Rexburg prepares to launch open access fiber network

REXBURG, Idaho (KIFI) - After a decade of hard work, the City of Rexburg is preparing to launch its open-access fiber network. The launch will allow people within city limits and Madison County areas to access the broadband infrastructure that the city has laid down.

Currently, the city is mailing out flyers that prompt the recipient to take an online survey that will help the city and its future internet service provider partners to help bring the network to their neighborhood.

"The survey will also give them an opportunity to express what level of service they’re interested in. Right. Do they need a 100 mgbs service or 250 mgbs or one gig or, you know, the type of things that would help them better access the Internet," City of Rexburg chief information officer Todd Smith said

Smith says the network the city has built should continue to provide support as the area continues to grow rapidly. "

We've built it with a lot of excess capacity. And so we've determined that we have sufficient to, start connecting homes or businesses and things like that through that network as well."

The broadband will function as an open-access network. That means that the city will partner with local internet providers and allow them to hook up to their infrastructure and then allow the companies to help facilitate the lines that reach the neighborhoods.

"The whole idea behind Open Access is to invite any and all providers to come and be a service provider on this network. And so residents should have a much larger menu of ISPs to choose from a variety of different plans that they can choose from. What best suits their needs, and then the ability to change if things aren't working out well for them," Smith said.

Smith added, "we're hoping that the residents will have choices there as well as other providers that maybe are not in our area yet. That will come because we have this network."

Smith says the hope is that homes will be able to be hooked onto the network in May or June.

"The end goal is that every resident and business, every address basically in all of the Rexburg city and county would have access to this network. That's the goal," Smith said.

If you live in Rexburg or near the city outside of its limits and reside in Madison County, and want to participate in the survey you can visit the network's website here. Smith says if you take the survey you won't be signed up for anything related to the network just yet. The survey is just to help the city and its Internet provider partners determine where the fiber branches need to reach.