Installation is currently ongoing for a fiber optic system to provide high-speed internet to Kingsburg residents. Photo via KBMF

For years, residents and businesses in the City of Kingsburg have only been given one option for high-speed internet.

That looks to change later this year with the installation of fiber optic cable courtesy of a partnership between the locally owned Kingsburg Media Foundation (KBMF) and the City of Kingsburg.

Following the installation of 17 miles of fiber optic cable, which will be completed this fall, residents will have another option for wireless internet directly from KBMF. Previously, Comcast was the only wired option available.

According to a study by the Public Policy Institute of California, around 15% of Californians remain without access to high-speed, broadband internet. This issue, commonly known as the “digital divide,” hits the Central Valley particularly hard due to its large rural population, which experiences higher levels of difficulty in accessing broadband services due to the expansive geography of the region.

Last month, a workshop at Fresno City College presented by Broadband for All aimed to receive input that will affect the development of California’s five-year action plan.

Kingsburg’s plan, however, dates back to pre-pandemic, with the city and KBMF initially formulating plans to expand service coverage as early as 2019.

The impact of the pandemic forced both the city and the foundation to expedite their process.

As the pandemic continued, many residents and businesses in Kingsburg encountered connectivity and speed issues due to the large number of users accessing the internet for work, school and health reasons, said Alex Henderson, Kingsburg city manager.

“Around that time, we started to have some conversations about options,” Henderson said. “As it got closer from an infrastructure standpoint to Kingsburg, it became more of a potential reality. Once KBMF brought it in, we started to have more accelerated conversations about potential buildout.”

In August of last year, KBMF finalized a partnership with the City of Kingsburg, receiving $1 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds provided during the pandemic and a $2.2 million loan from the city. The loan will be repaid over several years through customer subscriptions.

The project will be completed in three phases, with phase one focusing on the downtown. Phase one was prioritized due to events taking place downtown during the summer, with phases two and three focusing on more residential areas.

“We’re excited to do this project because we love making an impact in our community,” said KBMF Chief Marketing Officer Brian Griffin. “We understand that the people and businesses that we serve are real people living real lives, and part of those lives are done online.”

To Griffin’s knowledge, this project is the first city-wide broadband connection project in the Central Valley.

“You’ll see models that resemble this that are done in larger urban areas that are providing Wi-Fi access in public spaces,” he said. “This is the first one I know of to be a municipal system in the Central Valley.”

The installation of fiber cables will extend to the outskirts of Kingsburg and will accommodate future hardware upgrades as the town grows.

Once the system is up and running, customers can expect to see download speeds starting at 200 megabytes per second all the way up to 1 gigabyte per second.

Plans start from as low as $50 a month to $300 a month with add-on options including phone and television. Discounts are available through the federal Affordable Connectivity Program.

KBMF was founded in 2012 and saw its foundation built upon serving the community. Initially, the foundation was established to provide audio mixing and recording services for the Kingsburg City Band’s public performances. Since its conception, the foundation has expanded its focus to include internet and voice services, IT design, implementation and support as well as other community-based services.

The installation of fiber cable throughout the city expands on the foundation’s service-driven goals.

“We’re excited to do this project because we love making an impact in our community,” Griffin said.