Detroit-based Rocket Fiber today announced details of its optical fiber Internet service for both the residential and business markets. The lightning fast fiber lines will provide up to 10-gigabyte internet speeds for residential customers and up to 100-gig speeds for businesses. This giant leap will allow Detroit to join a small group of technology- savvy cities in the world offering these gigabyte speeds that will be up to 1,000 times faster than the current residential average speed in Detroit.
Rocket Fiber beta testing has already begun for residents connected to the service at The Albert and Malcomson Buildings in Detroit’s Capitol Park neighborhood. In addition, 19 office buildings have been connected to the Rocket Fiber network including the First National Building and One Kennedy Square. Large numbers of business and residential customers are scheduled to “go live” in early 2016.
Rocket Fiber was founded less than 18 months ago, has received millions of dollars in investment and now employs 30 full-time team members. The company is at the forefront of Detroit’s “smart city” movement leading the development of high-tech assets that will soon become part of the city’s important infrastructure.
“Rocket Fiber’s mission is to develop and implement critical technology infrastructure that will contribute to transforming Detroit into one of the most attractive cities for technology and other businesses to locate,” says Rocket FiberChief Technology Officer and Co-founder Randy Foster. “Ten-gigabit Internet will put Detroit in an elite category in which technology start-ups and growth companies will naturally and quickly emerge inside its borders.”
Rocket Fiber has built its multi-gig infrastructure with the most advanced technology in the world today. Businesses and residents that subscribe to the service will no longer be limited by bandwidth or inconsistent and slow connection speeds.
Additionally, 10-gig speeds pave the way for residents to begin using theInternet in ways never before imagined. Information will move at speeds that pale in comparison to today’s connections.
Ten-gig service to residents will allow a variety of high bandwidth applications. For example, a typical one-hour and 40 minute movie is expected to download in an average of 40 seconds; doctors will be able to upload and download high-resolution scans with virtually no lag time, allowing them to assist patients at any hour of the day almost instantaneously; and musicians, artists and filmmakers can create and edit content with speeds that were unimaginable in the past.
Rocket Fiber will deploy the same kind of world-class, highly-acclaimed client service experience that its sister company, Quicken Loans, has delivered for 30 years.
“We have lived and learned the kind of philosophy, strategies and tactics that have enabled Quicken Loans to win seven JD Power awards in the last five years for overall client satisfaction. If there is any business in the world that needs a makeover when it comes to customer service, it’s the telecom industry. We are focused and motivated to deliver,” said Rocket Fiber Vice President of ClientExperience Christina Mathes.
Rocket Fiber has already laid 17 miles of fiber in the city and began activating clients earlier this month in downtown Detroit’s Central Business District. The company is expected to expand to Midtown Detroit in 2016 and then continue to grow in other areas of the city and eventually beyond.