Ashland reviews AFN pilot: council directs continued deployment, asks for business plan before new appropriations

Chad Sobotka, operations manager for Ashland Fiber Network (AFN), briefed the City Council on the AFN PON (Passive Optical Network) pilot on June 2, detailing project goals, budget-to-actual spending and early customer adoption metrics.

Sobotka said the pilot aimed to pass 500 homes with fiber per year and connect 200 customers in its first year. He presented projected versus actual expenditures: the original pilot budget was $1 million; actual spending to date was $626,872, leaving a remaining carryover of about $373,128. Sobotka provided cost metrics cited in the presentation: cost per home passed approximately $193 and cost per home connected between $427 and $466. Staff reported a 14% increase in customers in the pilot areas and an average revenue per user of about $48.60.

Councilors asked how the project would prioritize upgrades to outer-lying neighborhoods and raised questions about long-term financial sustainability. Sobotka described a prioritization of central business area upgrades for PON technology and said the city planned to deploy DOCSIS 3.1 technology to deliver gigabit speeds to a broader area.

After discussion, the council provided explicit direction to staff: continue with the current deployment as presented; develop a more refined business plan that includes economic-development considerations and the nexus with the local business community; and hold off on appropriating additional funds from the ending fund balance until the business plan is presented and approved. Councilors agreed to revisit the topic in a future study session once the business plan is developed.