Danville officials want input on how residents use the Internet

With municipal and school buildings already wired for high-speed Internet, Danville Utilities is asking for residents’ input on the next steps it should take to facilitate the broadband deployment.

Residents are being asked to complete a survey at www.ndanville.net so the city can gauge interest in a residential network.

Network Danville (nDanville) was constructed four years ago with the purpose of serving the schools and the city, Joe King, assistant city manager for utilities, said Thursday.

It provides city officials and schools with very high-speed connections, he said. Schools in particular have benefited from the quick download time for large files, graphics and videos.

The goal is to be able to expand the network and ultimately provide every utilities customer in Danville, including private residences, with a broadband connection.

“Our intent is not to compete with the cable company or the telephone company,” King said, “but to use our system much like a road system.”

He said he hopes to get information about what services residents are currently using, what they want and what they’re willing to pay for.

Danville Utilities would lay the groundwork with the fiber optic network and then Internet and cable providers would be able to offer the service, King said.

It’s not a situation like in Bristol, King pointed out, where the city provides residents with the services.

Currently, the fiber optic network is helping some departments in the city manage their operations more effectively.

In Danville, the traffic lights on some major thoroughfares are connected to the network, which “allows the Department of Public Works to manage those lights in a more sophisticated way,” King said.

The network also connects the Danville Police Department to officers out in the field with WiFi antennas.

Danville Utilities uses the technology to conduct meter readings for its bigger customers in the industrial parks, such as Cane Creek Centre in Ringgold. All the meters for water and gas are connected to the central office where they can be monitored.

“It’s more automation, gives a higher reliability,” King said.

By hooking every customer up to the network, the department would be able to provide that same service to private residences.

With the survey, King said he hopes to get information about what services residents are currently using, what they want and what they’re willing to pay for.

It’s a tremendous investment, King said, but once the system’s in place, the city hopes to share revenues with service providers.

• Contact Sarah Arkin at sarkin@registerbee.com or (434) 791-7983.