Seattle's broadband project: who should bid, what will it cost?

"You can't run your business without a solid connection to the Internet."

This truth was spoken by a business owner featured in a City Inside/Out program on the Seattle Channel last week. The show featured a panel, including City of Seattle reps, and Qwest and Comcast Business execs who debated the city's plan to provide fiber connectivity to Pioneer Square in downtown Seattle. In that format, Qwest and Comcast Business were on the defensive. Still, Comcast Business looked strong and when I finished watching the show, I turned to my business partner and said, "Comcast is going to make a play to get that work."

Sure enough. Yesterday, GeekWire posted news of Comcast Business's plan to bid on the broadband project.

Of course, there are many phone and Internet service providers in our area that would like a chance to bid on this work. In fact, many providers continue to build Fiber circuits in Pioneer Square and elsewhere in the city. And there are existing Enterprise-level Fiber-like services there now, including Ethernet Over Copper. In the comments of the GeekWire article I suggested:

Ethernet Over Copper (EoC) is a great symmetrical high bandwidth solution for this area and can be provisioned over existing copper infrastructure. Also Level 3, Above Net, Qwest, tw telecom and Integra Telecom are all extremely interested in speaking with building owners and business tenants in regards to lighting up buildings with fiber connectivity.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this project in the comments section below.

Keep an eye on Seattle's broadband project as it is hashed out. In the meantime, if you are a Seattle business in need of business phone and Internet service, including high bandwidth solutions, please give me a call direct at (206) 420-0140.