Image
Fast, affordable Internet access for all.
Fort Dodge Iowa Boosts Funding For Popular Municipal Fiber Network
By
on
There’s signs of life for a municipal fiber project long considered in Fort Dodge, Iowa, after the Fort Dodge City Council moved forward with plans to use a surplus in the city’s sewer maintenance budget to pay for the higher than expected cost of the city’s fiber network.
In 2019, a broadband utility was a top-rated need in the city’s strategic plan, and residents voted that November to grant the city the authority to start building a municipal telecommunications network. The network has since steadily expanded in the city of 24,591 residents.
“We currently are just short of 2,400 customers, with a goal of having 2,500 customers by January 1, 2025,” Fort Dodge Fiber Director Jeremy Pearson tells ILSR. “If everything works out, we should exceed that goal. If you’ve got any pull with Mother Nature, we would appreciate any help to keep the temperatures warm and the snow away!”
Image
In 2021, the city borrowed $33.3 million to pay for building the fiber optic utility with a loan to be paid off with revenue generated by Fort Dodge Fiber as the project expanded. The city promised locals the planned network wouldn’t result in an increase in local resident property taxes.
But thanks to inflation and increasing labor and material costs, that $33.3 million isn’t going to be enough to finish the project. So last September the city council voted to provide a $3.1 million loan from the city’s sewer fund to Fort Dodge Fiber.
The loan has a 5.25 percent interest rate and is expected to be paid back sometime in 2026 or 2027, according to local news outlets.
According to Pearson, Fort Dodge Fiber’s network design breaks the city down into 35 separate fiber distribution cabinets, and all of the network’s underground construction is complete.
“Splicing is complete in all but 5 of those cabinets,” Pearson said. “We currently have about 3300 drops installed to homes and businesses throughout Fort Dodge.”
Image
In deployed markets, Fort Dodge Fiber offers four tiers of service: symmetrical 100 megabit per second (Mbps) service for $75 a month; symmetrical 500 Mbps service for $85 a month; symmetrical 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) service for $95 a month; and symmetrical 5 Gbps service for $125 a month.
Like most municipal broadband efforts, Fort Dodge’s pricing doesn’t include long term contracts, hidden fees, or usage caps.
“We hope to continue placing fiber drops to homes and businesses until the end of December, and then hopefully be able to start back up to continue drops again in April,” Pearson said.
“As always," he added, "we are at the mercy of mother nature.”
Inline image of Fort Dodge Fiber HQ courtesy of Fort Dodge Fiber
Inline image of Fort Dodge Fiber Readers' Choice Award flyer courtesy of Fort Dodge Fiber Facebook page
Geoterm
Related Stories
Boulder Strikes $9 Million Broadband Deal With ALLO
The Boulder, Colorado city council has voted unanimously in favor of striking a $9 million deal with Nebraska based ALLO Communications that should ultimately provide fast fiber access to most of the city’s 330,000 residents. As per the deal, ALLO will provide broadband service to 80 percent of the city by 2028 and 97 percent of the city by 2030.
‘Innovation’ Think Tank Pushes Lazy Smear Of Community Broadband
New “study” maligning municipal broadband doesn’t come as much of a surprise despite its sweeping and patently false claims about the entire sector.
New York Announces Another $140 Million in Municipal Broadband Grants
New York’s Municipal Infrastructure Program (MIP) continues to provide grant funds to build municipal broadband networks across the state, as state broadband officials recently announced the program’s largest round of funding to date. Earlier this month, $140 million in grant awards were announced for six projects from the Finger Lakes to North Country Region.
Open Access ErieNet Fiber Network Gets Underway In Western New York
Erie County, New York’s ErieNet broadband initiative is poised to begin construction in Buffalo, NY, after the Buffalo Common Council recently passed a resolution approving the Telecommunications License Agreement with ErieNet LDC. The approval is a major step toward bringing affordable next-gen broadband access to long-neglected parts of Western New York.
Bell Canada’s Ziply Acquisition Raises Questions About Open Access In The Pacific Northwest
Bell Canada’s history of anti-competitive behavior could herald a culture shift at the ascending provider with Ziply and Bell Canada’s rapid-fire acquisition of smaller providers across the Pacific Northwest.
New Resource Alert: ILSR Unveils Community Networks Predictive Map
In September we released our updated map pinpointing the location of the 400 municipally owned Internet service providers now serving almost 800 communities across the United States. Today, we unveil our predictive map that provides a multi-layered look into the near future of community broadband networks.