HOLLAND, Mich. — Two years ago, voters in Holland approved for the city to build a fiber connection throughout the city. Now, crews are working to build that connection so everyone will have access to it soon.
The communication industry is fast paced and needs a fast internet connection.
"Our clients like things to move pretty fast, and we'd like to be able to be nimble and responsive. And if they need changes made, we like to be able to do that same day," Boileau & Co. Managing Partner Vince Boileau said.
Boileau started 12 years ago as the team's first video creator.
"We now have three video people, 16 total employees company," he added.
The company works on strategic marketing, web and video messaging.
"So we work with local businesses and municipal governments and nonprofit organizations to help them map out a marketing or communication strategy," Boileau said.
The Internet is a key to getting their work done.
"For downtown Holland, high speed means gigabit- or two-gigabit-level connections. That's pretty fast. We can get a multiple-gigabyte file up on the Internet in just minutes. It used to take hours," Boileau explained.
Now, the city of Holland is expanding its fiber-optic service so that everyone within the city has the same access as Boileau & Co.
"So we're building it out. We call it 'fiber hoods' in our community; there are actually 15 of them," Holland Board of Public Works General Manager David Koster told FOX 17.
Koster explains people now have the choice of 2 gigabytes or 10 gigabytes of speed.
- 2 Gbps: $45/month
- 10 Gbps: $125/month
"Hopefully, by May, start actually turning it over for the fulfillment services to come in and actually start getting customers going on that fiber-optic network," Koster added.
In 2022, voters approveda millage to build this connection across the city, not just downtown.
"The speed of the Internet and having that kind of access was a major incentive to moving our business downtown onto the second story on Eighth Street," Boileau said.
The managing partner adds they're saving major money compared to other internet providers.
"It's made a huge difference for our company. And over the course of the last couple of years, it's literally saved us thousands of dollars," Boileau said.
If you want to learn more about the service, you can visit Holland's website.
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