- April 19, 2024
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The MetroNet fiber optic telecommunications company that's planning to bring high-speed internet options to Palm Coast will expand to Flagler Beach as well, with construction in Flagler Beach expected to start early in 2023 and take 12 to 18 months after the company is able to cross the Intracoastal Waterway.
"Even though someone may not have internet at their house or not even want it, if they ever go to sell that property, that's a good selling point — fiber to the home. So that'll increase their value."
— WILLIAM WHITSON, Flagler Beach city manager
"The retrofit of fiber optics in our community, from my point of view, is absolutely huge. It's just a game changer," Flagler Beach City Manager William Whitson said at a City Commission meeting April 14.
Even someone who doesn't have internet at their house and isn't interested, he said, could benefit when they go to sell their home, since fiber available availability is valuable.
"It also will transform the way people do business in the city," he said. "It's good for the city. It puts us in another tier, because we're in competition with other communities to attract business and residents. So this is a good thing."
Even people who aren't big internet users could benefit from the increased speeds, MetroNet Government Affairs Director Kris Smith told commissioners at the meeting. She gave an example.
"More and more people are streaming TV," she said. " On Saturday night, when you're trying to watch that movie on Netflix with your family, you don't want to see the 'wheel of death' while you're waiting and waiting and waiting for it to upload. ... we hope to be able to provide that reliable choice to you."
Fiber is also "symmetrical," with the same download and upload speeds, she said: Local residents would be offered one gigabit, or 1,000 megabits per second, for both.
Prices, Smith said, will be comparable to existing offerings in the area.
She warned that the construction process will be noticeable in utility easement areas.
"It's messy. It's invasive, at best," she said. "We restore as we go. So you might see a giant machine; you might see folks digging, a man in a hole. Within 24 to 36 hours, that should be restored. We restore as we move along."
MetroNet will be sending postcards to residents explaining who they can contact if they have questions about the construction process. There will also be real-estate-style signs placed at the entrances of neighborhoods before work begins.
"It should be a quick restoration process," Smith said. "But if there's questions — we didn't put something back the way that someone liked it, maybe we did damage the sprinkler system and we didn't realize it, and it's been a few days and you turn your system on — we want folks to be able to communicate with us and know that we will make it right."
Commissioner Jane Mealy suggested that MetroNet host a meeting with locals.
"We have a lot of residents who even don't have computers — it's an older crowd; they're not interested," Mealy said. "But they're going to have this happen in front of their house, regardless of whether it's going to help them directly or not. So I think to do something personal, like a tailgate meeting ... if they want to come, they'll come."
Smith said MetroNet expects to hire a number of locals and add a storefront somewhere in the area.
"We're shopping around," she said. "We'll have lots of community involvement."
