Seattle getting citywide broadband?

MomSeattle · DadSeattle · SPI · MySeattlePix · My account

Local

US/World

Sports

Business

A&E

Life

Comics

Photos

Opinion

Blogs

Buy Ads

NWsource

« City attorney pits public records, police | Main | Seattle studies 311 phone # -- for $500K »

Seattle getting citywide broadband?

Seattle officials might finally be ready to start crunching numbers and nailing down specifics of a long-mulled, but slow-moving, proposal to build a citywide broadband network.

But they might yet need to build a case before the City Council that there's a market for such a network.

The idea has been studied by the council, a task force and Mayor Greg Nickels' information technology office since 2004.

Having estimated last year that it would cost $500 million to build and connect all of Seattle to a fiber broadband network, Nickels is now looking to invite private companies to do that work � perhaps with taxpayer help.

Nickels is asking the City Council to free up $185,000 he says his information technology office will use to invite companies to bid on the sweeping and still-undefined job.

Oustanding questions include:

� How much money (if any) will taxpayers contribute in subsidies or access to public facilities?
� Should the city start with a small-scale pilot project, as it did with Wi-Fi before deciding against a citywide wireless network?
� Is such a network even a feasible, cost effective idea?

City Councilman Bruce Harrell repeatedly asked that last question while being briefed on the plan during his committee meeting Wednesday.

"I (don't') see how we still know what I call the 'customer feasibility piece' � whether or not there's a market for it," Harrell said. Talking to residents, Harrell is not yet convinced that case can be made, he said. And, "I don't like wasting money. I don't know how much engine time we want to spend on this."

By issuing a "request for proposals," the city will collect information to better answer that question, responded officials with Nickels' Department of Information Technology office. With the $185K, DoIT plans to prepare that request and evaluate any bids by the end of the year.

DoIT told the council in a memo the plan made sense because:

� "The costs to build the network are very high. The City should not place its financial capital at risk particularly as the development of fiber broadband networks is in its infant stages and few successful models exist. �"
� "There is significant interest among private providers in using the City's non-cash assets to the extent legally and practically possible. It is worth knowing if the private sector can leverage these assets and other resources to bring competition to Seattle."
� "The RFP will send a signal to the private sector that the City wants competition and is doing everything that it can to create a favorable climate for private investment."

Posted by at March 19, 2008 5:00 p.m.
Categories: Seattle development, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, Seattle politics, Seattle utilities, Taxes

Comments

#109755

Posted by Will in Seattle at 3/19/08 5:26 p.m.

While we dither, South Korea has a cable network that delivers 20 times the bandwidth speed to the entire nation ...

Sure, let's study it some more, have a few votes, then change our minds again ... that works ... NOT.

Report violation

#109763

Posted by unregistered user at 3/19/08 5:38 p.m.

We have had fiber for over three years in Wenatchee. You guys will love it when you finally get it.

The thing I don't understand....Spokane has had free wireless over the entire downtown core for almost ten years now.

What's taking Seattle so long....you guys are suppose to be high tech!!

Report violation

#109765

Posted by Mr. J at 3/19/08 5:40 p.m.

This is Seattle, home of Process Paralysis. Whether is a viaduct, bridge, or broadband network, you can be sure that there will be lots of discussion and no action.

Report violation

#109821

Posted by You Big Weirdo at 3/19/08 7:56 p.m.

Mayor Schell suggested such an idea in the early 90s. But the city has always been way to nose-brown, way up the keester of the technosoftic corporations that they all worship at the door of. It'll never happen, and Harrel is one of the worse sort of flacks for the Microsofts and Qwests, etc. But, of course, that's who Seattle loves to elect. Carry on!

Report violation

#109827

Posted by Olympiaguy at 3/19/08 8:24 p.m.

Nothing will bring broadband rates down faster than a little competition. Start small, build it out over time. If it is cheaper, faster, and more reliable than the private companies it'll be a success. Even if it is just cheaper the competition will drive down their prices.

Report violation

#109871

Posted by linuxgirl at 3/19/08 11:16 p.m.

why in the world are we even talking about wasting tax payer dollars on this when there's already free internet (albeit via dialup) at nocharge.com??!? doesn't seattle need better mass transit and a new I-99 more than free internet it already has???

Report violation

#109943

Posted by SchmuckyTheCat at 3/20/08 7:44 a.m.

Yes, Seattle needs a municipal broadband network. Seagros have two choices for fast internet - Qwest, or their cable company. A municipal broadband network, connected to neutral service providers, would give needed competition to the monopolists.

Qwest hasn't upgraded services in years. Local service for Qwest in urban areas isn't even on their radar, they aren't local, land-line service is still (mostly) a cash-cow left over from monopoly days and they just do not care. DSL is inextricably linked to land lines. Huge sections of the city either can't get DSL services or they can, but the service is actually very low quality. Qwest will show you big maps of their service, but their service is based on distance from a CO. The outer radius of these circles (ie, the majority of customers) can only get 256kb service. Qwest will deny that, but it's true. We, for instance, qualify for 1.5mb according to Qwest, but the service is only stable at 256kb.

Then the cable networks:
Millenium (broadstripe, whatever their name is this week) is amazingly incompetent according to everyone I know who has them (including people who design networks for a living). And nobody has them by choice, it's because they are the only broadband available where they live.

Comcast is also not a service people have by choice. It's the only game in the neighborhood for most of the city. Comcasts terms of service and network shaping are so blatantly anti-consumer it is ridiculous. Comcast filters traffic they don't like, and are currently giving the middle finger to the FCC, literally. The FCC called them on the filtering and Comcast is saying "Yeah, we do it, and you don't have legal authority to tell us not to!"

We are stuck with these monopolists because they own the wires to our homes. The city should build a fiber network and access should be layered, an intranet and outside access to the Internet. Access to services inside the intranet (seattle.gov, or peer-to-peer between residents) is free, and at the full speed of the network. Access to the greater Internet can be done by allowing people to sign up with any number of competing service providers, at competing costs and service levels.

It is a tried and true model that has been done in other cities around the world. The US, which has some of the lowest broadband usage of the world(!!), lags behind. Get in front Seattle. Provide a neutral, public owned wire to the home and let there be real competition to service it. Take the legs from the monopolists and make them competitive.

Report violation

#110319

Posted by unregistered user at 3/20/08 10:20 p.m.

I hope that the wireless part of their proposals ( http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/224902_wifi19.html ) remembers that private citizens had provided a network of free wireless internet access to the public as their own experiment. They did it cheaply and effectively and even helped some businesses (for free) put up their own wireless internet services ( http://www.seattlewireless.net/ ). I just hope the city tries to do things with the people's (geeks included) involvement instead of merely just buying business contracts to investigate this, then buying more business contracts to implement that.

Report violation

! Login below to post a comment.