Los Angeles Issuing RFP For Gigabit Service - Free and Paid Tiers

[EChondo]

http://arstechnica.com/business/2013/11/bigger-than-google-fiber-la-plans-citywide-gigabit-for-homes-and-businesses/
 

Los Angeles is about to unleash one of the most ambitious city-led broadband projects to date, with the goal of bringing fiber to all of its 3.5 million residents and all businesses.

Next month, the city plans to issue an RFP (request for proposals) "that would require fiber to be run to every residence, every business, and every government entity within the city limits of Los Angeles," Los Angeles Information Technology Agency GM Steve Reneker told Ars today. The City Council this morning unanimously voted to move forward with drafting the RFP and will vote again in a few weeks to determine whether it's ready for release, he said.

LA expects the fiber buildout to cost $3 billion to $5 billion, but the cost would be borne by the vendor. "The city is going into it and writing the agreement, basically saying, 'we have no additional funding for this effort.' We're requiring the vendors that respond to pay for the city resources needed to expedite any permitting and inspection associated with laying their fiber," Reneker said. "If they're not willing to do that, our City Council may consider a general fund transfer to reimburse those departments, but we're going in with the assumption that the vendor is going to absorb those up-front costs to make sure they can do their buildout in a timely fashion."

The new fiber network would offer free Internet access of 2Mbps to 5Mbps (possibly subsidized by advertising) and paid tiers of up to a gigabit. The fiber network would also power Wi-Fi hotspots in public areas.

The winning bidder would not be required to offer landline phone service or television, but it's likely that they would. "I would think that's how they'll justify the buildout, is being able to offer triple play [packages]," Reneker said.

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.

The RFP would favor companies that can offer not only fiber Internet but also cellular service and data center hosting. That makes AT&T and Verizon possible candidates. In one potential scenario, the city would pay the winning vendor for its monthly broadband, phone, cellular, and data center needs. Los Angeles has 24 distributed data centers that it would like to modernize and consolidate while boosting disaster recovery and replication, so the data center component alone would be lucrative.

If you took out the cellular component, more companies beyond AT&T and Verizon could offer compelling bids, Reneker said. Time Warner, Cox, and Charter would be among those.

But Google Fiber in its current form wouldn't be considered. "They would have to change their business model," Reneker said of Google. "They only run residential. We're requiring a component for the business. That would be a new market for them. There are two things: would they be willing to change their model slightly, and also would they be willing to respond to an RFP? I don't believe they've responded to RFPs in the past in other communities, but they would need to here in Los Angeles."

This project was spearheaded by recently elected council member Bob Blumenfield and has the support of Mayor Eric Garcetti, Reneker said. Reasonable pricing for residents is important, as one-third of the city's population makes less than $45,000 a year. LA schools are also rolling out iPads to 650,000 students and struggling to ensure that everyone who gets one has affordable connectivity, he said. LA wants the winning bidder to make donations of home broadband equipment to nonprofits that distribute them to needy residents.

Once the RFP goes out, the city will take bids for three months. Contract negotiations with the winning bidder could "easily" take six to nine months because there will be numerous services, each with their own service-level agreements, according to Reneker.

It will be a lengthy process, but the time is right to get it started. "It just seems like now is a good time to give it a shot," he said.

Honestly, it was a good time back in 1996 WHEN I WAS FREAKING BORN.

 

Good move in the right direction though, good on L.A., for once. Hopefully this will make AT&T expand their services in my hometown(we already have fiber in the damn streets mind you).

 

Not bad free Internet, I wonder how much the Gigabit services would be though....

[Jvagle875]

Making the companies front the cost though....

[pcexplosion]

And the fiber seed spreads.

[Air tree]

Come on we need gigabit internet  in portland :rolleyes:

[EChondo]

Making the companies front the cost though....

Company*.

 

Only one, if one company up front the cost, then they are the primary provider for 3.5+ million people and businesses in the area. I'd pay top dollar for that kind of market. The company is guaranteed continued business.

[Kirihuna]

>AT&T

 

my sides.

 

Their internet is horrendous. Never had Cox and Charter. Verizon is reliable and fast. Time Warner's equipment has always had a "dated" feel. I guess Comcast doesn't have a western market share?

[Jvagle875]

Company*.

 

Only one, if one company up front the cost, then they are the primary provider for 3.5+ million people and businesses in the area. I'd pay top dollar for that kind of market. The company is guaranteed continued business.

Ohh ok I see now, I misunderstood. Makes much more sense...

[EChondo]

>AT&T

 

my sides.

 

Their internet is horrendous. Never had Cox and Charter. Verizon is reliable and fast. Time Warner's equipment has always had a "dated" feel. I guess Comcast doesn't have a western market share?

AT&T U-Verse Business here. 20Mb down, 2Mb up, 13 static IP's. $100 a month.

