By Adam Studzinski
NORMAL – The Normal Town Council on Monday gave approval to a 10-year cable and internet franchise agreement with Metronet.
The agreement allows the company to operate in the public right-of-way. City Manager Mark Peterson said a major feature Metronet will bring to the community is the ability to offer fiber internet to residents.
“We already have fiber providers in this community. I’m very familiar with CIRBN (Central Illinois Regional Broadband Network), I’m on their board, but CIRBN is a fiber provider,” said Peterson. “But CIRBN limits their customers to simply businesses and institutional organizations, like schools.”
Peterson added the agreement includes a five percent franchise fee the town will collect on Metronet’s revenue.
“And there are some other provisions. For example, they’ve agreed, as part of our negotiations, to provide free services to schools and government buildings if they’re within a certain proximity to those,” he said.
Peterson explained it will likely be about 24 months before Metronet services are officially operational, but the group should begin installing its hardware soon. Metronet has already started construction work in Bloomington, which previously approved its own franchise agreement with the company.
Also Monday night, Normal authorized town staff to begin negotiating a contract with Parsons Brinkerhoff for a study of the feasibility of an underpass.
Adam Studzinski can be reached at [email protected].
