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City builds open-access broadband network with Google Fiber as its first ISP:
The West Des Moines government's announcement said that "once the City installs conduit in the public right of way, broadband providers will pay a license fee to install their fiber in the City's conduit. Google Fiber will be the first tenant in the network." A conduit-license agreement "calls for Google Fiber to cover a portion of the construction cost to build conduit... through their monthly lease payments."
"On a monthly basis, Google Fiber would pay the city $2.25 for each household that connects to the network," according to the Des Moines Register. Google Fiber would pay the city a minimum of $4.5 million over 20 years.
Construction is expected to begin this fall and be completed in about two and a half years, the city said.
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(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Thursday July 09 2020, @03:34PM
At first blush I like this approach. Metricom tried to set up a subscription municipal wi-fi system with their proprietary modems, but securing the public rights-of-way bankrupted them. Now that broadband has become an economic necessity instead of a luxury, there's a stronger case for treating it like public infrastructure.
Washington DC delenda est.