Medina Fiber, an open fiber network, launches in Medina County

Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct errors made during the reporting process. Medina Fiber is a new company partnership of Lit Communities and Peak Communications, a Smart Communications Systems company, and will partner with the Medina County Fiber Network to bring an open fiber network to Medina County. Lit Communities and Peak Communications are financing the network, which calls for an $8 million investment for Phase I and roughly $50 million to cover the entire county. Neighborly Broadband Group is not part of the Medina Fiber project. Medina Fiber will begin next month in Seville, Westfield Center and Guilford Township and expand to the rest of the county at a later date. Incorrect information about the launching of Medina Fiber appeared in print on page A1 of Wednesday's Medina Gazette. MEDINA — Widespread residential access to fiber optic internet is set to spread throughout Medina County in the near future with a new company called Medina Fiber. Starting with "Phase I," the project is expected to begin next month in Seville, Westfield Center and Guilford Township. The project is a partnership of Lit Communities and Peak Communications, a Smart Communications Systems company, and will partner with the Medina County Fiber Network, which is administered by the Medina County Port Authority. County commissioners paid for the network's construction, which has since offered access to commercial customers, with recovery zone bonds issued in 2010. Network planning and engineering will occur over the winter months with construction ramping up this spring and the first customers expected to be connected in early-summer. Lit Communities and Peak Communications are financing the network, which calls for an $8 million investment for Phase I and roughly $50 million to cover the entire county. Services on the network will be offered by Washington-based iFIBER and Docity, a provider that has specialized in telehealth services such as long-distance contact between patients and medical professionals. Project organizers expect additional service providers to be added on as the network expands. "Current cable providers cannot provide the necessary Internet bandwidth and the services they offer are very expensive," said Seville Mayor Carol Carter. "We have too many students who must travel to a library just to complete their online homework. Our residents are screaming for more choices and the chance to change from the cable monopoly controlling our township today. Medina Fiber will bring that change through investing in the latest technology and designing a network that can support the needs of our township." A ribbon cutting ceremony and open house will be held at 3 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13 at the Seville-Guilford Fire Department, 100 West Greenwich Road. There, residents of Seville and Westfield Center will have the ability to begin signing up for services while Guilford and additional areas will use online sign-ups beginning in 2020. Medina Fiber has goals to have the rest of the county up and running soon. Pricing structures for Medina Fiber will be announced next month. Westfield Center Mayor Tom Horwedel said he's looking forward to Medina Fiber could improve the functionality of applications used for municipal business. "Westfield Center is known for the world renowned Westfield Insurance, but not for being a smart city," he said. "Many of our residents work at Westfield Insurance, a company on the cutting edge of technology that has showed us innovation is a product of a strong community infrastructure. It's time for our residents to experience fiber-based success by having smart city tools and a high performance Internet service that can support those tools." Most studies point to average U.S. broadband speeds of about 18.7 Mbps and say that a one gigabit fiber optic connection speeds up downloads of music, movies, photos, and video games by roughly 20-fold. Contact reporter Jonathan Delozier at 330-721-4050 or jdelozier@medina-gazette.com.