Springfield’s City Utilities announced Tuesday its plan to expand the city’s fiber optic network by more than 1,000 miles over the next five years. CU says this will increase citizens’ access to high speed broadband services.
Once the project is complete, City Utilities will lease out the fiber to privatecompanies, including CenturyLink, which partnered with City Utilities to become its first customer in this endeavor. A division of City Utilities called SpringNet will oversee the expansion. SpringNet was established in 1987 to connect Springfield with fiber optics.
In a press conference Tuesday, CU General Manager Scott Miller said the move will help push Springfield to be a larger economic player on the worldstage.
“This is just a really big deal and I think this is going to be a game-changer for our community. On the backside of this, in the next two to three years, I think we can say that Springfield will truly be a gigabit city,” Miller said.
Chris Denzin, who is the vice president of consumer sales at CenturyLink, said the expansion will increase citizens’ opportunities in education, travel, and business.
“Every business, man, woman, and child will have access to the very best world’s technology in the city of Springfield,” Denzin said.
The City of Springfield will invest $120 million dollars into the project. The first phase of building starts next spring.
