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Fiber is Here
Data has become as important to the quality of life and work for our community as electricity, water or wastewater services. That’s why HBPW began installing a high-speed broadband network in the downtown Holland corridor this year. We believe that reliable, state-of-the-art data infrastructure ensures Holland’s growth and health for years to come.
Broadband services offer shared gigabit access, meaning upload and download speeds of up to 1000mbps —that’s ten times faster than the average 100mbps cable connection.
Within 90 days of introducing the new service, dozens of downtown businesses and residents signed up for shared gigabit access, more than exceeding the adoption rate necessary to pay off the expansion.
“Fiber is as important to our community’s future as power was 100 years ago.”
“Fiber is as important to our community’s future as power was 100 years ago,” said Craig Hall, President of Lee Shore Enterprises. Lee Shore Enterprises is one of the companies already experiencing the speed and reliability of broadband services through an HBPW pilot program. They have signed up for the new services. “The speed is amazing, but the most impressive parts for me have been the soft features, like the local customer service support,” said Craig.
As a serial entrepreneur, Craig has experienced the importance of internet across industries. “Internet is part of each company’s DNA,” said Craig. “It is essential that our community doesn’t take it for granted, and we stay ahead of the curve.”
HBPW’s current service offering in downtown Holland spans from 7th to 9th street between River Ave and Garretson Rd. The service area includes 158 buildings and a total of 450 potential homes and businesses. With shared gigabit access, these homes and businesses can have access to all the bandwidth they need.
Fun Fact:
Broadband is also commonly referred to as fiber, because of the fiber optic cables we install to bring data to your home or business.
Free Public WiFi
In May, Holland Board of Public Works launched a pilot program for free public wifi at Centennial Park. The pilot program is testing the feasibility and value of providing internet access in the public spaces of our community.
HBPW installed an access point in the main gazebo of the park that serves the entire park during open hours. More than 600 unique users have already utilized the free wifi service, moving over 240 Gigabytes of data! The program connects to the shared gigabit broadband fiber lines of HBPW. That means incredible speed and dependability.
“I enjoy that I can stream HD videos flawlessly on my phone.”
For music aficionado and Hops “beer guy” Steve Van Dommelen, higher speeds mean quicker album and video downloads. “The public wifi is part of my routine, I walk through Centennial Park every day on my way to work and always connect to the wifi” said Steve Van Dommelen. “I enjoy that I can stream HD videos flawlessly on my phone. It’s impressive watching how quickly the download circle fills in.”
We invite you to stop by Centennial Park and see the speeds first-hand!
Fiber
Cable
Years of Dependability
Holland Board of Public Works has trusted its reliable broadband fiber network since 1992, and now service is expanding to businesses in the downtown Holland corridor. Holland companies have been experiencing the dependability and speed of broadband fiber for years.
In fact, HBPW and Thermotron Industries began conversations about broadband back in 2004. To put that in perspective, that’s when Facebook was still only for college students, and Google’s Gmail was a new email service.
Thermotron officially established fiber broadband connections through HBPW in August 2012, and began leasing dark fiber in June of 2017.
“The speed has eliminated the burden off of our employees and increased productivity.”
Between Thermotron’s two Holland locations—the corporate headquarters on Kollen Park Drive and the main manufacturing plant on Brooks Avenue—the broadband fiber optic internet connection continues to be most employees’ main connectivity tool. The dark fiber line has been added to increase speed and security for hefty file transfers for those who require it.
“The dark fiber connection allows us to run at any bandwidth we desire without outside factors affecting the connection,” said Jack Overbeek, network administrator. “Employees used to have to plan their days around file loads. Now transfers can happen in seconds, even for the largest files. The speed has eliminated the burden off of our employees and increased productivity.”
Thermotron is North America’s premier manufacturer of high-performance environmental test chambers and vibration test systems. All equipment is designed and manufactured at company headquarters in Holland, Michigan.
Thermotron is one of over 225 Holland companies experiencing the speed and consistency of fiber. Learn more about fiber here.
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