LONGMONT, CO – In response to high community demand, Longmont Power & Communications is speeding up construction of its NextLight fiber-optic system.

With increased manpower and warmer weather, LPC now plans to “close the circle” from two directions at once as it completes its citywide buildout, rather than move around Longmont in one counterclockwise sweep. That means the final phase of the build is now scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2016 instead of the first quarter of 2017.

“Our schedule was already  aggressive, but we’ve heard repeatedly that our community is eager to receive high-quality, high-speed broadband,” LPC general manager Tom Roiniotis said. “So we’re accelerating the deployment.”

That means work will start by early April on both Phase 2 in central Longmont and Phase 6 in the southwest. The plan includes starting  Phase 3 in June and Phase 5 in November, extending NextLight to eastern and northwestern Longmont. Phase 4, in northern Longmont, is scheduled to start in 2016.

“Now that the weather is getting better, and we have access to additional trained fiber deployment crews, we will be able to substantially speed up our rate of deployment,” Roiniotis said.

The new schedule also allows LPC to work more efficiently. The utility will already be building out significant additions to the electric system in southwest Longmont because of new development in the area, Roiniotis said, so the new schedule lets LPC design and build fiber infrastructure in that area at the same time.

NextLight offers service levels of up to one gigabit per second (1,000 megabits per second) for residential and commercial customers, with higher commercial speeds available on a custom basis. Interest in NextLight’s Charter Member deal, which offers a residential gigabit connection for $49.95 a month,  has been especially high. To qualify, residents must sign up within three months of the service’s availability to their home.

Phase 1 of the build (south-central Longmont) began construction in August. Its first customers received service in November.

More information about NextLight, including the latest construction maps, can be found online at www.longmontcolorado.gov/nextlight.

About Longmont Power & Communications

Longmont Power & Communications (LPC) is a community-owned non-profit electric and broadband services utility that operates under the direction of Longmont City Council. Our mission is to deliver outstanding electric and broadband service experiences to our customer-owners while providing exceptional value and benefit to our community. Our  buildout of the  citywide NextLight fiber-optic network is expected to be complete in 2017, making Longmont the first “gigabit city” in Colorado.  To learn more, visit  www.LongmontColorado.gov/lpc.