City of Celina, Texas, to Build Gigabit Fiber Network

CELINA, TX — A unanimous decision was made by the Celina City Council to approve the easement ordinance amendment during the May city council meeting. The easement ordinance amendment will require all developers to install fiber optic lines and conduits in all new developments within the confines of the city. Celina is a suburban community located about 40 miles outside of Dallas.

86-mile Fiber Backhaul Network
The city of Celina, through the Celina Economic Development Corporation, is designing and will soon start the construction of an 86-mile fiber optic backhaul network across the entire city. Through developer and building ordinances and other public-private partnerships, Celina will add another 64 square miles of fiber optic network which will connect every residential, business and municipal rooftop to this fiber optic backbone.

The ordinance that passed states, “... a fiber optic network in the City of Celina, Texas is a fundamental aspect of the infrastructure required to educate youth, create jobs, promote public safety, improve citizens’ standards of living and deliver essential services.”

Open Access Network
The open access network will lead to faster communication and internet speeds for consumers and commercial businesses, creating the first true Gigabit City in the state of Texas. The definition and commitment of Celina’s Gigabit City is to provide a minimum of 1 Gbps up and down connectivity speed to every residential and business across the city.

“Celina is in a unique position,” said Scott Stawski, secretary and board member of the Celina EDC. “We are approximately only 8 percent built out, but we have a clear line of sight of being 100% built out in 20 years. Because we are building the Gigabit infrastructure now, we will become even more attractive to potential new businesses and companies looking to establish themselves in a community with the fastest connectivity in the state of Texas.”

Stawski said there have been many meetings with developers, and ordinance drafts and plans have been shared. Despite requests from some developers to slow down on the Gigabit City initiative, he said it is time to move forward.