Farr West is an amazing place to live!  Sadly, we're very behind when it comes to broadband availability.  Less than 40% of the city has broadband access and virtually all of those who do have access are limited to a single choice in internet companies.  Many residents in Farr West are not satisfied with the available speeds and provider choices for internet.  Future technology will demand better internet infrastructure than what we currently have.  In order to prepare our city for the future, fiber internet is the most reasonable choice.  Even if you have internet you're happy with right now, a new fiber network could end up costing less and giving you higher speeds, more reliability, and more choices for providers.

Absolutely not.  The fiber project model is strictly opt-in and opt-out.  If you don't want fiber internet, you will NOT be forced to pay for it through taxes or any other means.  Only those who choose to opt in will pay for fiber internet.   Be advised that if you change your mind later and choose to opt in after the initial round of installations are done, it may be more expensive than if you choose to opt in initially.

We recommend looking at the How Much Will It Cost page to get all the details and examples.  In short, anyone who wants the new service will need to commit to paying an infrastructure cost of $2,000 which can be paid (all or partially) up-front or else it can be paid as a part of your monthly bill until it is paid off.   For those who make a partial payment up-front, you can expect a monthly bill of between $40-66/month depending on the amount of the up-front payment (for 100Mbps service).  Other speeds and plans will also be available.  Once the infrastructure cost is paid off, you can expect a maximum monthly bill of $30/month.

Now that the City Council has endorsed an agreement with Connext to deploy the new fiber network, we can start building out the fiber network as soon as there is enough concentrated demand.  The city has been divided up into different geographic areas called "fiberhoods." When enough funds have been raised (through up-front contributions) in a given fiberhood, then construction will begin immediately in that area.  We encourage you to talk to neighbors and help spread the word, which in turn will help your fiberhood get service even faster.   

Initially, there will be two ISPs available - Connext and another provider that has yet to be determined; however, residents must use Connext's service until the infrastructure cost has been paid off.  This is because Connext is fronting the majority of the build costs.  Once the infrastructure cost has been paid off, residents are free to change ISPs.  We also plan to make the network open-access after 5 years - meaning we expect to have 5-10 different ISPs offering services on the network eventually. 

In many instances, running fiber in areas that have already been developed will involve digging trenches.  However, instead of digging trenches in the street (which is very difficult and costly), digging will occur in the easement located on the inside of the sidewalk running in front of your home.

 The process consists of the following steps, whether you sign up for service or not:

1. Blue stakes will mark any important utilities buried in the fiber pathway.  You may see temporary spray paint when lines are marked.  DO NOT erase these marks purposefully or you may be liable for delaying fiber crews or for causing serious damage to previously marked utility lines.

2. The grass (if any) will be cut with a sod cutter (a single pass) and carefully peeled to the side until the trenching is complete.

3. A trench is dug about 12'' down and the conduit and fiber are placed.

4. Repair work is done for any instances where sprinklers were damaged.  In the rare cases where a sprinkler line was unknowingly damaged and not repaired immediately, you will be able to contact Connext and they will send out a crew to perform the repair as quickly as possible.  

5. The trenches are filled and the sod is replaced and watered.

6. Pneumatic drills will be able to place fiber underneath driveways and sidewalks without damaging concrete.

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Additionally, if you signed up for service, another trench will be run from the sidewalk to the side of your home.  

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Even though this may sound invasive, you should hardly notice a thing  after the sod has re-knitted with the ground after a few days.  In some cases, you may have additional landscaping or fencing that crews must work around.  In such cases, please feel free to ask the crews any questions.  All landscaping will be returned to the same state it was found in.

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You will receive door hangers ahead of time letting you know when fiber crews are in the area and about to trench in front of your home. 

Even though you are committing to pay an up-front cost (between $200 and $2,000) upon signing up for service, your money will not actually be drawn until your fiberhood has raised enough total money to begin construction.  When it becomes apparent that your fiberhood is going to be fully-funded, Connext will send out an email notice to everyone who has signed up in that area and you will receive a call from a Connext representative who will then take your payment.  No payment information should be entered on this site or on the crowdfunding site.  

You can cancel as long as you do it BEFORE the construction deadline.   Once a fiberhood is fully-funded, Connext will send out an email to notify everyone who has signed up in that fiberhood and calls will be made by Connext to take your payment.  The date that funds are drawn is the construction deadline, and after those funds are drawn they cannot be refunded.  

5G is a much-hyped, poorly understood technology.  The telco companies (Verizon, AT&T,etc) would have you believe that 5G will make it so you don't need a wired connection at all.   But 5G is nothing more than fixed wireless, which is a technology we already have available (TXOX, Rise, etc) and will still be subject to line of sight and interference, just like we deal with now.  Even though it will be faster than what we have available, it won't be anywhere near as fast as fiber.  We also want to move AWAY from the big telco monopolies that charge us whatever they want.  Even though phones will start being marketed as "5G capable" in the next year or so, there won't be any 5G infrastructure to run them on for many years after that in Farr West.  5G may look enticing, but fiber is the real deal - and it's available NOW.  Fiber will cost less and provide more speed, higher reliability, and more choices of providers.  

There isn't any technology better or faster than fiber optic technology.  Fiber is hands-down the fastest, most reliable, most future-proof thing there is for internet and communications.  Nothing else even comes close, including 5G.  The chances of our investment being uprooted by a different technology are next to zero.  Despite having to lay the fiber in the ground, which is not as invasive a process as you might think, fiber will provide the best experience possible to residents and businesses alike.  There's a reason that the entire world, including many of our neighboring cities, are standardizing on fiber internet to the home.

Yes; however, there may be additional costs to pay for the equipment necessary to allow you to have two different service plans through a single fiber line.   Some residents want more than one ISP plan at their home so they can separate home business plans from personal use plans.  There are other possible use cases as well.  We don't think this will be very common, so we plan to work it out on a case-by-case basis.  Please contact us if you expect you'll need two different service plans at a single location.

Absolutely.  Download them here:

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Once construction begins in a fiberhood, we anticipate being able to pass/hook up between 100 and 120 homes per month.  Because of the way fiber is laid, we will be able to light up (begin service on) chunks of homes as we go along.  So you should anticipate some delay (perhaps a few days to a few weeks) after your fiber is installed before you begin to get actual internet service; however, you do not need to wait until the entire fiberhood has been constructed.

When we get more questions, we'll post the answers here!  Check back soon!