Phoenix will be the newest “Smart Gigabit Community” through a three-year private sector grant sponsored by Cox, Mayor Greg Stanton reported yesterday during his State of the City address. Phoenix joins 15 other U.S. communities in the project, which kicked off in 2015 by US Ignite in partnership with the National Science Foundation, to build a lab of test beds for gigabit applications. Those include applications that can address local community needs, such as education, workforce development, public safety and community health.
Phoenix will have access to applications developed by the 15 initial project communities and 55 research universities also on the network.
US Ignite reportedly has assisted in building more than 100 next-generation application profiles over the past three years. Each participating community receives access to a low-latency and ultra-fast network.
“Phoenix is a center for innovation, but becoming a Smart Gigabit Community will help inspire our best and brightest entrepreneurs to take our economy in exciting new directions,” Mayor Stanton says. “This effort will lead to increased collaboration in our surging tech-innovation ecosystem, streamline city government and enhance the lives of people who live, work and play in our community.”
Cox began rolling out residential Gigabit Internet in Phoenix in 2014. Cox Business has been delivering multi-gig speeds in Phoenix for more than 10 years.