISP (like your Netflix account).
The cost of the infrastructure stays with the home because it is an improvement to the home. If you move, the new homeowner will be responsible for taking over any remaining infrastructure payments.
Internet Service Providers will set their plan options. However, the City anticipates that subscribers will have at least the following options -
> 20 x 20 Mbps
> 100 x 100 Mbps
> 250 x 250 Mbps
> 500 x 500 Mbps
> 1000 x 1000 Mbps (1 Gig)
Yes - but if you want to finance the infrastructure costs over 20-25 years, you will need to sign-up in the beginning.
Monitoring the network, making network repairs, taking calls from customers, and managing deployments to new customers.
The City is currently in the process of assessing demand. Once the City has a firm number of participants, it will be able to set a per premise costs of construction. Actual assessment amount varies based on take-rate (the number of subscribers who participate). Once our assessment is complete, the City will be able to derive a more accurate total per premise cost, as well as a monthly cost for those who opt to finance the infrastructure.
The cost of monthly Maintenance & Operations and Internet Services can be suspended by subcribers at any time. Infrastructure expenses cannot be suspended until the debt is retired.
The network will be open to any and all ISPs who want to offer services over the network. The City anticipates subscribers will have 3 – 5 ISPs to choose from at the launch of the network.
To switch your ISP, you will simply access an online portal and with a click of the mouse unsubscribe from your current ISP. You can then subscribe to another available provider in the same way. Switching ISPs and service plans takes less than 60 seconds.
Customers will have the ability to contact the network operations group directly by phone and email.
This means your upload and download speeds will be identical and consistent.
Almost all ISP networks in the United States today are shared networks. That means 32 or 64 homes have a shared connection and the demands put on the network by one home will affect the performance of the network on neighboring homes. The model we are planning to deploy is not a shared model so your connection will be dedicated and far more reliable.
The City seeks to increase competition among private sector service providers. The role of the City will be to provide and maintain the fiber infrastructure, but the City will not offer services on the network completing with private sector companies.