Fiber Optic cables connected to an optic ports and Network cables connected to ethernet ports
The first phase in Lexington’s bid to become the nation’s largest gigabit city is nearing completion, as MetroNet is on target to wrap up construction of the first quadrant of its citywide fiber-optic network and enlist customers to activate gigabit service later this summer.
For most residential users, the faster broadband technology means the ability to download HD video in minutes rather than hours, and with no more tiresome lagging. For local tech-related companies and entrepreneurs, however, the wider availability of gigabit service could accelerate and expand their business capabilities, particularly with video streaming and other data-intensive applications.
Neighborhoods east of downtown and north of Richmond Road, in the area from East New Circle Road to just beyond I-75, will be the first to come online, said Keith Leonhardt, vice president of marketing for MetroNet. Underground construction in those communities, which started in January, has been progressing smoothly, Leonhardt said, with the company employing horizontal underground drilling machines to minimize disruptions from construction and to avoid the need for unearthing long trenches for fiber installation.
The company is happy with the progress so far, Leonhardt added, and “poised to be an important part of Lexington’s technology future.”
For those customers who opt to buy it, gigabit service will enable the transmission of up to 1,000 megabits of data per second. The Indiana-based company has begun pre-signing customers for the service in the first two quadrants of the planned rollout, covering roughly half of Lexington. Within three years, with an estimated total investment of between $70 million and $100 million, MetroNet plans to extend the network to reach the entire city.
When completed, the network will mark a significant milestone for Lexington, as the city looks to capitalize on its newly coined identification as a University City and leverage the new-economy talent, innovation and investment opportunities that come with it.
“MetroNet is working hard to get through this construction phase and minimize disruption,” said Scott Shapiro, Lexington’s chief innovation officer. “But we are keeping our eyes on the prize. Beginning in some neighborhoods in late summer or early fall, Lexingtonians will have access to some of the fastest internet access in the world.”
Gaining gigabit city status
Chattanooga, Tennessee, is the only U.S. city to offer such citywide gigabit service currently, with the city’s utility provider, Electrical Power Board (EPB), having launched it in 2009. A similar project is currently in development in Huntsville, Alabama. Both cities are considerably smaller than Lexington, with estimated populations less than 200,000.
Since the introduction of its gigabit service, Chattanooga has been working to leverage its fiber capabilities by building out its Innovation District to attract new startup accelerators and venture capital fund investment to the city. The city has also given rise to some highlighted startup successes such as Skuid, a tech firm that develops user-friendly interfaces for business software and that raised $25 million in new financing last year.
Lexington is ahead of most other cities its size in establishing citywide fiber, Shapiro said, in part because Mayor Jim Gray’s office placed an early priority on it, and community and business partners have just begun to identify the asset’s potential.
“We need fiber,” Shapiro said. “It’s the fuel of our knowledge economy.”
Commerce Lexington Inc. President and CEO Bob Quick sees MetroNet’s arrival in Lexington as an additional economic development tool, among the many already available for businesses looking to relocate or expand in the Bluegrass.
“To be known as the largest U.S. city with gigabit internet speeds, Lexington has become even more attractive to companies that rely on a strong connection to do business." —Bob Quick
“To be known as the largest U.S. city with gigabit internet speeds, Lexington has become even more attractive to companies that rely on a strong connection to do business,” Quick said. “With multiple internet connectivity options available locally, Lexington will be seen as a city that is not only on the move, but is also serious about providing businesses with every opportunity to be successful here.”
A widening range of ISP options
While MetroNet’s new network expands the reach of gigabit service to the city’s entire residential sector, it isn’t the only provider in town, with both Windstream and Spectrum offering broadband internet access throughout Fayette County. Windstream first introduced 1-gigabit internet service to residential customers in the Lexington market two years ago and currently serves approximately 6,700 local customers, said Phillip McAbee, Windstream’s president of operations. Windstream provides even faster speeds to businesses that are willing to pay for dedicated services, McAbee said.
For most residential and small-business customers, Windstream’s services have fit the bill with premium speeds of up to 100 mbps, which McAbee identified as the company’s “sweet spot” in terms of providing the best value to meet the needs of the most customers. The company will be investing in 98 new fiber-fed switches this year to expand its premium speed service to reach an additional 30,000 households throughout the city, roughly 75 percent of which will have 100 mbps capability, McAbee said. He expects that growth to continue.
“We’re not new to competition, and we favor residents having a choice,” McAbee said. “We’ll continue to provide the quality service that will reward us with their business.”
But for those clients with needs for higher speeds—particularly those who rely on streaming video for their businesses or that require simultaneous connections for a growing number of devices in today’s rapidly expanding IoT (internet of things) universe—gigabit service is more reliable and efficient, said Nick Such, co-founder of Awesome Inc.
The downtown tech incubator enjoys 3-gigabit service through a partnership with Windstream and serves as one of the company’s gigabit-service demo sites.
“Eight hours of video used to take three to four hours to upload. Now it takes us about five minutes." —Awesome Inc co-founder Nick Such
In addition to being a home base for startup tech entrepreneurs, Awesome Inc hosts many events for tech-savvy crowds who find it easier to manage disruptions in water and heating than Wi-Fi access, Such said. The company also conducts many classes throughout the year in computer coding and web development, and the ability to upload pre-recorded instruction videos with ease has been a big convenience.
“Eight hours of video used to take three to four hours to upload,” Such said. “Now it takes us about five minutes. I click a button, go grab a coffee and come back, and it’s done.”
Sparking the local tech sector
Widespread access to faster internet service also benefits local tech companies like Cirrusmio, Inc., an IoT consulting company that helps clients increase productivity and efficiency by incorporating data collected from sensors and devices in the physical world into their business systems. Cirrusmio, which operates out of the downtown business incubator Base 110, has done consulting work for Bluegrass-based powerhouses such as Lexmark, Valvoline and Alltech.
“With gigabit service, we can collect more information and respond faster than current connections,” said Dwayne Buckles, business development manager for Cirrusmio. “This will allow us to grow our business and provide an additional value proposition.”
With more and more devices today incorporating built-in sensors and Wi-Fi connectivity, the opportunities for business applications are expanding rapidly, Buckles said. The technology has significant applications in fields such as telehealth and agriculture, which have particular importance for Lexington’s economy. Buckles said widespread broadband also opens new possibilities for “smart city” technologies for Lexington, ranging from more efficient use of city services such as parking or street lighting to Wi-Fi–enabled Blue Horse kiosks for visitor information.
“The possibilities are endless,” Buckles said. “Gigabit speeds will attract new businesses that need to transmit HD video and CAD [computer aided design] drawings to their clients, and at the same time, interact with them in real-time and not have to worry about lag. It will also allow for more telecommuting and startups in homes, because conference calls and video calls will be more content-rich and interactive without lags.”
Buckles sees wider access to high-speed internet services as one of many factors that can help the city’s largely homegrown tech community to blossom. Gaining a critical mass of tech businesses is important, Buckles said, because many crucial tech jobs can be highly specialized, and professionals are hesitant to relocate if the local demand for their particular skill set is limited to a few startups.
But Lexington has a lot to offer for budding tech businesses, Buckles added.
“Lexington is unique, because we have a very large research university working with the city, and they are not at odds with each other. Having a medical research hospital is a great advantage, too,” Buckles said.
As Such pointed out, the real value of faster internet service doesn’t come from simply having it, but in how it is put to use, and the full extent to which citywide gigabit service will inspire and entice growth in the local tech sector remains to be seen.
“[The internet] really doesn’t do anything if you just let it sit there,” he said, “but it can help you if you use it to connect with people.”