Last night’s City Council meeting approved Holland BPW becoming an Internet service provider (ISP)!

What we know

Holland BPW can now provide Internet service as a new utility.

They will offer 1 gigabit (1,000 Mbps) fiber service downtown in November starting at $85/month.

The initial plan is for a small service area in downtown Holland. This is a dense area with a mix of businesses and residences. The area is from 7th Street to 9th Street, Pine Avenue to Garretson Road.

What we don’t know

The big question is, “when can I get it outside of downtown?” Simple answer: we don’t know.

The are currently no plans past downtown. That doesn’t mean it won’t happen, just that there’s no concrete rollout plan. Everything depends on the success of this project, and demand.

Going beyond downtown doesn’t require all the procedural steps it took to get here. It does require money. Installation is the primary cost of fiber. We’ll need to identify money to pay for the initial investment, and/or make a strong business case that it is a solid investment for BPW to make.

If we help make this phase a success and show strong demand beyond downtown, we can make the case for expansion.

What does success look like?

BPW’s business plan expects downtown to be making a profit in 6-11 years. Meaning it has paid for itself and is now making money.

Their numbers are based on a minimum “take rate” of 28%. That means they need 28% of everyone downtown to sign up in 2018 (126 customers) and ideally growing to 42% (189 customers) in 2021.

The more successful we are at increasing those numbers, the easier the case is for expansion.

This is a time to celebrate, but also to prepare for making this project a success. We’ll have concrete ways you can help, so stay tuned!