Charles City, New Hampton Move Forward on Fiber

Two northeast Iowa communities 20 miles apart are embarking on a common path to bring fiber networks to their citizens.

This week, the City Council in Charles City, with support from the Charles City Broadband Commission, approved an agreement with Lookout Point Communications and NewCom  Technologies to design a fiber-to-the-home system. Lookout Point and principal Eric Lampland also conducted the feasibility study for Charles City that estimated a total project cost of $11.5 million.

Next door, the New Hampton Municipal Light Plant Board also approved a contract with Lookout Point/NewCom for their FTTP network design. The New Hampton network would cost an estimated $5.7 million.

As both communities move forward on designing their individual networks, they are also having discussions on how they can work together on other aspects such as operations. 

The design process in the two towns is expected to be completed late this year or in early 2019, with a goal of going out for bids during the winter and breaking ground in the spring of next year.