Salisbury, North Carolina–home to 33,000—announced on Thursday that it is offering residents 10 gigabit per second broadband Internet service.
The ultra-high speed service will be available throughout the city through a municipally-owned internet service provider called Fibrant. Catawba College, a small liberal arts school in Salisbury, will have the first 10Gbps service. Joanna L. Jasper, chief information officer at Catawba College, said the 10Gbps broadband will be a way for the college to “differentiate” itself.
In announcing the service, Salisbury touted itself as “America’s First 10 Gigabit City,” though Ars Technica notes that Vermont Telephone rolled out 10Gbps service in June to residents in rural areas of the state.
The 10Gbps broadband in Salisbury will cost residents $400 per month. (Vermont Telephone charges just as much.) Local Salisbury officials don’t expect many residents to opt for the service—it’s geared mainly toward businesses—but the network upgrades related to faster broadband will improve connection reliability for all users, even if they don’t sign up for the 10Gbps.
Fibrant built its network in North Carolina before the state legislature voted to limit cities’ rights to offer broadband, according to Ars. That move is now being debated in court, with Federal Communications Commission calling for the removal of the regulation.
