COSTA MESA, CA—Ontario Ranch, a very large, master-planned community taking shape in the Inland Empire city of Ontario, CA, recently unveiled plans to become the first “gigabit community” in the region. Starting in October, all residents will have the option to get the gigabit technology since a fiber-optic cable is being built into the infrastructure, a move that the developers are working hand-in-hand with the City of Ontario to make possible. GlobeSt.com spoke exclusively with Dave Bartlett, VP of land entitlement for locally based Brookfield Residential, one of the developers for Ontario Ranch, to discuss this amenity is being offered and what else is new in residential technology.

GlobeSt.com: Why is there a need for a gigabit community in this region?

Bartlett: First of all, it's an infill area. Development has basically jumped over and around this western part of the Inland Empire, so you basically have a blank slate. This project is 8,200 acres and is going to accommodate about 200,000 people and about 50,000 households overall. When you're dealing with a blank slate, you try to get as many of the fundamentals right as you can.

The City and builders have developed a partnership with Inyo Networks that required the builders to put in the fiber conduit, and then Inyo is going to bring the fiber to the homes. They understand that long-term growth in the information sector is going to be important to everyone, and they have the opportunity to do it from the ground up rather than go in and retrofit at a later date. This will differentiate this area from other areas of the Inland Empire. The size and scope of the new community being built out there is extraordinary—millions of square feet of commercial, new schools, a great park as big as Central Park in New York, billions and billions of dollars of economic output as a result of building this part of the city. The gigabit is an important part of it.

Our lives revolve around access of information, and what you normally download—which might take minutes or hours—is now going to take seconds or minutes. It will change the way you deal with the phone, TV, PCs, laptops—everything is going to be quicker, easier and more accessible. Right now, during the peak hours of 6:00 and 8:00 p.m., the home computer can get really slow because people are streaming movies and content. The cable people didn't recognize this as a constraint 10 to 14 years ago. It's like rush hour on the freeway. This is taking what was a two-lane roadway and exchanging it for a 16-lane freeway to allow information at that level to be able to pass through all the time. It's an exciting component, and we're happy to be one of the first few communities offering it to homeowners.

GlobeSt.com: What will this do to property values in other communities that aren't offering fiber-optic cable?

Bartlett: At Ontario Ranch, it will become a mainstream standard. At other communities, it depends on what the Internet service provider offers. You can get it in other communities, but it's pretty spotty. It really depends on the jurisdiction you're in, which franchise is licensed in that city, whether they have the capability and want to make the investment. It's like when you buy a new home, people expect granite countertops. It will become an expectation—maybe not today, but over the long term—that new communities will offer a high-speed fiber connection or the equivalent. This is more of a reason for someone to want to buy in this community. It's not the sole reason, but it's another amenity.

GlobeSt.com: What other technology changes do you anticipate in future residential developments?

Bartlett: It's nothing new, but solar is certainly becoming more mainstream in our communities. The smart-home network is also becoming much more available—things like being able to access your air conditioning, appliances, lights and stereo system from your handheld device to turn them on and off. We're now doing some door locks that have that capability. As people get used to having technology as a part of their life, they will start using those options in their new homes. We're also starting to plan for in-home electric chargers for vehicles, which has to be planned for early on in order to get the right electrical loads, transformers, etc., to accommodate those things.

GlobeSt.com: What else should our readers know about this project?

Bartlett: Another important facet of this area has been our consortium of builders and developers, which put in $200 million of infrastructure as a whole and has been able to create freeway access from I-15 to the central portion of the development and is building a connection from the city of Eastvale north to south. The infrastructure in terms of accessibility, transit and helping people get to their places of work all has come as a result of our builder consortium making the investment in that area to get it off the ground. Also, guaranteed funding for new schools will set the initial phases of Ontario Ranch apart from other new communities.