Image
Fast, affordable Internet access for all.
Westminster's Fiber Network Enables Makerspace
By
on
The high-speed, municipal fiber network in Westminster, Maryland, (pop. 18,000) is making possible another intriguing resource service for the community’s businesses and residents.
In May, Westminster officials and the city’s fiber network partner, Ting, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the coming this fall of the first Ting Makerspace, a service featuring 3-D scanning technology, including “an electronic router that can carve digital designs into physical objects and laser engraving," reports the Carroll County Times.
Ting Makerspace And 3D Printing
The Times story notes:
The 3-D scanner “takes any object smaller than a sofa and records the shapes and contours using light patterns, digitizing it,” according to the news story. Then, the digital rendition can be printed on a mini 3-D printer, “which can scale down the scanned object or print original computer designs. The 3-D printer ejects layers of heated, rapidly cooling plastic to create plastic models of these designs.” The newspaper reported that the subscription fee for using the 3-D scanner will be $5 a day, $30 a month or $300 a year.
The Makerspace will encourage development from local entrepreneurs who would not otherwise have access to affordable 3-D scanning technology.
Westminster Municipal Fiber Network
Such an innovative community resource goes hand in hand with Westminster getting a high-speed Internet network. Westminster began building its municipal fiber network in October, 2014, and entered into a public-private partnership in February, 2015, with Ting. The city owns the fiber network and Ting leases fiber to bring Internet service of up to 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps) to businesses and residents. Last September, we noted that Westminster’s partnership with Ting earned it honors from the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors as 2015 “Community Broadband Innovative Partnership of the Year.”
Until the arrival of Westerminster’s municipal fiber network, the majority of people in the city had only access to a dial-up network or DSL service. With the new municipal network, residents and businesses can now enjoy access to fast, affordable, reliable Internet connectivity with average speeds that are up to 400 times faster than what was previously available, the newspaper added.
Westminster Showcases "MAGIC"
Since the advent of the Westminster Fiber Network, the city has been able to use its high-quality Internet connectivity in some unique ways. In April, we reported how the city’s network has helped serve a new collaborative initiative called “Tech Incubation,” which gives local students experience exploring their interests in technology. In May, we described how students working on the “MAGIC" initiative created a temporary wireless network for a second project -- the city’s annual Westminster Flower and Jazz Festival held during Mother's Day weekend.
You can learn more about the project by listening to episode #100 of the Community Broadband Bits podcast. Chris talked with Dr. Robert Wack, the man who spearheaded the plan in Westminster.
Geoterm
Related Stories
Massachusetts and New York Look To Make Affordable Housing Broadband Ready
Massachusetts and New York officials hope to entice affordable housing property owners with new grant programs that would pay the retrofitting costs to expand high-speed Internet connectivity into decades-old affordable housing developments. Given that many of these multi-dwelling units (MDUs) were built before the advent of the Internet, a significant number of low-income tenants are living in buildings that are not wired to support reliable broadband connections or where residents can’t afford monopoly provider prices.
New Municipal Broadband Networks Skyrocket in Post-Pandemic America As Alternative To Private Monopoly Model
As the new year begins, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) announced today its latest tally of municipal broadband networks which shows a dramatic surge in the number of communities building publicly-owned, locally controlled high-speed Internet infrastructure over the last three years. Since January 1, 2021, at least 47 new municipal networks have come online with dozens of other projects still in the planning or pre-construction phase, which includes the possibility of building 40 new municipal networks in California alone.
Timnath, Colorado and Loveland Team Up to Further Expand Celebrated Municipal Fiber Network
Officials in Loveland and Timnath, Colorado recently announced the ratification of an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) that greenlight’s a plan to bring ubiquitous, affordable high-speed Internet access to yet another community in the Centennial State, as an increasing number of Colorado cities and towns embrace municipal broadband after years of frustration with the inadequate, high-priced service from the region’s monopoly incumbents.
Colorado Springs Utility Fiber Deployment Moves Into Second Phase
Colorado Springs, Colorado and its city-owned utility have begun construction on the second phase of a promising open access fiber optic network that should bring affordable fiber broadband to the city of half a million residents. Construction of the network by Springs Utilities began in the first region in September 2022, shortly after the city-owned utility struck a 25-year lease agreement with Ting to be the network anchor tenant.
Maryland Awards $92 Million In Grants For 35 Projects
Maryland officials have announced that the state is doling out $92 million in new broadband grants to expand access to affordable broadband. The latest round of funding was made possible via the Connect Maryland Network Infrastructure Grant Program, and will help expand broadband access to 14,500 unserved locations statewide.
Making Waves in Baltimore with Community-Driven Connectivity
Profile on the people behind Project Waves, a non-profit organization founded in 2018 to bring broadband to mostly low-income households in Baltimore City.