As many residents depend on daily usage of the internet, the City of Centennial is looking at how it may expand its fiber network to support the community’s future broadband needs.

To help in this evaluation, the city is asking its residents and local businesses to complete online surveys by Aug. 14 about their experiences with their internet service, as well as share their expectations for how they are likely to use their internet service in the future. 

Centennial has partnered with the company Digital Ubiquity Capital to assess the potential of a public-private partnership that is “aimed at expanding connectivity and introducing smart city fiber services to boost residential and business internet usage,” the city said in a news release. 

The city’s current 50-mile, 432-strand fiber network was completed in 2018. According to Centennial’s website, the network “enables both existing and new broadband providers to tie into the new infrastructure.”

The creation of the fiber network was years in the making. In 2013, Centennial voters supported a ballot question that allowed the city to indirectly provide services through competitive and nonexclusive partnerships with private businesses, per the website. 

The Centennial City Council then adopted a “fiber master plan” in 2015. The following year, it allocated $5.7 million to implement the plan and begin constructing the 50-mile fiber network. 

The city offers “dark fiber leases” on its network for the city’s businesses, internet service providers, community anchor institutions and government entities, the city said on its website. 

"Centennial has long recognized broadband as a vital component to our infrastructure. The pandemic further highlighted its importance to both our residential and business communities,” Mayor Stephanie Piko said in the news release. “We've seen the impact of bridging the digital divide, and we are committed to preventing it from widening again."

The city said a key part of this project is understanding current and future fiber and broadband usage patterns among both residents and businesses in the city, hence the surveys. 

“We’re fortunate to partner with a forward-thinking city and community like Centennial to ascertain the community's internet usage patterns and explore their anticipated access needs and preferred services,” John Zannos, principal at Digital Ubiquity Capital, said in the release.

According to the city’s website, the survey information is being collected by the firm Millan Chicago, in partnership with Digital Ubiquity Capital and the city. The information will be used to explore broadband access options and will not be sold, the city said. 

Those interested in learning more and filling out the online surveys can visit centennialco.gov/fibersurvey.