Segra is working with USIgnite on a fiber network to support smart city applications in Greensboro, N.C. with the goal of spurring economic development in the community.
According to a press release, Segra has “supported infrastructure and innovation developments in and around the city’s South Elm Street Corridor” over the last two years.
Segra’s investment in Greensboro enabled USIgnite to receive $4 million in federal funding to develop a plan for infrastructure improvements within the city’s Innovation District.
Segra points to several ways in which it is helping the city:
- Community Investments and Business Support: In addition to helping US Ignite secure funding, Segra also is working with companies in the Innovation District including Transform GSO, Forge Greensboro and The Nussbaum Center for Entrepreneurship, all of which are Greensboro-based organizations that support entrepreneurs, those looking for jobs and small businesses.
- Internet Access: As part of the partnership, Segra is helping to create a sustainable model delivering internet access by providing a high-speed private education network for all pre-K through post-doc students. There is no cost to students or their families. Core services include pervasive high-speed broadband access, shared cloud big data computing architecture and open data collaborative. The focus of the effort is where no or poor internet access exists.
Segra and US Ignite are in discussions with Guildford Works to provide jobs and growth in “Greensboro’s EV Battery workforce.”
“Segra is a company committed to empowering businesses to succeed utilizing the connection to our dense fiber network, that powers next-generation technology,” Chris Vance, Segra’s Regional Sales Director, said in a press release. “We share that common vision with US Ignite and the City of Greensboro, and believe that business corridors that have access to reliable, fast and secure internet, will attract entrepreneurs who are looking to start or grow their businesses.”
Greensboro was named a Smart Gigabit Community and given a three-year grant in November, 2020 through a USIgnite program is sponsored by the National Science Foundation program.
Segra owns and operates more than 30,000 route miles of fiber infrastructure in the mid-Atlantic and southeastern U.S.
