Mayor Steve Leifson
- On Spanish Fork
“At the turn of the new century, Spanish Fork could have been left behind in the information age but the community decided to takes its future into its own hands and build a high- speed data network throughout the community. Residents went from 0% access to 100% access in a few short years. Now, Spanish Fork residents know firsthand how ubiquitous access to high speed internet makes their personal and professional lives better.”
- On Next Century Cities
“Spanish Fork is a natural fit with the Next Century Cities because we know first-hand how a community can successfully chart its own future. At the start of the 20th century our city leaders realized how important electricity would be to create a vibrant community. At the start of the 21st century, a new generation of city leaders faced a similar problem with connectivity and they chose to build a high-speed data network that would connect our small community to the world. Spanish Fork has always felt our community stretches beyond the limits of our city borders into unincorporated county and other surrounding communities. However, State laws preclude our expansion beyond city limits. We feel that collaboration with Next Century Cities can make our network better and may provide opportunities to grow beyond the limits of current state regulation.”
- What Spanish Fork is working on
Spanish Fork City continues to operate one of the most successful municipal broadband networks in the country. Data speeds and broadband capacity are increased regularly to ensure the network exceeds customer demand. Businesses have access to a robust network that offers both affordable services and highly customized fiber optic solutions.
Our planning for the future includes all relevant technologies. Our fiber network is expanding with fiber-to-the-business solutions offering incredible high speed services. We continue to expand utilization of the installed but unused fiber optic cable that spiders across the entire City. The network of conduit that has been installed for almost two decades throughout the City will allow a seamless conversion to residential fiber-to-the-home.
We are always expanding our free WIFI access and will soon have one of the first all HD cable television systems. Finally, we recently teamed with a CLEC that operates a Tier 1 network for our phone service, that improves reliability, provides additional customer features and will open new voice opportunities to our businesses.
Links to media coverage:
Spanish Fork named as a Smart 21 City in 2005: https://www.intelligentcommunity.org/index.php?src=gendocs&ref=Smart21_2006&category=Events
Local news coverage of the Smart 21 award in 2005: http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/spanish-fork-city-named-an-intelligent-community/article_f4c4bad5-660a-5862-b708-44ff82f7030b.html
Local news coverage of the Smart 21 award in 2005: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/635165653/Spanish-Fork-recognized-for-its-tech-savvy.html?pg=all
An interview with Spanish Fork’s Broadband director discussing the history of the Community Network: http://www.muninetworks.org/content/spanish-fork-discusses-stunning-success-community-broadband-bits-podcast-60
