Summit County starting $75 million fiber internet project

Summit County, Ohio, is planning to spend $75 million on a fiber internet project that will include building a 125-mile fiber optic ring to connect public safety entities in all 31 county communities and help expand internet access for residents and businesses. There are also plans in the works to work with private internet service providers, who could spend up to $300 million on the project, making the total figure for a potential public-private project nearly $400 million. The project, called the Summit County Public Safety Fiber and Communications Network, is one of the county’s largest capital projects ever and is being funded with a combination of county money and part of the $105.1 million it received through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Costs include:

• $35 million in ARPA money for the construction of the 125-mile fiber optic ring, which will be owned by Summit County and operated by the city of Fairlawn. The ring will connect all 31 communities and support the county’s emergency radio system, consolidated dispatch center and virtual court platforms. But the network will also provide additional capacity to provide internet service to all communities in the county.
• $20 million in county funds for the design and construction of a data center in Fairlawn to service the network.
• $20 million in ARPA money for community broadband investments to support broadband delivery in underserved areas of the county to enhance public education, health and criminal justice.