Empowering Every Resident: Fort Dodge Deploys Community Broadband with Camvio & Nokia
Overview
Faced with aging infrastructure and underwhelming broadband options, the City of Fort Dodge, Iowa, took a bold step in 2019: they voted to become a broadband utility, investing $40 million - entirely funded through revenue bonds - to build a citywide fiber network. In partnership with Nokia and Camvio, the city created Iowa’s largest municipal broadband-only utility, offering high-speed internet to over 10,000 addresses with impressive adoption rates. Despite initial challenges, their patience and perseverance have paid off with strong community engagement and a vision that continues to grow.
Community Background
For years, the traditional service providers operating in the community offered outdated DSL or cable options with no upgrade plans. In 2019, after 72% of residents expressed dissatisfaction with their existing broadband choices, the Fort Dodge City Council voted to establish a municipally owned fiber utility.
With their Engineering partner and Nokia as their equipment provider, Fort Dodge broke ground on their network in May 2019. By 2024, fiber had been deployed past every address in the city - a mix of mostly underground assets (95%) and some aerial in-city infrastructure. Fort Dodge became the first Nokia-powered municipal broadband provider in Iowa.
The Challenge
The journey wasn’t without hurdles. The project cost $40M - all borrowed through bonds, without federal or local subsidies like BEAD. With no funding assistance, success depended entirely on operational revenue. This was a risk as the city had no prior experience managing a network. Additionally, seasonal limitations meant no construction between November and April, causing delays. The network came online approximately nine months later than originally planned. Despite the headwinds, city leaders stayed the course and believed in their mission.
Ryan Maehl, Fort Dodge's Assistant City Manager, had comments about the network and their decision:
|
"During our decision-making process, our municipal team carefully considered whether to collaborate with an existing ISP or establish our own department to manage broadband independently. The turning point came when we received substantial interest from ISPs, which signaled that we should take full control, build it ourselves, and create an invaluable asset for the future of our community. Now, more than a year into operations, we are confident that partnering with [Camvio & Nokia] was the right and best choice. By managing our own internet and broadband services, we have ensured fast, reliable, fully accessible, and affordable fiber for both residents and businesses. This decision has transformed Fort Dodge, allowing individuals and businesses to save money by consolidating services under a single ISP, creating jobs, and positioning our city as a leader in the fiber-to-the-premise industry. The bold vision and leadership demonstrated by our staff and elected officials in taking this unprecedented step—when other municipalities had struggled—reflects courage, strategic thinking, and trust in making the challenging but most beneficial decision for Fort Dodge. Fort Dodge Fiber has unlocked new opportunities for local businesses and residents, setting our community apart from others of similar size and securing Webster County’s distinction as the only county in Iowa with 100% fiber-to-the-premise infrastructure.” — Ryan Maehl, Assistant City Manager, Fort Dodge |
The Solution
Fort Dodge chose Camvio as their OSS/BSS provider for operational and billing management, and Nokia as their access network vendor. Together, this ecosystem streamlined customer onboarding, provisioning, service management, and performance.
The collaboration allowed Fort Dodge to:
-
- Seamlessly provision new users via Camvio’s integrated workflows with Nokia gear.
- Launch residential and business services with agility and transparency.
- Offer a top-tier customer experience, backed by a local team.
|
"The integration between Camvio and Nokia has been seamless, allowing us to deliver a reliable, high-performance broadband experience to the people of Fort Dodge. What’s been most rewarding is hearing the feedback from the community. Residents are not only impressed by the speed and consistency of the service but also by how easy it is to manage their accounts and get support. This collaboration is a prime example of technology and service coming together to truly meet the needs of the people...” — Amir Heydarkhan, CTO & Co-Founder, Camvio |
Mark Klimek, Nokia's VP of North America Market Development, also commented about the partnership of Camvio & Nokia for Fort Dodge:
|
"Understanding the vital importance of high-quality, affordable broadband access to the community’s future growth and prosperity, Fort Dodge built a world-class fiber network that it fully owns and operates. By deploying Nokia’s broadband access solution in concert with Camvio’s OSS/BSS platform, the City has ensured the network’s operations are fully optimized and that their customers get the world-class experience they deserve. Nokia is proud that our hardware and software solutions are powering this strategic asset for the City.” — Mark Klimek, VP - North America Market Development, Nokia |
The Results
The integration between Camvio and Nokia has driven incredible results for Fort Dodge's operations and customer engagement:
✔ +43% take rate across the city
✔ 60% of customers choose the top 2 service tiers
✔ 2,400 customers online as of 2024, with over 600 waiting due to seasonally limited construction window.
✔ Fiber deployed to ALL city buildings, with schools migrating next.
✔ All debt funded by network revenues - NO SUBSIDIES.
Looking Ahead
The city is now able to offer fast, affordable, ubiquitous broadband to the community. Owning and operating the network allows the city to deliver exceptional service while keeping the revenues in the local economy. Recognizing that their network infrastructure is an asset, the city made an investment that will help Fort Dodge attract and retain new residents and businesses for years to come, securing its place in the digital future.
With many business accounts pending, schools transitioning to the network, and continued customer sign-ups, Fort Dodge’s utility is on track to fulfill its promise - and repay its entire investment without external assistance. The collaboration between the city, Camvio, and Nokia serves as a blueprint for other municipalities seeking self-reliant broadband solutions outside of the federal funding arena.
About Fort Dodge
Fort Dodge Fiber is Iowa’s largest broadband-only municipal utility, delivering fast, reliable, and future-proof internet service to every address in Fort Dodge. Launched in response to overwhelming community demand and a 2019 city council vote, the utility was built with a $40 million investment funded entirely through revenue bonds, without taxpayer dollars or government subsidies. With a 100% fiber network and a mission rooted in local ownership and impact, Fort Dodge Fiber powers homes, businesses, and public institutions while keeping service decisions close to the community it proudly serves.
About Camvio
Camvio was founded on the belief that operational and billing systems should be simple, cost-effective, and easy to implement. With over 20 years of experience in the communications industry, we’ve seen firsthand what works and what doesn’t. Our mission is to equip businesses with a comprehensive, cloud-based platform that drives efficiency, generates revenue, and positions them as technology leaders of the future.
More than just a software provider, Camvio is a trusted partner committed to empowering organizations with an all-in-one solution for managing billing, customer relationships, network operations, and service provisioning. Designed for scalability and flexibility, our cloud-native system ensures seamless integration and real-time accessibility, enabling businesses to adapt and grow with ease. Our goal is to make implementation effortless, requiring minimal training while delivering advanced functionality. We stay ahead of the curve, anticipating your needs and providing innovative solutions that enhance your operations. At Camvio, we create intuitive products that simplify your workflow and drive success.
About Nokia
At Nokia, we create technology that helps the world act together. Leveraging Nokia Bell Labs as an innovation engine, we work across our mobile, fixed, and cloud networks businesses to pioneer solutions that allow service providers of all sizes to reliably and cost-effectively connect the communities they serve. With one of the broadest portfolios of OLTs, ONTs, and WiFi CPE, we deliver flexibility of deployment with solutions that are open and standards-based. Our products are designed to meet today’s needs and can evolve elegantly to deliver the speeds of the future, so you’re never faced with regrettable spend. Let’s work together to bring your customers the best in broadband.
Interested in Learning More?