Bixby First ‘Gigabit’ City in State

BTC Broadband brings ultra high speed Internet to the community.

BTC Broadband President Scott Floyd, left, and Bixby Mayor John Easton congratulate each other following a press conference announcing that Bixby becomes the first city in Oklahoma to have fiber based gigabit Internet service.

Bixby is one of the fastest growing communities in the state and has an estimated population of 23,228 (2013). A local announcement on December 3 may provide fuel to keep it growing even faster.

Buying a home has changed in the new millennium. Before, buyers usually shopped for the best house they could find using the following criteria: A home that fits your needs in a good location, with the best possible terms and best possible price. In today’s society and Internet culture, lifestyle and business, access to dependable, high speed Internet is critical.

Following a joint announcement by the mayor and BTC Broadband, Bixby becomes the first city in Oklahoma to have fiber based gigabit Internet service. What does this mean?

“This technology is going to put Bixby on par with progressive urban centers in America for web-oriented consumers, places such as Dallas; Austin; Kansas City, Missouri; Miami, Florida; and just a handful of others,” Mayor John Easton said at the announcement at SpiritBank Event Center.   

BTC Broadband of Bixby is offering the service exclusively to fiber-to-the-home neighborhoods, which include more than 45 residential developments and roughly 4,600 homes in the BTC area. A total of 14 additional residential developments with that fiber capability are slated for construction.

Speeds of one gigabit per second, also referred to as “The Big Gig,” are about 100 times faster than the average, fixed high-speed Internet connection. At gigabit speeds, connections can handle multiple streams of large-format, high-definition content such as online video calls, movies, and immersive educational experiences.

To illustrate just how fast one gigabit is, BTC Broadband President Scott Floyd said, “Think in terms of downloading a two-hour high definition movie. A 10 Mbps Internet connection will take 53 minutes to download that movie. That same movie will download in roughly 32 seconds with a one gig Internet connection.”

Floyd said his company is also modifying their other Internet offerings to satisfy people’s increasing need to quickly stream, download and connect multiple devices simultaneously. “Our bottom tier offering at 60 Mbps Internet access begins higher than most company’s top tier. BTC will offer 60 Mbps, 100 Mbps and 1000 Mbps (a gigabit).”

About 42 communities in 14 states currently are served by ultra-high-speed fiber Internet providers, according to the Fiber to The Home Council.

“BTC Broadband’s foresight to consistently expand and reinforce our infrastructure now allows us to take the lead in a very exciting initiative,” Floyd said. “As Internet usage is growing at exponential rates, BTC is proud to be able to unleash the power of fiber and bring world-class broadband speeds to the community.”

Naturally, the Bixby Chamber is excited, said Krystal Crockett, president and CEO. “We know Bixby is a thriving community and our Chamber boasts some of the highest growth numbers in the state, but gigabit Internet service is a huge economic incentive worthy of new businesses as well as ones already established here.”

BTC Broadband offers $99 per month for the “Big Gig,” $59 for 100 megabits per second (Mbps) and $49 for 60 Mbps.

BTC celebrated its 100th year in business this year. Previously known as Bixby Telephone, the company branched out into offering Internet service in 1993. Nine years ago, Bixby Telephone changed its name to BTC Broadband.

For more information, contact

BTC Broadband

www.BTCBroadband.com 

About Author Jim Butcher

Jim Butcher is a retired, award-winning newspaperman who continues to write as a freelance writer and photographer. He owned the Tulsa Front Page weekly and was executive editor to Neighbor Newspapers' 13 metro newspapers. Currently, he writes for Value News and has become a paid assignment screenwriter, along with a University of Oklahoma professor who wrote Brad Pitt's first feature film. His award-winning screenplay is on the historical Osage Indian Murders of the 1920s.