Fort Dodge Moving Forward With Municipal Fiber

Citizens of Fort Dodge, Iowa will have access to a multi-gigabit fiber optic network following action by the City Council yesterday. 

The City Council authorized four key elements to advance the project:

1. A resolution authorizing the City to borrow up to $40 million to pay for the network.
2. An engagement with HR Green to prepare detailed network engineering and bid documents.
3. A Request for Proposal for materials for the project. The RFP is being issued early in the process due to supply chain issues that have needed materials such as fiber optic cables being shipped months after ordering.
4. A resolution adopting initial rates for the internet and telephone services. The City is not planning to offer their own cable TV service but will instead enable over-the-top video applications that customers choose.

The next key milestone comes later this month with financial advisor DA Davidson presents the Council with final financing documents.  

With a population of 25,206, Fort Dodge would be the second largest city in Iowa to have access to a municipal broadband utility. Cedar Falls Utilities has served the northeast Iowa community of Cedar Falls (population 39.260) since the mid-1990's.