The City of Hillsboro has officially launched HiLight, a high-speed fiber broadband internet service provided by the City as an essential service to meet the needs of residents and businesses. With speed options starting at 1 gigabit, the service has gone live in a very limited area to 780 residential and business addresses around Shute Park, which has had the lowest broadband connectivity rates in Hillsboro.
Washington County's Wingspan Event & Conference Center at Westside Commons was HiLight’s first customer on October 1, 2020. The City is conducting live testing during this soft launch of the service.
“We strive to create a stronger, better Hillsboro and enhance the sense of community among our residents,” said Hillsboro Mayor Steve Callaway. “HiLight is making the future of Hillsboro brighter and more equitable by offering affordable, high-quality internet service to everyone. The City and its employees are committed to making our community a better place to live. It matters to us because this is our City, too.”
Hillsboro City Councilor Olivia Alcaire added, “I am so excited for our HiLight to begin its rollout to our schools, residents, and small and large businesses. In 2020, we have realized how much of a difference strong, consistent, and reliable internet service makes in the lives of our community members, especially our children. This is a win-win-win for Hillsboro!”
HiLight will continue to roll out in the Shute Park/Southwest Hillsboro/Downtown areas over the next several weeks.
The developing South Hillsboro neighborhood, where home-building activity allowed for HiLightfiber-optic lines to be placed while trenches were open — thus requiring less digging anddisruption — is expected to be the next area where service will become available.
In addition to high-speed internet service, HiLight also offers Hillsboro residents and businesses options for managed Wi-Fi service and digital voice.
The HiLight network and services will expand to reach every resident, business, and nonprofit in Hillsboro over the coming years.
Residents can check if their neighborhood is able to receive the service by entering their address on the HiLight Availability website.
The foundation of the HiLight network is its fiber-optic backbone. This backbone was constructed in partnership with the Hillsboro School District (HSD) and completed this past summer, with all 44 Hillsboro School District facilities now connected. By working together, the Hillsboro School District will save as much as $5 million, and the City of Hillsboro will save up to $10 million.
Construction of the HiLight Fiber-To-the-Home (FTTH) distribution network is expected to continue for approximately 10 years to reach all neighborhoods in Hillsboro, organized around five fiber huts that will serve as nerve centers of the HiLight network’s FTTH distribution system serving residences, multi-unit properties, and businesses throughout the community. This is a result of the pay-as-you-build funding approach for constructing the system.
Source: City of Hillsboro