Amarillo announced Gigabit City by Vexus Fiber

Brianna Maestas, Amarillo Globe-News
·3 min read

Vexus Fiber declared the city of Amarillo a Certified Gigabit City Powered by Vexus on Tuesday morning during an announcement held at Innovation Outpost.

Following the reception, representatives from Vexus spoke and presented the Gigabit City certificate to city officials in the afternoon during Tuesday's regular city council meeting at city hall.

The new certification marks Amarillo for the major milestone, indicating Vexus's ability to ensure its ultra-high-speed, multi-gigabit fiber optic network is available to a majority of households and businesses throughout the city.

Amarillo City Council members present a Gigabit City Certification Tuesday at their regular meeting at city hall in downtown Amarillo.
Amarillo City Council members present a Gigabit City Certification Tuesday at their regular meeting at city hall in downtown Amarillo.
Vexus Fiber and City of Amarillo officials celebrate the naming of Amarillo as a certified Gigabit City Tuesday morning at official announcement held at Innovation Outpost.
Vexus Fiber and City of Amarillo officials celebrate the naming of Amarillo as a certified Gigabit City Tuesday morning at official announcement held at Innovation Outpost.

"Three years ago, we started building out the city of Amarillo with fiber, and at the end of our completion of it, we saw that our whole footprint, almost 75,000 residential homes and over 4,000 businesses, that we bill to are 1 Gig certified. And with that being over 50% of the footprint in Amarillo, we are officially certifying the city of Amarillo as a Gigabit City," Brian Borthwick, Director of Operations for Vexus in Amarillo, said.

To date, Vexus has installed more than 396 miles of fiber optic internet throughout Amarillo, bringing future-proof multi-gigabit speeds to residents and businesses through their privately funded $64.5 million investment in the community.

Andrew Freeman, interim city manager for Amarillo, stated in a news release: "Amarillo takes pride in being a Certified Gigabit City powered by Vexus. Vexus has been instrumental in providing our residents and businesses with a reliable fiber internet connection. ... As we continue to focus on the future of our city, the services offered by Vexus are crucial to achieving our goals.”

Vexus has serviced Amarillo since the mid-2000s and began rapid expansion across the community in 2020. Since then, Vexus has expanded service to serve more than 50% of Amarillo.

Amarillo Mayor Cole Stanley spoke during the event about the announcement, stating: "Here we have a partner and collaborator where they said, 'Look, we are going to invest our dollars into the infrastructure of your city because we know you are healthy and you are growing, and we know this is the way you need to go.' ... So, congratulations to the citizens and to Amarillo for being announced as a Gigabit city."

Vexus Fiber and City of Amarillo officials celebrate the naming of Amarillo as a certified Gigabit City Tuesday morning at official announcement held at Innovation Outpost.
Vexus Fiber and City of Amarillo officials celebrate the naming of Amarillo as a certified Gigabit City Tuesday morning at official announcement held at Innovation Outpost.
Brian Borthwick, Director of Operations for Vexus in Amarillo, left, and Amarillo Mayor Cole Stanley announce the city of Amarillo as a certified Vexus Fiber Gigabit City during a reception held Tuesday morning at the Innovation Outpost.
Brian Borthwick, Director of Operations for Vexus in Amarillo, left, and Amarillo Mayor Cole Stanley announce the city of Amarillo as a certified Vexus Fiber Gigabit City during a reception held Tuesday morning at the Innovation Outpost.

According to Borthwick, the company saw a need within many communities including Amarillo during the COVID-19 pandemic, where there was a gap between the overall need for access to the internet and lack of access for many to a reliable connection.

"When we started Vexus three years ago, this was one of the first towns we started building in, and we are at the end of that build out. And looking at what we have accomplished and what we have done for the community, we thought this was a unique story. We started here first, and we are about to be the first to finish up our project, so we thought ... (it would) be the perfect place to do our first notification of a Gigabit City," Borthwick said.

Designation as a Certified Gigabit City Powered by Vexus is earned once a majority of households and business locations have access to Vexus’ symmetrical fiber optic internet speeds of at least 1 Gigabit. The number of households is based on the total households, and the number of business locations is based on a total of all firms from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Brian Borthwick, Director of Operations for Vexus in Amarillo, announces the city of Amarillo as a certified Gigabit City Tuesday morning at official announcement held at Innovation Outpost.
Brian Borthwick, Director of Operations for Vexus in Amarillo, announces the city of Amarillo as a certified Gigabit City Tuesday morning at official announcement held at Innovation Outpost.

Vexus said it is part of the nation’s largest independently owned, 100% fiber optic network provider and services more than 300,000 homes and businesses across Texas, Louisiana and New Mexico with multi-gigabit fiber internet.

Vexus said it will also be launching multi-gig speeds up to 5 Gig / 5 Gig across their service area for residential customers in the coming weeks. Businesses can already receive connections customizable at limitless multi-gig speeds to meet their specific needs, and TeleCloud-hosted communication solutions that bring together phone, chat and video conferencing services in one platform, according to the company.

To learn more about Vexus, visit them online at VexusFiber.com.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Amarillo first Gigabit City in Texas announced by Vexus Fiber