Omaha, Nebraska is slated to be a new entrant to the gigabit internet club. The city is nearby Google Fiber city – Kansas City and now has two gigabit providers. Both CenturyLink and Optica Networks are looking at bringing the service to Omaha. Optica has already completed a gigabit fiber to the home network in Cambridge, Nebraska.
As CivSource has reported, Google Fiber is rapidly adding to its number of Google Fiber cities, although waiting on a single provider is a less than palatable option. Big incumbent providers don’t seem to be in a big hurry either, in fact some are refusing to repair their existing slower services. In this gap, providers like Optica, or the new TV white space broadband pilots could provide promising options to get more people on higher speed access.
Optica recently completed a gigabit network for a group of municipalities in Georgia. The gigabit service is called Xcelerate and will be available to several communities in Baldwin, Putnam, and Hancock counties in Georgia. The company was picked based on previous work in Cambridge, and hopes to extend these services to Omaha residents.
CenturyLink has also announced that it is working on a gigabit offering for Omaha in the form of a limited pilot. The pilot project is focused on the local business community and if it is deemed to be profitable, the company may extend gigabit service to more of the city.
