Salisbury Welcomes Fastest Internet Speed

Salisbury residents and businesses now have access to the fastest Internet speeds available in the country.

Fibrant, the city's optical-fiber service, introduced the technology today at Catawba College along with Gov. Pat McCrory.

The connection can reach speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second.

“This creates a test bed for companies that are looking to develop gigabit type apps. For example, live medical imaging needs at least a gigabit of bandwidth to handle that,” says Kent Winrich, director of broadband and infrastructure for the city.

Salisbury is the first in the country to offer the service city-wide. Winrich says it could help Rowan County and the region become a tech leader.

“We want to partner with other areas in North Carolina. We don't want to be swiping businesses from Winston-Salem or from Charlotte,” says Winrich. “We would rather partner with them and create an arc of technology from Charlotte to Raleigh that would rival the Silicon Valley.”

Catawba College has been testing the technology over the past few months. The school is using it to create more digital learning labs for students.

Winrich says residents will pay around $400 a month for the fastest speed.

Fibrant is working with California-based Calix to provide the service.

*Follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news.