EDIT: City Hall, Public Safety, and Public Works have all been connected to the service. The City of Winter Park has also already begun extending the service to the Community Center, Civic Center, golf course, and the cemetery. Next will come the water plants, fire stations, substations, tennis center, and other City-owned facilities.
Winter Park is considering adding fiber-optic internet service to their municipal buildings, which would allow them access to speeds of over a gigabit per second.
The idea is to provide a basic infrastructure for a fiber-optic network in order to facilitate the City’s transformation into a Smart City, giving them instant control over services like traffic lights, communications, police, fire, and more. This would also extend to public Wi-Fi services.
Mayor Steve Leary has assembled a task force to look into the possibility of installing the network, and what that could cost. Estimates see the cost falling somewhere between $4-28 million, depending on how extensive that network is. A smaller investment of $4 million would cover just essential city buildings, making it easier to potentially build out to Winter Park residents further down the line.
The task force members include John Caron, Dave Johnston, Steve Mauldin, Tom McMacken, and Bill Segal.
According to Broadband Now, Florida has one of the most strict municipal broadband regulation policies in the country, including high taxes on telecommunication services, and intense vetting procedures. To see the Florida code for yourself, click HERE.
