Centennial is asking voters to unleash 42 miles of fiber-optic cable in an effort to bring lower costs and faster Internet speeds to residents.
Because of a 2005 state statute, Centennial must ask voters to utilize the cables it has that were originally laid down for future capacity, but council member Ken Lucas said the city really needs only about two of the bundles for cameras, weather stations, traffic signals and the laser technology the city uses to detect snow and ice levels on roads. He said the bundles of cable can have up to 96 hair-thin fibers.
City officials estimate they have $2-5 million worth of fibers, though they have invested only $100,000.
The city is proposing reclaiming the cables and opening a bid to private companies to provide a variety of Internet and data communication choices for businesses and residents.
“The concept is to bring competition into the city and open it up with open access,” Lucas said. ” Essentially, we would not give anyone provider exclusivity, we would open it up for competitive bid … to give our citizens the opportunity to choose what provider they would want to have.”
Lucas said he feels this will help bring more business to the city, increase revenue and increase the property values of residents’ homes.
The ballot measure would not raise taxes.
“All we’re doing is asking for permission if it’s feasible for us to partner with the private sector and provide those services,” Lucas said.
For Ken Granville, founder and CEO of local software company Mindaptiv, the changes would mean more people would have access to an interactive television technology he’s developing and he would be able to better get his software into people’s homes, at least in Centennial.
“There’s an explosion of applications that can occur,” Granville said.
Vic Ahmed is owner of Innovation Pavilion, an 80,000-square-foot business incubator in Centennial hosting about 75 companies, most involved in high tech. He said increased bandwidth will give a boost to the businesses he hosts.
“When the bigger bytes come into play, there’s all sorts of applications that become viable for small businesses, and people who work from home also,” Ahmed said.
Lucas said Centennial is going to the bid approach because the city is a contract city and it means better services at lower costs than letting a company such as Google or Comcast come and take over the fibers. He said companies such as Comcast, CenturyLink and AT&T are not pleased with Centennial’s move because they have to compete with everyone else.
Clayton Woullard: 303-954-2671, cwoullard@denverpost.com or
