The Wake Forest Broadband Task Force will host the last of three public meetings on Thursday, May 29, at 6 p.m. about the effort to bring high speed broadband Internet service to Wake Forest. All of the sessions are held at the Wake Forest Renaissance Centre, 405 S. Brooks St.
Currently there is only one company working on the installation, RST Fiber, but last week Commissioner Zachary Donahue, a task force member, said there is another company interested. That is CenturyLink, which provides internet and telephone systems to a large number of town residents. No one at CenturyLink has responded to talk about their plans for ultra high speed fiber connections.
The information series is designed to educate residents about the current installation of an ultra high speed fiber network throughout Wake Forest. Discussions at each meeting will cover a range of topics, including the benefits and potential cost of fiber Internet service, a tentative timeline and what to expect during installation. A question and answer period will follow.
In February the Wake Forest Board of Commissioners appointed the Broadband Task Force to advise the town on how to bring a high-speed fiber broadband network to Wake Forest homes and businesses. Comprised of communications and computer business industry leaders and chaired by MCNC CEO Joe Freddoso, the task force contacted Shelby-based RST Fiber to gauge the company’s interest in launching a fiber network in Wake Forest. Negotiations between the town and RST began shortly afterward and resulted in RST’s decision to proceed.
In mid-April RST Fiber crews began installing the fiber network that will allow beta testing in strategic areas around town. Assuming all goes well, the next step will be to provide gigabit Internet service (1,000 MB per second) to Wake Forest homes and businesses – possibly as early as this summer – making Wake Forest the Triangle’s first gigabit community.
In an effort to gauge the community’s interest in fiber service, the task force developed a short questionnaire and posted it on the town’s website. Available at www.wakeforestnc.gov/fiber-to-the-forest-survey.aspx, the survey is designed to highlight the demand for fiber in Wake Forest, along with areas that show the highest concentrations of potential fiber network users. Close to 3,000 area residents have completed the survey.
