Powered by Intel edge infrastructure, a local California network demonstrates how micro-servers can deliver high-speed connectivity at a low cost.
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BELLFLOWER, Calif. — A young woman unwillingly must leave her disabled mother at home to walk to the local library just to use the public internet to pay the household bills. A few blocks away, a family rations its online time, relying entirely on a son’s cellular data plan to check critical medical updates because traditional broadband is too expensive. At the weekly outdoor farmers market, small business owners regularly turn away customers because weak cellular signals prevent them from accepting credit cards.These are the everyday realities in Bellflower; a suburb of 75,000 people located just 25 minutes outside of Los Angeles. Despite its proximity to America’s second-largest city, the community has long suffered from persistent cellular blind spots and high telecom costs that have left vulnerable residents behind.Now, a new municipal network called Bellflower Connect is aiming to bridge this digital divide. By using a private wireless network of solar-powered micro-servers with Intel® Xeon® processors inside, and AI-driven cybersecurity at the edge, the public-private partnership offers an affordable, low-power blueprint for community broadband that organizers plan to scale to 50 additional U.S. cities under 150,000 people over the next few years.Cutting the Red TapeTo get the network off the ground, the city of Bellflower waived standard permit charges, allowed reception towers to be built on public buildings, and bypassed lengthy request-for-proposal processes. This allowed project partner Tradewinds Networks to enter into a long-term revenue-sharing contract with the city. The funding was split through a public-private agreement, using a $1 million municipal transportation grant alongside $2 million put up by Tradewinds.The program also includes a workforce development element, training local students to become certified wireless broadband technicians. Having won the 2025 Mobile Breakthrough Award for Social Impact, Tradewinds Networks aligned the Bellflower Connect project to meet sustainable goals, taking into consideration city health, economic development, innovation, and sustainability."This model allows us to aggregate services and delivery while making the network self-sustaining," said Keith Alexis, chief technology officer and founder of Tradewinds Networks. "We then share revenues back with the community, which enables us to keep up a sustainable ecosystem that drives loyalty and usership. Additionally, our AI-based GuardTower solution runs on Xeon to keep the system secure."In May 2026, Bellflower, California city officials along with Tradewinds Networks chief technology officer and founder Keith Alexis, center, held a ribbon cutting ceremony officially opening the Bellflower Connect smart city network. One of the newly constructed Intel-based micro-server towers is behind them. (Credit: Tradewinds Networks)
