The Mesa, Arizona city council has approved license agreements with four fiber service providers that will be key to enabling the providers to build fiber networks in the city. The companies are Google Fiber, SiFi, Ubiquity and Wyyerd.
The new agreements dictate the process for the newcomers to install fiber facilities within the city’s rights of way and enable the permitting process to begin within the city. The goal is to provide connectivity options to 264,000 premises that are passed by 2,470 street miles in the city.
Cox and Lumen currently serve the city. A survey conducted by the city found that 75% of residents have some form of landline broadband connectivity and an additional 8% use their cell phone data to get online.
Mesa sent a request for information (RFI) to companies on installation and operation off fiber networks across the city. The agreements with the four companies are a result of that RFI.
“Reliable high-speed internet is not a luxury – it’s an essential utility like water or electricity. In the way the world operates today, no one can afford to be disconnected,” Mayor John Giles said in a press release. “These partnerships are bringing us closer to our goals of getting fiber to every home and business, increasing affordable connectivity for residents and future-proofing our city.”
The city also has begun an expansion of an existing Wi-Fi network in the downtown area. The enlargement of the network will cover nine square miles as well as city parks, pools and libraries. The third telecommunications project in the city is deployment of a Citizen Broadband Radio System (CBRS) network to provide coverage to underserved areas of the city.
Google Fiber said last week that if the city of Mesa would approve the company’s plans to deploy fiber in the city, construction could begin early next year.
