The Farr West Fiber Project
A grass-roots effort to get future-proof internet for LESS.
When Can We Get Fiber to Our Home?
The short answer is: It depends on you and your neighbors.
​
​
​
​
Consider this: we want faster, more reliable internet - but we also want more CHOICES in providers. The Connext model was the only feasible model where we could get both of those things without putting the city in any debt.
​
Because Connext is fronting the vast majority of the risk and cost of this project, they ask us (the residents) to "pitch in" as well. Each fiberhood in the city is responsible to raise (approximately 15-20%) of the cost of building the network in that area. Once that money has been raised by residents who opt in to get service, Connext will then fund the remainder and build out the fiber network in that fiberhood.
​
There are multiple fiberhoods throughout the city. The first fiberhood to hit their crowd-funding target will be the first to get the fiber service. Other fiberhoods may follow. If you want the service badly enough, we encourage you to go talk to your neighbors about it. Help them sign up for service.
The main point is that the new service is based on demand. We aren't forcing anyone who does NOT want service to pay for anything. Connext is willing to work with us on a case-by-case basis to reach as many homes that want new service as possible, so don't get discouraged because you're in a minority based on your fiberhood.
Why are we crowd-funding this project?
How do we hit our crowd-funding goal?
Each home that wants service must commit to pay an infrastructure cost of $2,000, which may be paid up-front or as a part of their monthly bill for 5 years. See the cost page for details. At a minimum, new customers must pay $200 up-front to guarantee their service. This $200 goes toward paying off the $2,000 commitment. A resident may choose to pay MORE up-front (such as $500, or $1,000), in which case their monthly service bill would be smaller. No matter what the up-front payment is, ALL up-front payments from a given fiberhood go toward the crowd-funding goal for that area. It doesn't matter how your fiberhood reaches the goal - you could have MANY people sign up for smaller up-front payments, or fewer people who pay it all off at once. The goal for each fiberhood is posted on the crowdfunding site where you can sign up for service. Construction begins immediately in your fiberhood after the goal is hit.
When do we have to pay the money?
When you sign up for service, NO money is drawn from your bank account and no financial information is taken UNTIL the crowd-funding goal for your fiberhood is reached. When the goal is reached, a notice will be sent to all residents who signed up for service and you will receive a call from an authorized Connext agent who will take your payment at that point. This helps protect you from having to commit any money if your fiberhood struggles to raise the funds it needs to get service.
​
Why do we have to pay anything? Why doesn't Connext just pay for the whole thing?
Connext could pay for the whole thing, but then the only service provider option would be Connext. We would only be introducing another broadband monopoly into certain sections of the city - which is what we already have (and it's not great). Our goal is to create a model for internet infrastructure that is based on open-access. We don't want to be forced into a single option for service - we want LOTS of choices. Open-access is the way to do that. Our partial "ownership" is what gets us the ability to have multiple ISP choices, as well as a say in how future technology and upgrades get installed. We also worked it out so that the monthly bills are still comparable or lower than current bills we're paying, even WITH the $2,000 contribution to the cost of the network.