The City of Eugene, EWEB, and the Lane Council of Governments have partnered to construct a municipally owned fiber network in downtown Eugene. The fiber network will be owned by EWEB, and private Internet Service Providers (ISPs) will lease the fiber strands and provide service to individual businesses within the service area. Any qualified ISP will be able to lease the fiber—it is an open-access network. Construction on the network is expected to begin before the end of 2016. Service through this network may be available in 2017 depending on funding and ISP provider interest.
The three agencies have been working together to test the engineering and financial viability of the network and have brought fiber to a handful of buildings in the downtown in a pilot project.
Customers that are in the service area will be able to purchase high-speed internet service for much less than what service providers offer today. For example, firms in the Broadway Commerce Center saw the price of monthly service decline from about $250 for 150-megabit service, to $99 for 1,000-megabit service. More information about the timeline for service availability timeline will be provided as it is confirmed.