What do Seoul, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Chattanooga, Charlottesville and Westminster have in common? They have all invested in a city-owned fiber optic network and officially chosen Ting Fiber to be the network operator and service provider.
Other fiber to premise providers nationally include AT&T U-verse, Windstream Communications, Google Fiber and the largest provider in the US, Verizon Fios (only available regionally in MD.) However, rather than waiting for a commercial entity to get Westminster on their radar, the project was taken on by the city itself as in investment in their future. The city is banking on this infrastructure investment to bring in and grow local businesses, create jobs, increase property values and improve the quality of life for its residents. Soon, 20,000 individuals and 3,000 businesses who call Westminster home will be able to utilize super fast Internet, care of fiber-to-the-premises.
The city broke ground on the initial phase of the Westminster Fiber Network, which will eventually connect approximately 9,000 homes and 500 businesses in the 4th quarter of 2014. However, installing fiber itself is only part of the project. Residents will not only need access to the network but also require an easy interface to billing, customer service and technical support. So once the initial fiber is laid, they have contracted with Ting Fiber to provide delivery and management of affordable, usable Internet service for those homes and businesses. Westminster, MD gets fiber internet! According to Ting, “many Westminster residents commute to metropolitan Baltimore, MD and Washington, DC each day. Fiber will power the town’s local businesses, the next generation of ideas and the blistering fast access to make telecommuting to work … work.”
While Maryland did not have any legislation to block municipal broadband in the state, others were previously not so lucky. However, a recent decision by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in February overruled laws in two states that restricted municipalities from building out their local high speed broadband networks. Petitions originated from Chattanooga, North Carolina and Wilson, North Carolina, asserting that under Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act the FCC “remove barriers” to infrastructure access. In a 3-2 vote, the FCC granted that request.
The agency invoked federal power to pre-empt state laws who, many say that, these laws were originally passed after pressure from the big telecom companies. Even though this vote only applies to the two states in question, this decision will set a president for municipalities in twenty other states that facing similar existing restrictions.
Congratulations Westminster on your investment in your city’s future!
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