Construction to start to improve downtown Santa Cruz internet

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - Downtown Santa Cruz is one step closer to having faster internet.

Cruzio Internet hosted a launch party Wednesday night to celebrate the beginning of construction for its downtown fiber optic network and the launch of the Santa Cruz Fiber brand and services.

"We've hired a contractor and it's a go now," said Peggy Dolgenos, CEO of Cruzio Internet and the Santa Cruz Fiber Project, "It's just going to be a matter of weeks before we have people 'lit up' as we say."

Congressman Jimmy Panetta spoke at the launch party along with Santa Cruz City Councilmember David Terrazas and Bud Colligan, the Co-Chair of the Monterey Bay Economic Partnership.

Panetta says he hopes to see higher internet speeds across the Central Coast.

"People need that, not just here in Santa Cruz but we need that in rural areas from Santa Cruz down to the Salinas Valley," the Congressman said.

The event also marks the start of a two month long sign-up-a-thon where the first 300 Santa Cruz Fiber customers will be able to buy one Gigabit per second speeds for $49.95 a month. Existing Cruzio customers will automatically be upgraded to this new service.

According to Cruzio, The company is also launching an upgraded suite of "fiber-backed" services throughout the County under the new Santa Cruz Fiber brand, and plans on building a city-wide fiber optic network neighborhood-by-neighborhood as more customers get connected to the service.