Jon Brodkin, writing for Ars Technica:
Residential broadband in LA today typically ranges from 5Mbps to 50Mbps from the likes of AT&T, Time Warner, Verizon, Cox, and Charter. Gigabit speeds are available to businesses, but at a higher price than other communities, Reneker said. By expanding gigabit access and hopefully lowering the price, LA hopes to attract new entrepreneurs and keep existing businesses from leaving the city.
Reneker said the network would be open, meaning the vendor would have to sell access on a wholesale basis to other network providers that want to deliver services over the fiber. “We’re not looking at trying to… be monopolistic and try to force anybody out of the market,” he said. The winning bidder should make out well, though, as it would gain lots of new residential, business, and government customers.
Cities are fed up with telcos and cable companies dragging their feet. I can’t blame them. When you look at the price/speed ratios, U.S. cities fare poorly.