Laurel Park is working with Hendersonville, Fletcher, Biltmore Forest, Waynesville, and Asheville on the West - Next Generation Network (WestNGN) project. The goal is to encourage private investment in high speed internet in the region – NOT for the Towns to build the infrastructure. Rather the project will aggregate information in the municipalities for existing infrastructure (public and private, as much as possible) and coordinate, again as much as is feasible, our road right-of-way construction and encroachment permitting processes. We’ll also work to identify potential customers, including business, medical, and educational facilities.

The Land-of-Sky Council of Government provides project support through a steering committee of the six municipalities. This process is based on a model that was successful in the Triangle, the original NGN project, and is currently being replicated in the Triad. Western North Carolina is a very different area in terms of customer base and density, but we believe our core commercial/medical/educational areas will be attractive to high speed broadband providers. Residential service is not a primary goal of the project, but a highly desired secondary goal, and may be attained in limited project areas.

For detailed information on the project, visit the project page hosted by Land-of-Sky.