 

Not bad in my opinion, my ping is usually 30ms, but my down/up stays constant unless I'm watching Netflix hehe. Could be better, but the neighborhood I live in is full of old people or people who aren't interested in Internet, so until there is more demand I'm stuck with this, hopefully they'll upgrade the card in the node so I can get 45/5.

 

Would love to have Fios though, I want to switch to Charter, but I'm grandfathered into AT&T, so I don't want to lose my advantage here...

[Kilerbomb]

AT&T U-Verse Business here. 20Mb down, 2Mb up, 13 static IP's. $100 a month.

 

Not bad in my opinion, my ping is usually 30ms, but my down/up stays constant unless I'm watching Netflix hehe. Could be better, but the neighborhood I live in is full of old people or people who aren't interested in Internet, so until there is more demand I'm stuck with this, hopefully they'll upgrade the card in the node so I can get 45/5.

 

Would love to have Fios though, I want to switch to Charter, but I'm grandfathered into AT&T, so I don't want to lose my advantage here...

Not bad? You're paying $100/mo for only 20mbps down 2mbps up. I have Charter and pay $50/mo for 50mbps down 4mbps up. No data caps or throttling either. Still not great, but eons better than AT&T.

[Kirihuna]

AT&T U-Verse Business here. 20Mb down, 2Mb up, 13 static IP's. $100 a month.

 

Not bad in my opinion, my ping is usually 30ms, but my down/up stays constant unless I'm watching Netflix hehe. Could be better, but the neighborhood I live in is full of old people or people who aren't interested in Internet, so until there is more demand I'm stuck with this, hopefully they'll upgrade the card in the node so I can get 45/5.

 

Would love to have Fios though, I want to switch to Charter, but I'm grandfathered into AT&T, so I don't want to lose my advantage here...

I pay for 25Mb down, 15Mb up for $45 with Comcast unless I upgrade...

 

Though I don't have 13 Static IPs.

[qwertywarrior]

He who controls the spice controls the Universe !

[Giddyguy]

>AT&T

 

my sides.

 

Their internet is horrendous. Never had Cox and Charter. Verizon is reliable and fast. Time Warner's equipment has always had a "dated" feel. I guess Comcast doesn't have a western market share?

Comcast is big in the west coast (well atleast here in the silicon valley). Time Warner cable is non-existent to a point where i didn't even know they were a provider until their holdout with cbs went on the news a couple months ago.

[EChondo]

Not bad? You're paying $100/mo for only 20mbps down 2mbps up. I have Charter and pay $50/mo for 50mbps down 4mbps up. No data caps or throttling either. Still not great, but eons better than AT&T.

How many static IP's do you have? Is it a business package? I also don't have data caps.

 

I pay for 25Mb down, 15Mb up for $45 with Comcast unless I upgrade...

 

Though I don't have 13 Static IPs.

 

Honestly, I'd love to have that Comcast package, but I use around 7 of my static IP's. The only ISP's available is AT&T and Charter in my area.

[Kilerbomb]

How many static IP's do you have? Is it a business package? I also don't have data caps.

 

 

Honestly, I'd love to have that Comcast package, but I use around 7 of my static IP's. The only ISP's available is AT&T and Charter in my area.

I have a dynamic IP, but it only changes 2/3 times a year. I have the highest residential package (internet only, no bundle) . Apparently the only plans they have with Static IP's are business packages.

 

Though I'm guessing there's a reason you have all those static IP's.

[HaZardousLP]

Meanwhile in Australia Abbott proposes 25mbit down until like 2018...

 

This proposal would give FREE internet, speeds equal to or slightly better than I currently get and pay a fair amount for, to those who cannot afford it...

[EChondo]

Meanwhile in Australia Abbott proposes 25mbit down until like 2018...

 

This proposal would give FREE internet, speeds equal to or slightly better than I currently get and pay a fair amount for, to those who cannot afford it...

And more than likely, since it's fiber, the speeds are mirrored, so 2Mb down and up/5Mb down and up.

[ForsakenLive]

One day we will live on cities which only infrastructure will be AC power Fiber (data) water and sewage, no cable, no gas, no fuels, no nothing. that day I will be happy.

That and when APUs cost 150$ and perform just like a R9 290X + i7 4770k.

[onionring]

One day we will live on cities which only infrastructure will be AC power Fiber (data) water and sewage, no cable, no gas, no fuels, no nothing. that day I will be happy.

That and when APUs cost 150$ and perform just like a R9 290X + i7 4770k.

i hope by that point those apu will be faster than that seeing as that scenario isn t any where close.

[Alex(PlayMedium)]

I'm just sitting here in germany with my 6mbit, and I'm not even bad off in comparison, after a certain point in my town, when going up the mountain, you can only get 2mbit. My friend sometimes brings his laptop to my house to download some games during school. He adores my precious 6mbit, imagine his face when he gets gigabit.

[TopWargamer]

 

Awesome news to hear indeed! Now bring gigabit to Tampa!