Carver County thinks a ring (of fiber optics) may woo business

Hoping to attract new businesses and also make itself more efficient, Carver County is looking at building a 60-mile fiber-optic ring to connect every school, library, police department and government agency in the county.

The Carver County Board this week took the first steps toward building the estimated $2.5 million ring by directing staff to send out a request for bids to construct the network.

The ring would connect 80 to 100 sites or agencies, allowing for ultra-fast transmission and sharing of files and data.

"It's incredible to think of," said Steve Taylor, Carver County's technology guru. "I think there's a great opportunity here."

The project would be similar to one in Scott County, which last year started building what is believed to be the largest government-owned fiber-optic ring in the state.

That $3.5 million project, which includes 72 strands of fiber optic cable, broke ground in mid-June of last year and was on line in late December.

Carver County's plans call for its fiber-optic ring to link with the Scott County ring to provide ultra-high speeds for transferring data or sharing information around the county and the world, said Taylor, the county's administrative services division director.

"It is almost a requirement now," Taylor told the board Tuesday during a presentation. "There is a demand for this. I've had three companies ask me in the past six months if we have a fiber-optic ring."

Taylor said that if the board proceeds with the project, it could break ground in the fall and be operational by next summer. Businesses would be able to use it for free if they are willing to pay the cost of laying down the connecting lines, he said.

The idea drew a generally favorable reaction from the Carver County Board.

"I don't know if this is the ultimate no-brainer," said board member James Ische, "but it's close."

Board member Tom Workman said his main concern was that the county build a system that will last and that will not become outdated too quickly. "I don't want to buy a lemon," Workman said.

What it could do

The possible uses for the fiber-optic ring include video phones, video conferencing, "virtual water coolers" for companies with multiple offices, telemedicine in hospitals, long-distance college instruction and high-definition video. A county-wide WiMax wireless service could even allow farmers and residents in the farthest reaches of the county to access the Internet while at work or home.

But the most immediate benefit would be cost savings to the county itself. Taylor said Carver County could save about $150,000 a year by using the optic ring for its telephone and Internet service.

In the long term, Taylor said, the ring also would make it easier for the county to expand its services and its offices outside of the county seat.

"We're running out of space in Chaska," Taylor said Wednesday, noting that some workers and departments question whether the county could open satellite offices in such places as Cologne if it does not have ultra-high-speed Internet access. "Our connectivity speed is not where it needs to be."

There is some question as to whether a fiber-optic ring actually would be an economic magnet.

More than 300 municipalities in the country have WiFi systems in place, but no one has been able to use bandwidth as a business incentive because of the "last mile" costs involved in hooking up homes and businesses to such fiber rings.

Also, a surplus of "dark," or unused, fiber lines, especially in large cities, has made it uneconomical for government in those localities to build their own systems and use them as business magnets.

Locally, Scott, Dakota and other counties have public or private fiber-optic rings available to them, which means Carver County would have to compete with them for businesses looking to relocate.

Taylor said those existing systems would not be a deterrent to building the Carver County project -- in fact, they could help because Carver would be able to link with those systems for worldwide access.

"I also look at this as a regional thing. I think we'll all benefit."