Medina Fiber prepares to install Hinckley access node
by Jennifer Taggart
David Corrado, president of Medina County Fiber Network and Medina Fiber, conducted a township site visit March 22 to make plans to install an access node in Hinckley Township.
The Medina County Fiber Network, managed by the Medina County Port Authority, is the 151-mile, open-access fiberoptic network created through a partnership between Medina County Fiber Network, Lit Communities and Peak Communications.
Corrado explains the fiber network operates like a highway and access nodes are like gas stations, where the equipment to run the backbone that powers the network is placed.
“This will be great for Hinckley having a backbone location so close to the neighborhoods,” Corrado said, noting the township’s administration building, fire station, police station and several township corporations are already connected to the Medina Fiber Network. “The closer to the backbone, the better, because you have less of a chance of any outages along the fiber.”
Medina Fiber has already launched its residential services in Seville and is now moving on to Westfield Center. From there, the organization plans to move north through Montville Township, Medina, Brunswick and Hinckley, Corrado said.
To help gauge the community’s interest, Corrado said residents are being asked to take part in a survey at medinafiber.litcommunities.net.
“People are actually getting a chance to help design the network that suits them best,” he said, noting construction plans for Hinckley should be available in four to six months.
Of 237 Hinckley residents who have participated in the survey to date, the majority selected a 100-by-100 mbps internet speed. Of all communities surveyed, Hinckley had the largest number of people interested the 1,000-by-1,000 mbps speed.
“If we see in the notes that people are writing in for a lower speed and lower cost, we will entertain it because the network’s built for the community,” Corrado said. “Right now, we’re seeing an overwhelming demand to not go any lower than the 100 from Hinckley.”
When asked whether private companies such as Spectrum, AT&T or Frontier will provide services on the Medina Fiber line, Corrado said those providers typically do not participate in open network architecture.
“I want to make it clear that when rolling out the new fiber-to-the-home network, there will just be one provider to start,” Corrado said. “It is just too confusing for residents to choose between three to five different providers who are bringing all different types of services. We’ve learned this from other fiber-to-home residential networks across the country.”
Corrado predicts Medina Fiber will be able to offer more options in about five years – after the first 50,000 homes are built out and when network technology will allow residents to change providers via an at-home portal.
Trustee Melissa Augustine said that she sees Medina Fiber as an opportunity to give Hinckley residents another option.
“I think that’s really important and something the people of Hinckley should be demanding,” Augustine said. “I don’t want to push this opportunity away, I think it’s something that Hinckley should embrace.” ∞
