After a competitive RFP process, with proposals being submitted by five major broadband providers, LCI Fiber Optic Network’s proposal to provide a 1 Gigabit WAN (Wide Area Network) to connect 11 Belfast City facilities, as well as a shared 500 x 500Mbps internet access for those locations, was ranked No. 1 by the RFP Review Team. The LCI proposal was also endorsed by the Belfast Broadband Committee.

On Tuesday October 16, the Belfast City Council voted unanimously to award the high speed connectivity project to LCI.

With City Hall as the hub, the 1 gigabit network will connect the airport, fire department and ambulance, harbor master’s office, police station, existing public works building, future public works building, transfer station, the waste water treatment facility, and the Boat House.

To connect the City facilities, LCI will be using its existing fiber optic network already deployed in Belfast, plus build another 3.75 miles of fiber optic network cable in the city. LCI currently can provide fiber optic broadband to approximately 350 homes and businesses in Belfast. Once the fiber expansion is completed, LCI will be able to offer super highspeed fiber optic broadband to another 250 addresses in Belfast.

The Belfast Broadband Committee, as well as the City Council, both noted that the expansion of fiber optic technology in Belfast is important to the economic future of the city. National studies show that property values increase at least 3.1 percent on average when a home or business secures fiber optic broadband.

Perhaps the largest potential for an economic multiplier effect from this fiber optic expansion in Belfast may be in the commercial and business areas of the city that currently don’t have ready access to the level of bandwidth that fiber optics offers, according to a news release from LCI.

“Another positive economic impact will be that more small and home-based businesses will have access to fiber optic broadband, increasing the total economic value for Belfast without increasing the city’s environmental footprint,” said LCI.

According to LCI, only 12.6 percent of the U.S. has access to fiber optic broadband 2 and only 4.4 percent of Maine can get the level of bandwidth that fiber optics can provide.

With the additional LCI fiber build-out in Belfast, the city will move ahead of both the Maine and U.S. averages.

Once LCI completes the Belfast Municipal WAN, approximately 20 percent of the city’s households, and roughly a third all businesses in Belfast, will have ready access to fiber optic technology.

LCI uses a public/private collaborative model when working with municipalities to improve their broadband access. Rick Manning, VP of Engineering and Business Development for LCI, said in the release: “We have had considerable success in numerous communities in Maine by working closely with the elected officials, municipal management and the various economic development organizations and broadband committees.”