The city of Santa Clarita and California Institute of the Arts have entered into a three-year agreement for lit transport service to facilitate gigabit high-speed internet service for the college.

The new agreement allows for cost savings and more Internet Service Provider choices for CalArts, along with revenue generation for the city.

Approval of the new agreement was announced at the July 14 City Council Meeting.

CalArts’ current internet connection of 1 Gbps costs them eight times more per month than a comparable service using an ISP in Downtown Los Angeles. Santa Clarita’s Fiber Optic Network will help ease costs and internet connection concerns for CalArts to better support students and staff.

Construction is anticipated to take place during the summer to enable the connection to be available to CalArts before the beginning of their fall semester.

“We are very excited to be collaborating with the city of Santa Clarita on this project,” said CalArts Associate Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Jesse Smith. “We are honored to be the first local business to collaborate on the expansion of internet connectivity for the Santa Clarita Valley. This will help CalArts expand its technology infrastructure, provide greater access and allow for new options in providers. We hope this is the first of many collaborations with the City, state government, local businesses and innovative entrepreneurs.”

In June 2019, the City Council approved an agreement to lease two dark fiber strands to DTLA, in hopes of lowering barriers to entry for new ISP’s to Santa Clarita.

Additionally, the city issued a Request for Proposal on July 2, 2020, for a “Public-Private Partnership to Provide High-Speed Internet Service to Local Businesses” to market its fiber-optic network to interested ISPs.

The leasing of the dark fiber strands in 2019, along with the city’s new agreement with CalArts, support the goals identified in Santa Clarita 2020: “To provide recommendations and strategies on how to ensure high-speed internet access to business parks, and establish a revenue-generating program that utilizes existing fiber infrastructure to leverage resources and potentially promote greater bandwidth access to the community.”

To learn more about the city’s agreement with CalArts, Fiber Optic Network and more, contact the city Information Technology Manager Benny Ives at bives@santa-clarita.com.

California Institute of the Arts has set the pace for educating professional artists since 1970. Offering rigorous undergraduate and graduate degree programs through six schools—Art, Critical Studies, Dance, Film/Video, Music and Theater—CalArts has championed creative excellence, critical reflection and the development of new forms and expressions. As successive generations of faculty and alumni have helped shape the landscape of contemporary arts, the Institute first envisioned by Walt Disney encompasses a vibrant, eclectic community with global reach, inviting experimentation, independent inquiry and active collaboration and exchange among artists, artistic disciplines and cultural traditions.