How a Fiber Master Plan Is Guiding Shawnee (KS)'s Path to Connectivity

Big cities plan for growth because they have to, but when smaller cities do it, a world of opportunities opens up. Shawnee (KS), a city of about 60,000 people just outside of Kansas City, is reaping the benefits of a fiber master plan that dates back more than a decade. Creative partnerships and modest annual investments provide the city with a broadband network that supports schools and businesses, enables potential upgrades to cutting-edge technologies, and allows opportunities for continued growth.

After partnering with a local broadband provider known in 2005 as SureWest (now called Consolidated Communications), the city began building a private network to power its business applications. When Google selected Kansas City as its first Fiber City in 2011, Shawnee saw an opportunity to expand its network further. In 2014, the city continued building, adding an additional four miles of inner-city fiber. Shawnee is now partnering with Unite Private Networks to add nine additional miles of fiber to connect local schools, and city administrators say their network will make it possible to adopt new traffic management and surveillance systems if they so desire. Shawnee’s blueprint for broadband was what officials call their Fiber Optic Master Plan, a long-term strategy that established how the city would pay for the upgrades and prevent management from losing focus over the years. Fiber master plans have historically proven essential to the success of many cities’ networks, said Chris Mitchell of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.