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Nixa Moves Closer in Establishment of Fiber Internet Service

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Nixa residents may soon enjoy faster internet and increased bandwidth capacity. Officials recently announced it is moving forward with the establishment of a city wide fiber-to-the-premise internet system.

On January 20, Mayor Brian Steele was authorized by the city council to sign a SiFi terms agreement.

SiFi is a London-based fiber provider, and promises on its website to provide the initial expenses to create the fiber system. The company offers to “deliver you some of the fastest internet, TV, phone, and data transfer in the country.”

Steele is optimistic about the fiber internet’s positive impact on the community.

“It will give Nixa something that we can use as an economic development asset to bring high tech business here. They’ll be looking for that high speed internet, with great service and lower costs than what you’d see in other areas around here.”

Additionally, he says SiFi’s system will benefit Nixa’s residents by increasing internet service provider competition.

“In Nixa we currently have only two places you can get your internet from…with this [SiFi] open platform system we are looking at, it will allow pretty much any vendor…can sign a contact with the city and provide a service on that open platform for customers of Nixa to use.”

The city’s consensus comes on the heels of a two-year discussion and a six-month feasibility study. The research included a survey of Nixa residents to evaluate how the community could benefit from the system.

Kansas City is the closest community to have such a system, and Steele emphasizes the industrial incentives fiber internet systems bring.

Steele says once the contract is finalized, completion of the fiber system should take about two years.

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