A Google Fiber network could be coming soon to Mesa, Arizona.
The Mesa city council is expected to vote on July 11 on measures that would enable Google Fiber to deploy a gigabit fiber broadband network in the city.
Google first got into the fiber broadband business over a decade ago with the construction of a gigabit network in Kansas City. Since then, it has built several other networks.
Google Fiber Arizona Network
The city of Mesa released a request for information (RFI) in January involving a broadband network, which led to discussions with several network operators and to the creation of a “fiber optic network provider toolkit.” According to a report prepared for the upcoming Mesa city council meeting, the toolkit “better positions Mesa to receive additional fiber optic network opportunities both from the RFI respondents as well as potential additional current and future fiber optic network providers.”
Google Fiber responded to the RFI and applied for a fiber license agreement to install conduit and fiber optic cable within city rights-of-way using micro-trenching, and the city has approved construction standards to allow micro-trenching in city rights-of-way.
Open access network operator SiFi Networks also responded to the RFI and is poised to join Google Fiber in Mesa, if approved by the city council.
Network operators will be able to deploy micro conduits and fiber optic cables in a small slot trench that is a maximum of 2.5 inches wide. The conduits must have at least six inches of cover on residential and collector streets and at least 10 inches of cover on arterial streets.
Google Fiber ran into some difficulties when it used the micro-trenching approach in Louisville several years ago, but at that time, the company said it had made refinements to the process that were yielding better results in other markets.
According to a Google Fiber blog post, construction on the Mesa network could begin early next year, depending on the results of the upcoming city council vote.
