A $40 million private investment will make East Hartford a fiber optic hub for the fastest internet speed available in the nation, government officials announced Monday. Surveying and engineering work is underway, and SiFi Networks will start installing lines underground throughout town, making connections available to every home and business by late 2023, Mayor Marcia Leclerc and company officials said at a press conference in the newly renovated senior center. While acknowledging the local benefits, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal said public investment is the only way to make such broadband widely available. The coronavirus pandemic, the senator said, proved that connectivity is crucial to everyone. The $65 billion broadband package in the infrastructure bill before Congress includes $42.5 billion for unserved and underserved areas of the nation. The pandemic slowed the rollout of East Hartford FiberCity, officials said, but the first customers should have access by next year. A “micro-trenching” machine will cut a 1 1/4-inch-wide by 1 foot-deep incision in the street near the curb to lay the fiber line, company officials said.
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