An Ongoing Adventure

Downtown broadband customers continue to increase

Building on 2017’s momentum, HBPW continued the expansion of its high-speed broadband network in the downtown Holland corridor in 2018.

Broadband Services offer shared gigabit access, meaning download and upload speeds of up to 1000Mbps (Megabits per second) – that’s up to ten times faster than the leading 100Mbps cable connection. With two services available including a shared gigabit service ($85) and an enhanced shared gigabit service ($220), HBPW saw high adoption among both residential and business customers.

“We had the goal several years ago of providing internet services at an affordable price, and that has come to fruition,” said Becky Lehman, technology director for HBPW.

The downtown area started as an expanded pilot with 12 customers and grew to the larger footprint of the downtown area that spans from 7th to 9th Street between River Avenue and Garretson Road. By establishing the downtown area, HBPW could further test and develop plans to bring broadband service throughout the community.

The broadband network is not built one customer at a time. Instead, it’s built to cover a broad area like a city block or neighborhood, so that as more households in that area switch to broadband, it is easy to add new customers.

“We had the goal several years ago of providing internet services at an affordable price, and that has come to fruition.”

– Becky Lehman, HBPW Technology Director

“This last year, we were able to learn more about being an Internet Service Provider (ISP) and take a deeper dive into building broadband networks and the financials behind the service,” said Pete Hoffswell, Broadband Services Manager at HBPW.

For leadership at HBPW, the major takeaway from the last year is that HBPW can successfully serve as an ISP while creating open-access infrastructure and world-class services for customers.

With a study planned for the near future, Hoffswell said HBPW now wants to learn if those same takeaways apply to residential areas across Holland.