Akron's Bounce has partnered with FairlawnGig to bring high-speed, fiber-optic broadband service to the innovation hub and the more than 50 companies and organizations it houses.

The Bounce Innovation Hub made the announcement Wednesday, Dec. 5.

FairlawnGig is the broadband utility owned by that city that offers businesses high-speed service of up to 10 Gigabits per second. Fairlawn in 2017 began offering service in that city and the Akron/Bath/Fairlawn Joint Economic Development District. The utility has about 1,800 customers, 250 of those businesses, Crain's reported in October.

Now, FairlawnGig is bringing its services to Bounce, its largest customer outside of its home city, according to a news release.

While the news was just announced Wednesday, work to lay the fiber at the former B.F. Goodrich tire plant on South Main Street began about two weeks ago, Bounce chief marketing officer Jeanine Black said. FairlawnGig is doing the setup at no cost to Bounce, she added.

Bounce will offer free public Wi-Fi throughout the building, which its tenants can choose to use. More likely, Black said, tenant companies can customize a network plan with FairlawnGig to suit their needs, and the cost of that will be rolled into their lease with Bounce.

Bounce companies currently make their own deals with service providers such as Spectrum and TMS, and can choose to stick with those providers if they wish, Black said.

The hub currently is constructing a first-floor space called the Generator, which will be open to the public and include a co-working space, makerspace, cafe, event space and an esports lab. Public Wi-Fi will be available to those areas, Black said, although there will be a time limit to services in the cafe, just to keep people moving through the space.

"As we build out the first-floor Generator and continue to recruit tech companies to floors 2-9, it is imperative that we have a public Wi-Fi solution that can accommodate high volumes at unprecedented speed with a convenient sign-on mechanism," Bounce CEO Doug Weintraub said in the release. "FairlawnGig is able to give us the power we need here. This is the perfect example of how relationships can drive real change and opportunity."

While Bounce, no doubt, is excited to offer its tenant companies — many of which are tech firms — the speed and consistency fiber-optic broadband service can provide, the deal also helps FairlawnGig expand into new communities. Fairlawn paid for the formation of the utility, which it created to help drive economic development, with a 30-year, $10 million loan, Crain's reported.

"We're thrilled to take FairlawnGig's services beyond our city limits to help regional organizations achieve business goals only obtainable with the robust broadband service we provide," said Ernie Staten, deputy director of public service for Fairlawn, in a statement. "FairlawnGig can help the entire region compete globally the same way we've helped Fairlawn businesses grow and thrive. FairlawnGig's services are perfect to help businesses in Bounce innovate and create new market opportunities."