Earlier this week, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported on the ARRA-funded Anoka Network. The network was completed in June but it’s always nice to see a broadband project get mainstream press coverage and it’s interesting to see what elements of the project they choose to highlight…
Anoka County’s speedy new Internet system is humming among 145 city, county, school and other public buildings, bringing faster service to library patrons and other computer and mobile device users.
Various facilities, including fire departments and two colleges, have been trying out their new capabilities since the 287-mile fiber optic cable went live this summer. …
Here are some of the advantages…
Besides offering faster Internet searches for county library patrons and others, the $19 million broadband system has meant county computers are working better in the mornings, when they were sometimes slowed because overnight backup data storage was still finishing up. The backup that used to take at least 10 hours every night now takes about 30 to 60 minutes, Vreeland said. One of the places connected to the cable is Springbrook Nature Center in Fridley, where visitors have gained Wi-Fi access. …
The system will be especially useful in the rural northern end of the county in areas that lack adequate Internet service. Vreeland noted that some schools, including Centennial, St. Francis and Columbia Heights high schools, are now enjoying high-speed hookups.
And some of the business details…
Anoka County paid about $3 million of the $19 million cost of the system; 70 percent of the total was covered by a federal stimulus grant. The county controls 25 percent of cable fibers, some reserved for future use. The county will recover some of its costs by charging a user fee to cities, schools and other public agencies on the cable network.
The 1- to 2-inch-thick cable is owned by Zayo Bandwidth, which installed the network and also paid about $3 million of the cost. The Boulder, Colo., company took about 18 months to hang the cable on poles or bury it underground in three, large 10 gigabit-capacity rings stretching from Columbia Heights to St. Francis, and Ramsey to Centerville, with a spur running north along Hwy. 65 to Cambridge.
Zayo will lease fibers to large businesses, including local providers of Internet, cable television and phone service. Those last-mile providers, which are just beginning to market their services, may install cable spurs to homes and small businesses.