Greenville city employees will be able to work more efficiently thanks to an agreement between the city and Camellia Communications.

The Greenville City Council recently entered into an agreement with the telecommunications company to bring fiber-optic Internet service to City Hall, both fire stations and the police station.

The project is expected to cost $28,000, and will extend from the Butler County Courthouse to City Hall. The city has agreed to pay $14,000 to aid in the construction and installation of the fiber optic cable.

“This is going to drastically improve the Internet service for city offices, as well as businesses downtown,” said Mayor Dexter McLendon. “I guess you can say this will bring us up to speed with the times.”

According to officials with Camellia Communications, the upgrade to fiber optic cable will improve upload and download speeds, which should increase productivity for the city’s employees. It is also more reliable and secure than the current copper cable that is currently being used.

“The benefits of fiber are numerous, but from a very basic standpoint, copper has a limited bandwidth, fiber cable does not,” said Evelyn Causey, CFO for Camellia Communications.

Businesses in downtown will also benefit from the project.

“As we construct the facilities, we will pass many businesses and residents that will benefit as well,” said Causey. “We will be installing service drops along the way to serve them with fiber optic services as well.”

The project is expected to take at least a month to complete.