Wicked Fiber Pilot Project

Precinct 39 has won the Wicked Fiber Gigabit Pre-Registration contest. Precinct 39 crossed the threshold Monday with 10% of the households in the neighborhood pre-registering for Wicked Fiber service.

Because this precinct has only 746 addresses, Wicked Broadband has expanded the pilot project to include Vermont St. and two small neighborhoods in central and west Lawrence. With the addition of these areas the pilot project will pass just over 1,000 addresses.

During the five month pre-registration period, over 500 households from all over Lawrence pre-registered for service. Lawrence residents expressed their desire for to the same ultra high speed service that is available in Kansas City-KS, Chattanooga-TN, Lafayette-LA, Provo-UT and Austin-TX.

Neighborhoods with Wicked Fiber’s gigabit service will be able to access the Internet at 100 times the speed of the average American household. Customers using the service can stream multiple HD video streams and download full length movies in minutes. Since the service is bi-directional (i.e. upload speeds similar to its download speeds) customers are also able to upload photo albums, videos and other large files in the blink of an eye.

In keeping with Wicked Broadband’s commitment to community service, the company has pre-approved nineteen non-profit and government organizations in the pilot neighborhood for free Gigabit service. Pre-approved non-profits that express interest and return the application form will be provided with free gigabit service as part of the project.

Chamber of Commerce City of Lawrence Douglas County Douglas County Casa, Inc Douglas County Community Foundation Douglas County Sheriff's Office Downtown Lawrence, Inc. Fire Station n No 1 Habitat for Humanity

Headquarters Counseling Center Hillcrest Elementary School Hobbs Park ( Free Hotspot ) Just Food, Inc. Lawrence Arts Center Lawrence Community Building Lawrence Police Department Lawrence Public Library New York Elementary School Van Go, inc.

This list is by no means comprehensive. Other non-profit organizations and government agencies with facilities in the pilot neighborhood will be able to apply for free service by downloading and returning the application form.

The next step in the process is to secure funding for the project. In Kansas City-KS, Google received millions of dollars in subsidies in the form of $10 pole attachment fees and free co-location of equipment at City owned sites. In Provo-UT Google received $40 Million in municipal owned fiber. Chattanooga and Layfayette both built their own networks at a cost of tens of millions of dollars to taxpayers. Wicked Broadband has applied for a $500,000 matching grant from the City of Lawrence to make the pilot project possible. This grant matches the $500,000 Wicked Broadband is investing in the Lawrence pilot project.

Once the matching funds are in place, Wicked Broadband will begin designing and installing its common carrier fiber network in the pilot neighborhoods. The goal is to have the pilot network completed and operational within 18 months of project funding.

The company is currently planning two follow-on phases to the project. The first expansion phase is a 10,000 household expansion to begin in 2015. This project will be funded by Wicked Broadband through an equity funding round. The final phase of the project will complete the Lawrence network by bringing fiber to the remaining 20,000 households. This final phase will start in 2017 and will be funded through a traditional bond offering.