Los Angeles Requests Plans to Build Fiber Broadband Network

The Los Angeles city government put out a request for information regarding the construction of a citywide fiber and Wi-Fi network. Dutch company Angie Communications was the only one to make its full response public. It responded to the RFI with an ambitious plan to build an entire LA fiber network within five years, including the infrastructure for metro and street access. In addition, the company proposes a nationwide 4G cellular network and Wi-Fi network.

streamingLos Angeles wants a company to build a citywide fiber network for an estimated cost of $3 billion to $5 billion, according to Ars Technica. Angie Communications estimated that its nationwide Wi-Fi, cellular, and fiber networks will cost about $70 billion.

Not only does the company want to build extensive broadband networks, it also wants to deliver high speeds to consumers. The fiber network, for example, would hit speeds of up to 10Gbps and reach 5 million premises nationwide. The 4G cellular network would reportedly cover 95 percent of the nation’s population and reach speeds of up to 50Mbps. The Wi-Fi network would get to 100Mbps, but would only cover 90 percent of the U.S. population.

Los Angeles wants its broadband network builder to make the infrastructure available to other Internet service providers on a wholesale basis, but Angie Communications is unwilling to do that. The city also received RFI responses from IBM, Time Warner Cable, AT&T, and others. Companies will compete for the chance to build the broadband network when the city issues a request for proposals.

Upload and download speeds reach 1 gigabit per second via Google Fiber Internet service in Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas City, Kansas. Construction of Google Fiber could start in 34 more U.S. cities by the end of this year.

“Google declined to comment on why it didn’t respond [to the LA request], and AT&T declined to share its responses beyond that Los Angeles remains a potential target for a gigabit network,” according to the Los Angeles Times. “For companies like Google that lack a footprint in Los Angeles, building a network would require a significant amount of trench-digging, [would be] an expensive endeavor.”

“Meanwhile, Time Warner Cable said that it has plenty of upgrades planned. By modifying its existing cable network, the company said, it would triple the speed of its most expensive service in Los Angeles to 300 megabytes per second by the end of the year.”

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