Will I be able to get the new optic fiber broadband internet service at my house? How much will it cost? Will there be different price points? When will it be available?
These are some of the questions Wake Forest residents are asking as RST begins work on the promised network.
You can hear the answers and ask your own questions at a series of meetings during May. The Broadband Task Force had originally planned to invite the heads of homeowners associations to a meeting, but there was so much interest they decided to invite everyone and hold three meetings.
These will be Monday, May 12; Thursday, May 22; and Thursday, May 29. All the meetings will be held at the Renaissance Centre beginning at 6 p.m.
The town and RST, the Shelby-based firm that hopes to turn Wake Forest into the first fiber optic high-speed internet in North Carolina, are still working on the contract that will allow RST to use the town’s electric poles to provide wireless service between the buried fiber optic cables and homes and businesses. The process so far has been very fast.
It was February when the town commissioners appointed the Fiber to the Home and Business Task Force to advise the town on how to bring a high-speed fiber broadband network for people and businesses to use. It was headed by Joe Freddoso, the CEO of MCNC and a town resident.
Google would not consider the town because it had not responded to a request several years ago, and other entities such as Time Warner and CenturyLink were apparently not interested.
But in March RST began announcing it would install the network in Asheville and other cities, including Raleigh. The Wake Forest group called on RST to see if the company would be interested in also installing a network in Wake Forest.
On April 15, with negotiations with the town underway, RST began boring 14 miles to Raleigh, working to install a conduit to hold the fiber cable and connect Wake Forest to one of their facilities in Raleigh. That first step to provide the backbone of the network should be complete by the end of May or early in June.
Predictions now are that the Wake Forest network will be operating sometime this summer.
Town officials and task force members expect that the high-speed network will be an economic boost.
“High-speed fiber will make Wake Forest a destination location for high-tech businesses and tech workers locating to this area,” Dan Holt, a task force member, said. “The Internet speed that will be available to homes and businesses will far exceed anything else offered in our region and state – and at a reasonable price.”
Over 1,700 people have already responded to a short questionnaire about interest in the network, and town officials hope at least 3,000 will respond by the end of May. The responses will help the town and RST determine the level of interest and where there is the most interest. Find that questionnaire at www.wakeforestnc.gov/fiber-to-the-home-survey.aspx.
