[1st-mile-nm] CenturyLink - Santa Fe Fiber Project

[Richard Lowenberg]

Question: How will this 'completed' fiber project relate to the $1 M. 
that the City spent on a fiber (CenturyLink bypass) project over the 
past couple of years, and what is the status of that?   Further details 
from City staff on this list would be appreciated.    RL

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City Sites Ready for High-Speed Internet

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/city-sites-ready-for-high-speed-internet/article_ef37b30a-b600-5b37-ad49-b4629c38a2f6.html

Posted: Tuesday, August 23, 2016 | Updated: 12:00 am, Wed Aug 24, 2016.
By Daniel J. Chacón, The New Mexican

Mayor Javier Gonzales teamed up Tuesday with CenturyLink to announce the 
completion of a project designed to deliver high-speed internet service 
at 32 city-owned sites, some of which are frequently used by the public, 
including City Hall, Municipal Court and the airport.

For city government, the installation of 6.5 miles of fiber-optic cable 
and higher speeds are supposed to translate into improved efficiency. 
For ordinary citizens, it means faster internet speeds at the main and 
branch libraries and other government buildings, and the ability to 
conduct more city business online.

“Being a government, a true digital government, requires some basic 
infrastructure investments, and fiber is one of those areas that we have 
to make sure we invest in [in the] quest to becoming a digital 
government,” Gonzales said during a news conference in the Santa Fe 
Municipal Airport as a steady stream of travelers zipped by and the 
airport announcer spoke over some of the dignitaries.

“I would apologize for all the noise and the activity, but I’m not going 
to because that’s commerce and it’s travel, and it’s really important to 
our community,” joked Cameron “Cam” Humphres, the city’s airport 
manager.

Renée Martínez, director of the city’s Information Technology and 
Telecommunications Department, said the $500,000 project to upgrade 
internet service was funded by CenturyLink. “It was their investment,” 
she said.

Martínez also said high-speed internet to the airport and other “very 
important work sites” represents a “big milestone in a larger project.”

“This is an investment that’s very important to a very significant 
modernization initiative that the city has underway,” she said. “In the 
next two or three years, the city will be replacing most of its larger 
information systems, including our financial, our human resources, 
permitting [and] inspection. What it will allow us to do is connect 
citizens to city services in a way we’ve never been able to.”

(snip)


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Richard Lowenberg, Executive Director
1st-Mile Institute     505-603-5200
Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504,
rl at 1st-mile.org     www.1st-mile.org
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