EWEB and the City of Eugene are moving forward this March with the construction of a publicly owned, high-speed fiber internet network for the downtown area.
Economic development planner Anne Fifield says the network is crucial to the city’s overall prosperity.
“Internet service is the infrastructure of the 21st century,” says Fifield. “Not having high-quality, low-cost internet service in the 21st century is like not having an on-ramp to the freeway in the 20th century. It’s like not having a rail-stop in the 19th Century.”
EWEB will own the infrastructure and access to the fibers will be leased to individual internet service providers. Fifield says Eugene has a surprisingly large software development industry, which is dependent on access to good internet connection. According to Fifield, providing high quality internet access to these companies could help create many well-paying jobs for Eugene residents. The construction is planned to last 18 months but will be minimally-obstructive because the fibers will run along already established EWEB infrastructure.
More information on the fiber project here.