The Atlantic City Council Wednesday evening heard from representatives with Mediacom with regard to the future of high-speed fiber optic internet service for business and residential customers. They also heard from members of the business community who expressed concern the problem with obtaining faster service would not be solved any time soon. Mediacom Government Affairs Director Lee Grassley told the Council a big announcement is coming in January about a major service upgrade that would be implemented within the next year.

Grassley their initiative toward faster service “Project Gigabyte” began with an announcement in March 2016 in honor of the company’s 20^th Anniversary. Grassley said  their CEO, Rocco Commisso pledged and extra billion dollars over the next three-years to bring gigabyte-level service to the door of every Mediacom subscriber or who has passed-by the company in favor of another service. Grassley said the initial pledge was to have their nationwide footprint done by the end of 2018.

Mediacom’s Lee Grassley addresses the Atlantic City Council

He said they have tested the gigabyte system in Columbia, Missouri for the past 13 months, and that they are ready to implement the service elsewhere. He said in January 2017, there will be a formal announcement in Des Moines with Governor Branstad present, where the Governor and Commisso will lay out the timetable for Iowa. Grassley said “I think that you will be pleasantly surprised and happy with the timetable.” He declined to provide further details, though.

As for a possible working agreement with the City of Atlantic for improved fiber-to-business service, Grassley said “We want to be a friend and a partner to the folks here. All we ask is that you allow us, and find out what we have to offer.” Scott Bennett, an Information Technology Specialist who was in the audience at Wednesday night’s meeting, said the business community needs better internet service than what is currently available, and he encouraged the Council to find a way to invest in the infrastructure that would allow local control and money to stay in Atlantic.

Bennett said business leaders he’s spoken with want a local provider who is ready to invest in the future of the city. Mayor Dave Jones said he’s checked with other cities like Indianola, that have a City-owned utility for fiber-optic service, and has concluded the debt is too much of a burden for the City to carry.

Mediacom Local Area Operations Manager Beau Hicks said they want to bring their fiber optic specialist to town to meet with the Chamber and Economic Development officials to discuss the matter further, and continue talks with the City about their future capabilities and services.