The city of Celina in Texas announced that, following a unanimous decision by the city council to approve the Easement Ordinance amendment at the recent May city council meeting, developers will be required to install optical fibre lines and conduits in all new developments within the boundaries of the city.
The city of Celina, located approximately 40 miles from Dallas, stated that, through the Celina Economic Development Corporation (EDC), it is designing and shortly plans to begin the construction of an 86-mile fibre backhaul network across the city. In addition, through developer and building ordinances and other public-private partnerships, Celina is aiming to build a fibre network to serve a further 64 sq miles across the city to connect all residential, business and municipal rooftops to this fibre backbone.The city noted that the ordinance that has been passed states that: '…a fibre optic network in the city of Celina is a fundamental aspect of the infrastructure required to educate, create jobs, promote public safety, improve citizens' standards of living and deliver essential services'.
The planned open access network for Celina is intended to enable faster communication and Internet speeds for consumers and businesses and to establish the first Gigabit City in the state of Texas. Celina's Gigabit City is specifically committed to providing connectivity with a minimum speed of 1 Gbit/s symmertical to all residential and business premises across the city.
Describing the project, Scott Stawski, secretary and board member of the Celina EDC, said, "(The network) is approximately only 8% built out, but there is a clear line of sight to being 100% built out in 20 years… because the city is building the gigabit infrastructure now, it will become more attractive to potential new businesses and companies looking to establish in a community with the fastest connectivity in the state of Texas".
