The City of Roanoke has consistently been ranked as a top Digital City by the Center for Digital Government and recently helped establish the Roanoke Valley Broadband Authority. Working with other Authority members in the Roanoke metro area, Roanoke plans to improve affordable broadband services in the Roanoke Valley by encouraging collaboration, competition, and long term investments. With growing research in the education and technology sectors, the City has identified a need to improve fiber infrastructure through a variety of strategies focused on economic development and efficient government.  The Roanoke Valley Broadband Authority is in the process of engineering and constructing a 46 mile fiber optic network in the Valley that will serve business parks, large institutions, government facilities, and businesses. This middle mile network will be operated as an open-access network by an experienced carrier-grade operator, and is expected to be operational by early 2016.